Navigating the Teaching Journey

Imagine yourself teaching a class. You are in the middle of explaining a key concept and all the while you are thinking about the following:

Did I prepare the students for this new concept? Do they understand me? Should I add an example? The student in the back is talking – should I say something? Will I cover everything before the class ends? How is my time?

Does this feel familiar? That is because teaching is not a linear process. It is more like a road trip – there is a destination in mind but you may get lost, see something you weren’t expecting, or add new stops on your journey. In the end, you will arrive at your destination, although navigating the tricky terrain may have been difficult if you were going it alone! In this scenario, wouldn’t it be helpful to have a fellow navigator?

This section lends itself to in-person teaching, although certainly could be applied to synchronous on-line teaching. A focus on on-line and/or asynchronous teaching can be found in the section Teaching in a Digital World.

A Note about Lecturing…

Is lecturing relevant in today’s teaching and learning environments, where students have access to a complete library of all knowledge in their back pocket (i.e., through their mobile device)? Despite advances and adoption of adult learning and student-centered modes of teaching, many faculty members still default to a “chalk and talk”, transmission model of teaching.

As part of your reflective practice, challenge yourself to identify alternatives to lecturing, in order to better support students’ knowledge construction, peer-to-peer learning, and experiential and applied learning modes.

Here are “57 Alternatives to Lecturing” for your consideration:

Learning Models

1. Self-directed learning
2. Learning through play
3. Scenario-based learning
4. Game-based learning
5. Project-based learning
6. Peer-to-peer instruction
7. School-to-school instruction (e.g., through Skype)
8. Learning through projects
9. Problem-based learning
10. Challenge-based learning
11. Inquiry-based learning
12. Mobile learning
13. Gamified learning (i.e., gamification)
14. Cross-curricular projects
15. Reciprocal Teaching
16. “Flipped-class” learning
17. Face-to-face driver blended learning
18. Rotation blended learning
19. Flex blended learning
20. “Online Lab” blended learning
21. Sync teaching
22. HyFlex learning
23. Self-guided MOOC
24. Traditional MOOC
25. Competency-based learning
26. Question-based learning

Literacy Strategies

1. Write-around
2. Four corners
3. Accountable talk
4. RAFT assignments
5. Fishbowl
6. Debate
7. Gallery walk
8. Text reduction
9. Concentric circles
10. Traditional concept-mapping (e.g., teacher-given strategy–“fishbone” cause-effect analysis)
11. Didactic, personalized concept-mapping (i.e., student designed and personalized for their knowledge-level and thinking patterns)
12. Mock trial
13. Non-academic video + “academic” questioning
14. Paideia seminar
15. Symposium
16. Socratic seminar
17. QFT strategy
18. Concept attainment
19. Directed reading thinking activity
20. Paragraph shrinking
21. FRAME routine
22. Jigsaw strategy
23. Content-based team-building activities