Teaching Strategies

Below, you will find brief descriptions of teaching strategies that promote active engagement and participation of students in the classroom. Browse the various techniques to find strategies that you might be able to use to accomplish the goals in your own course and enhance student learning. Be sure to keep in mind the context and constraints of your course. 

The Jigsaw Technique

Have you struggled with group work in class? The jigsaw technique can be a useful, well-structured template for carrying out effective in-class group work. The class is divided into several teams, with each team preparing separate but related assignments. When all team members are prepared, the class is re-divided into mixed groups, with one member from each team in each group. Each person in the group teaches the rest of the group what he/she knows, and the group then tackles an assignment together that pulls all of the pieces together to form the full picture (hence the name "jigsaw").

The Gallery Walk

The gallery walk is a cooperative learning strategy in which the instructor devises several questions/problems and posts each question/problem at a different table or at a different place on the walls (hence the name "gallery"). Students form as many groups as there are questions, and each group moves from question to question (hence the name "walk"). After writing the group's response to the first question, the group rotates to the next position, adding to what is already there. At the last question, it is the group's responsibility to summarize and report to the class.

Effective Discussion

Discussion is an excellent way to engage students in thinking and analyzing or in defending one side of an issue, rather than listening to lecture. Students must also respond to one another, rather than interacting intellectually only with the instructor. Good discussion can be difficult to generate, however. Clicking "more information" below will take you to some tips for having a good discussion in class and a sample template for class discussion.

Using Case Studies

Case studies have been used successfully for many years in business school and in medical school for actively engaging students in problem-solving relevant to the discipline. The primary hallmark of a case study is presentation of students with a problem to solve that revolves around a story (the "case"). In medical school case studies, the "story" typically involves a sick patient. In science case studies, "stories" can range from public policy issues to science research questions. Good case studies give the students considerable latitude in deciding how to solve the problem, rather than leading them through the problem by the nose, and provide excellent opportunities to engage students in the classroom.

Debates

Debates can be a very useful strategy for engaging students in their own learning. Debates force students to deal with complexity and "gray areas", and they are rich in imbedded content. Debates can also help provide relevancy of course material to everyday issues, which can improve student learning. Debates also improve student's oral communication skills.

Oral Processing Breaks
Why:

• Oral practice of key vocabulary 
• Oral processing to internalize learning
• Comprehensible output 
• Negotiating for meaning
• Primary support for beginning level ELD students

Supportive Research :

• Art Costa: Teaching for Intelligent Behavior
• Long
• Swain
• Cummins 

10/2 Chunk and Chew 

Key Points:

1. Bring students close together during direct teaching 
2. Divide information into meaningful chunks or categories that can be covered in ten minutes 
3. Teach for 10 minutes, then give students 2 minutes to discuss it with a partner 
4. Encourage students to use the language in which they are most comfortable
5. Randomly ask a few students, "What did your partner say?"  

Reciprocal Teaching

Key Points:

1. Divide information into meaningful chunks or categories that can be covered in 10 minutes
2. Students may share in pairs or teams
3. Teach for 10 minutes, then have A explain to B what you just taught 
4. Teach for 10 more minutes, then switch roles