Learning and teaching are believed to be two sides of the same coin; the best accepted standard for gauging effective teaching is the extent of student learning that takes place. Most literatures on how to teach effectively are packed with thoroughly researched approaches through which teachers can offer both skills and content to ensure efficient student learning.
However, researchers in the field of education are yet to come up with a rule book regarding which teaching methods can complement the content and skills that are taught in schools. In light of this, the paper seeks to propose solutions to the instructional problem from five different perspectives including: the response system technology, experiential learning, family school partnerships, technological, pedagogical and content knowledge (TPCK), speech and language therapy (SLT), and the use of concept maps.
Critical Review
The majority of research findings show that whole-class teaching still has a significant role to play in the learning process. The concept of whole-class instruction offers teachers numerous prospects to provide feedback to students regarding their thinking pattern.
More specifically, after the students have been exposed to a hands-on encounter with any new topic, they become more prepared for lectures about these concepts or for demonstrations, which involve addressing their pre-conceptions regarding particular units.
The Response System Technology
The response system technology is the most suitable approach teachers can use to instruct learners in the areas of mathematics and sciences. Research shows that most developments in the two subjects have been geared toward improving student work in laboratories and in small groups.
Through this strategy, instructors are able to incorporate questions arising from students, together with wide-reaching and instant reactions from them, into their teaching instructions. Consequently, they are able to utilize the technology for various purposes such as provoking the initial ideas of students, constructive assessment, informed decision making, sampling students with regard to their areas of interest and preferences, and quizzing (William, Christy, Boscardin, & Valerie, 2007).
It has been established from previous research that the response system has mostly concentrated on the domains of engineering, computer science and physics, where the capacity to give distinctive and precise answers to abstract questions, is critical. Researchers argue that successful teaching is achieved by using a response system that incorporates other subjects such as social sciences among other humanities.
Some scholars suggests that when the classroom network technology is combined with effectual questioning, debate, and feedback, the results obtained are an effective catalyst for conceptual transformation, intensified student engagement in class, and better equity in the instruction used in science related subjects (William, Christy, Boscardin, & Valerie, 2007).
Family School Partnerships
Family-school partnerships provide a way for learning institutions to become accustomed to the socio-cultural and informed knowledge approaches to learning with regard to the students’ learning experience, and using them to reinforce learning at home.
This socio-cultural view of studying informs a pedagogical learning mode of family-school partnerships where families are hypothesized to have an ongoing and vital role in their children, rather than as add-ons to the learning process (Graham, 2011).
Bourdieu regarded the socio-culturally enlightened knowledge and systems of linking the globe as social and cultural capital, and characterized the manner in which they can operate to include or exclude persons from effective learning by engaging in other social worlds (Graham, 2011).
In getting home and school together to form an effective learning environment for students, prospects are created for learners to engage more expressively regarding what Bourdieu calls social and cultural capital (Graham, 2011). By involving families in the process of learning, a more comfortable and supportive environment of learning is created where these socio-culturally knowledgeable connections with a student’s prevailing understandings are aided; this enables the learners to relate to original learning materials in more meaningful means (Graham, 2011).
Experiential Learning
Although most educators acknowledge the importance of experiential learning in enabling the student learning process, lecturers do not frequently teach using a style that is conducive to experiential learning because of logistical constraints, for example, in large classes. This is ruinous, given that learners at the entry level of psychology courses are able to remember well, distinct events and deeds that take place during the course.
Effective experiential learning addresses both logistical studying constraints and the requirement for a solid knowledge base in a given subject. In addition, supplemental student learning might be made more efficient and comprehensive by the role of the public (Gary & Gretchen, 2009).
The supplemental learning approach has been proven to promote several positive learning results, including enriched academic performance among undergraduates as well as an increased comprehension of the course content. Another merit of using this approach in the public model is that it exposes students in elementary schools to a sphere of science, which they would not have encountered until college (Gary & Gretchen, 2009).
Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPCK)
The premeditated inclusion of instructive technologies into the class to boost learning and teaching experiences continues to be a key aspect of tutor education. Teachers incorporate technology into coaching and learning for numerous reasons including the promotion of student engagement, training modern proficiencies as best learning practices, to stay updated, for hands-on collaborating learning, to vary teaching methods, to perform experiments in the laboratory, and for exploration and communication.
However, the various types of impediments that exist, including technological, philosophical and physical barriers, significantly obstruct the efficient implementation of technology in teaching instructions (Richard, Lynette, & Laurie, 2012).
Speech and Language Therapy (SLT)
This technology has characteristically been directed at small children experiencing challenges in communication, speech and language. The intervention is expected to improve long-term language and growth, in addition to reducing any negative effects. However, longitudinal studies report a range of enduring linguistic difficulties.
Services that take into account learners of at least 11 years with speech and communication challenges are still finely spread or non-existent. Recently, the Bercow report indicated a shortage of SLT services to high schools. Ehren submits that the challenge to render language intervention significant becomes difficult at the level of secondary school learning given the diverse backdrop demands and the complex course content.
Consequently, for the services to be viable, they must be specifically designed for secondary school students and be applicable within a particular organizational structure. Hence, a suitable approach should simultaneously consider the point of interaction between language impediments and curriculum demands, in addition to responding to the prospect that SLT backing will facilitate inclusion and deliver effective management (Gemma, Marysia, & Gill, 2010).
While they may be helpful to some students, traditional simulations of service delivery that are fostered upon extraction and personal therapy may have some inadequacies as well. Learners may be unwilling to get withdrawn from their classrooms for candid therapy; adolescents have a tendency to be like their colleagues.
They prefer not to be the center of focus, as far as their needs are concerned. This technology may also be affected by the difficulties in time-tabling, consequently providing therapists with minimal opportunities to familiarize themselves with curriculum requirements.
This may also offer limited chances for teachers to examine supportive practice or work in partnership with SLTs. It may impede the identification of proper and applicable content for therapy. Consequently, Larson et al. has had to contend with direct therapy given its lack of connection to academic coursework (Gemma, Marysia, & Gill, 2010).
References
Gary, M. M., & Gretchen, J. (2009). Students teaching students: An experiential learning opportunity for large introductory psychology classes in collaboration with local elementary schools. Teaching of Psychology, 36, 169–173.
Gemma, W., Marysia, N., & Gill, E. (2010).Supporting students with language learning difficulties in secondary schools through collaboration: The use of concept maps to investigate the impact on teachers’ knowledge of vocabulary teaching. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 26(2), 163–179.
Graham, D. (2011). Family-school partnerships: Towards sustainable pedagogical practice. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 39(2), 165–176.
Richard, P. H., Lynette, D. P., & Laurie, A. V. (2012). Integrating technology in education: Moving the TPCK framework towards practical applications. Education Research and Perspectives, 39, 136-152.
William, R. P., Christy, K., Boscardin, K., & Valerie, C. (2007). Teaching with student response systems in elementary and secondary education settings: A survey study. Education Technology Research Development, 55, 315–346.