Effective Lecture-Discussion Strategies

Lecture-Discussion

• Most widely used instructional strategy in all grade levels and subject areas.
• Teacher-led classroom discussion, promoting interaction between teacher and students using explicit instruction and varied questioning techniques.
• Aims to avoid the negative aspects of lectures.
• Based on cognitive theories of education.
• Develops lower- and higher-order thinking skills, including problem-solving and decision-making.
• Emphasizes evidence-based opinions.

Steps

• Introduction: Motivation activity, objective presentation, and topic overview.
• Lesson Presentation: Unfolding the topic using question-and-answer techniques and visual aids.
• Comprehension Monitoring: Using formative assessment strategies to check understanding.
• Integration and Closure: Summarizing key points, synthesizing old and new information, and sharing evidence-based conclusions.

Using Graphic Organizers

• In the 1960s, Ausubel theorized how new concepts facilitate learning.
• The brain organizes information systematically, building on existing schemas.
• Graphic organizers improve comprehension and memory by visually representing information and creating patterns (interconnectedness of ideas).
• Enables a visual representation of ideas to build learning components, structure disjointed information, and highlight connections between concepts.

How to Use Graphic Organizers

• Familiarize yourself with different types of graphic organizers.
• Explain what graphic organizers are and why they are useful for learning.
• Present the correct graphic organizer for a specific topic, highlighting its subject and organizational framework.
• Use examples to demonstrate how to use a graphic organizer (individual, paired, or group activity).
• Assign graphic organizers for practice.

Eight Types of Graphic Organizers for Social Studies

• Assume and Anticipate: Best for formative assessment, evaluating learners' schemas on a topic using opinion-seeking activities.
• Position and Pattern: Helps in understanding relationships between concepts, especially in chronological order.
• Group and Organize: Helps identify how ideas or parts connect to a single category, showing a central concept and related attributes.
• Compare and Contrast: Used for identifying similar and differing characteristics between and among concepts.
• Relate and Reason: Involves inductive and deductive thinking; used to show how concepts relate to each other.
• Identify and Imagine: Uses visual representations (shapes, forms) to connect several concepts or information to illustrate connections.
• Estimate and Evaluate: Uses visual tools (e.g., pie charts) for evaluating and explaining concepts.
• Combine and Create: Allows teachers and students to construct their own representations.

Inquiry-Based Teaching Strategy

• In 1999, White et al developed an instructional theory enabling scientific inquiry.
• Scaffold Inquiry: Teachers guide learners to reach goals using discussion techniques focusing on knowledge and skills.
• Reflection: Learners assess different aspects of a situation to draw generalizations.
• Generalization: Learners form beliefs and communicate their dispositions.
• Teachers use different questioning techniques (e.g., "Might questions" which encourage open-ended responses).

What If Questions

• Encourages creativity and speculation. Example: "What if you became the mayor..."

Different Roles Questions

• Utilizes role-playing for real-world scenarios. Example: "You are the judge..."

Socratic Questioning

• Combines techniques to prompt in-depth questioning for wisdom-revealing. Example: "What are elections all about?"

Gadfly Questions

• Prompts deeper exploration of thoughts.

Stingray Questions

• Changes the direction of questioning. Example: "You said love is the answer...will it change the situation of the poor..."

Midwife Questions

• Used to elicit new ideas. Example: "That's a great point. Can you elaborate...?"

Ignoramus Questions

• Encourages deeper explanation. Example: "Don't understand. Can you explain...?"

Case Study

• A complex issue investigated through problem-solving and decision-making. Example: Real-world scenarios for social studies or fictional events (Kowalski et al.).
• Examples: historical events, economic issues (e.g., minimum wage worker's family budget), social issues (e.g., overpopulation in NCR), or student-developed cases.

Jigsaw

• Cooperative learning strategy to reduce tensions. Initially used to improve relations between white, Hispanic, and African American students in Austin, Texas. Promotes social interaction. It's based on Vygotsky's theory on social constructivism and encourages teamwork.

Panel Discussion

• Encourages discussion of topics through expert discussion, facilitating the exchange of ideas and shedding light on issues.
• Students take on roles to explicate topics and answer questions. A person moderates the discussion, asking questions and summarizing key points.
• The teacher, students, and audience are all part of the activity.

Technology-Based Interactive Teaching Strategy

• Teachers must use technology to enhance interactions and participation.
• Advantages: experimentation, full participation, easy access to resources.
• Disadvantages: distraction, social disconnection, accessibility issues.

ADDIE Model

• Analysis: Goal setting.
• Design: All goals, tools, and aspects for the next stage.
• Development: Production and testing of various methodologies.
• Implementation: Procedures for teachers or designers.
• Evaluation: Process and outcome evaluation.

List of Applications for Teaching

• Reading Eggs: Multi-award winning application focused on children's reading and learning.
• Curious World: Encourages engagement through fun activities.
• MentalUP: Improves critical thinking.
• Edmodo: A social platform for communication.
• Kahoot: Online quizzes.
• BrainPOP: Animated educational content.
• Khan Academy: Free online videos and lessons.

Socrative Student, Nearpod, Quizlet, Edublogs, Google Earth, ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard, Book Creator, Showbie, Educreations Interactive Whiteboard

• Examples of educational apps/tools for teaching.

Role-Play and Simulation

• Utilizes dramatic play and mock trials to explore alternative solutions using experiential learning theory.

Field Studies

• Learning experiences outside the classroom, providing direct experience with the outside world.
• Enables learners to target various learning competencies (critical thinking, long-term retention).

Challenges in Field Studies

• Curriculum alignment issues.
• Ensuring learners have a good understanding of field study expectations.
• Cost.
• Safety issues.
• Planning and preparation time.

What to keep in Mind when Planning and Doing Field Studies

• Condition learners on the topic and purpose.
• Ensure learners understand dos/don'ts.
• Ensure evaluation is a highlight of the visit.

Service Learning

• Community service integrated into instruction with reflection.
• Encourages active participation in community service to learn social studies concepts effectively.

Authentic Assessment

• Focuses on learners' abilities to apply learned knowledge and skills in real-life situations, emphasizing processes and learning outcomes.
• Uses alternative forms of assessment such as demonstrations, exhibitions, and portfolios of work instead of traditional paper/pencil tests to measure learning.
• Emphasizes student involvement in the learning process and recognizes that learners learn in different ways, using a variety of methods to demonstrate learning. Includes a range of methods for demonstrating knowledge, attitudes, and skills.

Performance-Based Assessment (PBA)

• Student performance measured by creating products, presentations, and responses to actual tasks.
• Focuses on skills and knowledge application, fostering creativity and exploration of knowledge.

Steps in Creating Performance-Based Assessment

• Define assessment purpose.
• Create appropriate tasks aligned with learning targets.
• Use scoring rubrics to evaluate performance.