Teaching Methods

Kathryn Cochran Holly

Rounds Frankie Perry Eric
Sabin

Table of Contents
Apps (1991) Chapter 11
Slides: 3-13
Apps (1991) Chapter 12
Slides: 14-20
Brookfield (2006) Chapter 9
Slides: 21-28

Instructional Tips
Slides: 29-47

Chapter 11
Selecting the Right Tool

Apps, J. W. (1991). Mastering the teaching of adults. Malabar,

FL: Krieger Publish Company.

Introduction
Always keep in mind the following
considerations for using tools for
teaching:

The main objective of the class

The characteristics of the participants
The subject matter
The characteristics of the teaching tools; which
will work and which wont?
The learning situation, what kind of room is it
held in, potential distractions
The tools that you personally prefer

The Objectives
What is the purpose of the class or lesson?
What do you want the students to leave
knowing better than they knew when they
entered the class?
Is there a mission statement along with
the objectives that will allow the teacher
to understand in greater depth what kind
of attention and skills are needed to
success.

Characteristics of the
Participants
Know the amount of knowledge and skills
each participant has, so that you can
select appropriate tools for them to use.
What are the needs and wants of the
learners?
Keep those in mind when using the aids used
in the course.

Which learning styles do the students

prefer?

3 groups of Participants
Intuitive learners
Prefer learning when thinking and feeling are combined
Want to find the meaning of what they are doing
Appreciate sharing knowledge with other learners.
Tools for intuitive learners
Buzz groups, drawings, guest speakers, lectures, role playing, study groups.

Sequential Learners
Appreciate carefully planned learning experiences where they know
what is to be done and how to complete it.
Tools for sequential learners
Interactive computers, print materials, lectures.

Practical Learners
Fast paced teaching
Not as into things that cause them to have to get to know each other
Tools for practical learners
Case study, internship, simulation games.

The Subject Matter

Its important that when we examine
the tools we will be utilizing that they
go along with the subject matter.
For example, if youre teaching
something that is highly physical and
demands a lot of hands-on work, you
may not do a lot of lecturing, as they
would prefer to perform the hands on
activity.

Characteristics of the Teaching

Tools
Keep in mind when planning a class that the tools
youre using are practical.
Its easy to choose the latest and greatest
inventions to help you teach, but you need to
ensure that there is ample time for lecture as well
as utilizing the tools brought to assist the learners.
Ensure that the time spent on the tools, if it is a
lot, is because it truly impacts the students time
learning. If they dont use the tools a lot, ensure
that that is because the tools wouldnt do as much
for them as the lecture does.

The Learning Situation

Location
Where is it held? What kind of room is it? Does it have fixed chairs, or
can they be moved around for discussion? Whats the shape of the
room?
Group size
How many students are in the class? Can small groups be utilized? How
many tools do we need to assist in the teaching?
Time of day
Have the students been at work all day, becoming weary? If so, rethink
a long lecture that could cause them to become more tired. Instead, try
to keep it light hearted and energized.
The length of the sessions
You dont want to spend your whole session preparing the learners for
the tool, or give them not enough or too much time on the tool. Make
sure there is ample time for all participants to achieve the best possible
timing on all activities and lectures.

The Teachers Preference

Make sure that you, the teacher, feels comfortable
with the tools used. Ensure that they fit the criteria
of you teaching, as well as for the learners to learn.
If youre a good speaker, utilize your time lecturing
as opposed to spending the whole class just working
with the tools.
Take risks when teaching, think outside the box, and
try new ideas that you previously were too nervous
to try. Most the time, the students will rally around
the teacher and do what they can to help the
teacher make the best possible decision when they
know you are trying.

The Art of Selecting and Using

Tools
Always ensure that your tools are proactive, positive, and will
assist the learners and not hinder them.
Feel comfortable when presenting the tools and the subject
matter, as that will allow your class to feel comfortable as
well.
Keep in mind when teaching, that sometimes its okay to
ditch a tool if it isnt working as well as planned. If this
happens, suggest a class break, and when they return, tell
them that the class together will be trying a different way to
utilize the tools, or that the tools wont be used anymore at
all due to being ineffective.
You can become a master teacher by utilizing the tools, but
not over utilizing them. Know when they are helpful and
when they arent, and allow that to be your teaching base.

Chapter 11 Summary
Know what kind of tools to use based off the
six criteria mentioned in the chapter.
Know when to use the tools and when to not
use them.
Maintain a level of comfort with the tools,
allowing yourself to lecture when its needed,
and pull out the tools when they are needed.
Keep in mind the style of the learners, so that
the tools will maintain relevance as they
learn.

Chapter 12
Teaching Critical
Thinking

Apps, J. W. (1991). Mastering the teaching of adults. Malabar,

FL: Krieger Publish Company.

Introduction
Critical Thinking:
An obligation for instructors to teach
Helps learners to gain control both
personally & professionally
Can be unpleasant & some learners
will show resistance
Process is closely related to
transformative education

What is Critical Thinking?

Critical thinking is an attitude the
teacher has. It becomes a part of you
in almost everything you do. Thus you
can apply elements of critical thinking
in a variety of situations, (Apps, 1991,
p 98).

Critical Thinking Characteristics

Critical Thinking involves questioning.
It is important to teach students how
to ask good questions.
If students learn to think critically,
then they can make good decisions
Analyzing and tolerating ambiguity in
such a way to recognize strengths and
weaknesses

A Process for Critical Thinking

Helping learners become aware
Becoming aware is a process where you help learners to look at their needs
and wants in often new and deeper ways.

Helping learners explore alternatives

Once learners have developed a deeper awareness of their problem, question,
or situation, they are ready to explore alternatives

Helping learners work through a transition

Learners must work through which alternatives, learners run onto viewpoints,
ways of doing things, or ideas that run counter to what they have long
believed. This leads to critical thinkingtransition.

Helping learners achieve integration

The learner, in the integration phase, begins putting things back together

Helping learners take action (when appropriate)

Taking action means doing something with the new ideas.

Tips for Teaching Critical Thinking

Observe and draw conclusions
Make comparisons and contrast
items and topics
Analyze Stories
Learn cooperatively
Practice the Socratic method
teaching critical thinking through
questioning.

Working Through the Process

Participants reactions you may encounter:
Awareness
Resistance to see more broadly

Alternatives
Resistance to find out information on their own

Transition
Learners will experience a range of emotions (i.e. sadness, joy,
enthusiasm)

Integration
Reality check on the information that is being taught

Action
Acting on ideas prematurely before they have been well
throughout

Chapter 9
Teaching About Racism

Brookfield, S. D. (2006). The skillful teacher: On technique,

trust, and responsiveness in the classroom (2nd ed.). San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Introduction
Diversity is focused on in 3 ways:
How teachers educate on racist
behaviors, stereotypes, and actions
White teachers & White students
Critical race theory

Narrative pedagogy
Using personal narratives & stories to teach
on racism

Preaching and Disdaining

European-American Collaborative
Challenging Whiteness (ECCW)
Examines how Whites can educate each
other & themselves on White supremacy

ECCW notes two mistakes committed

1. Preaching

Anti-racism with self-righteous fervor

2. Disdaining

The less enlightened person is left feeling

condemned

Learning Racism
White Gaze
that is, a view of Blackness that interpreted
every Black action and statement through a
lens confirming my supposed superiority as a
White person (Brookfield, 2006, p. 114).

Stereotypes are learned via jokes, family

conversations, & media images
Withholding
Behavior Whites fall prey to in multicultural
environments when they dont contribute

The Use of Narrative

Modeling

Narratives

Nothing draws people more quickly into

considering challenging information and
perspectives than a personal story
(Brookfield, 2006, p. 116).

Brookfield (2006) discloses personal

story against three ideologies of
White supremacy

Narrative Modeling Cont.

1. Whites Are Natural Gatekeepers and
Leaders
Revealed when a Gatekeeper is not White

2. Colleagues of Color Need Special Help &

Assistance
Need for good Whites to be seen as an ally

3. Uncovering Racial Mico-Agressions

the small acts of exclusion and
marginalization committed by a dominant group
toward a minority (Brookfield, 2006, p. 119).

Modeling Push-Back
Through Team Teaching
There are very few examples of how
to have conversations across racial
differences
Team Teaching allows for discussions
on how racial identities are framed
with regards to
Negotiated decisions
Teaching approaches
Responses to students

Chapter 9 Final Thoughts

Experiential contradictions exist
between declaring to work & actually
doing the work
Teaching your own racism is not
easy (Brookfield, 2006, p. 123)
Despite dangers insert yourself into
the dialog
Use stories to help

Instructional Tips:
Teaching Critical
Thinking

Teaching Critical Thinking

Apps (1991) Steps to encourage Critical
Thinking:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Help learners
Help learners
Help learners
Help learners
Help learners
appropriate

become aware
explore alternatives
work through a transition
achieve integration
take action when

Teaching Critical Thinking

1. Help learners Become Aware
Help the learners to look at their needs
and wants in a new, deeper way.
Assist them in looking at these needs and
wants in a manner that they havent
examined

Tools to help

Case Study
Consciousness Raising
Debate
Drawing

Teaching Critical Thinking

2. Help learners explore
alternatives
As the learners become aware of their
problem or situation, then assist them in
seeking out alternative solutions to the
problems.
Allow them to keep thinking critically,
even when they think theyve found the
answer to keep digging deeper.

Teaching Critical Thinking

3. Help learners work through a
transition
Allow the students to work through the
alternative solutions, and assist them when it
becomes a period of transition
Adult students must be able to leave behind
long held ideas and attitudes in certain cases
Tools
Consciousness Raising
Group Discussions
Group Project
Individual Conference

Teaching Critical Thinking

4. Help learners achieve integration
This process includes helping the
students become comfortable with the
new ideas, attitudes, and assumptions
that emerged from the transitional phase.
Tools

Quiet Meeting
Searching for Assumptions
Seminar
Study Group

Teaching Critical Thinking

5. Help learners take action when
appropriate
If it is appropriate, assist your learners
as they take action on their new ideas
and attitudes toward their
circumstances.
Reality check on what was learned
Learners may develop new awareness & the
process starts all over again

10 Additional Tips
1. Ask many questions
2. Give them the prompt, assist them in unpacking that prompt
through conversation
3. Give sentence starters to learns to help them enter the
conversation
4. Model the expectations
5. Allow and encourage constructive controversy
6. Choose the correct content- content the students can invest in
7. Set up Socratic discussion
8. Assess their reasoning through different methods
9. Allow the students to evaluate each other
10.Step back- allow the students to maintain the flow of the
conversation

10 Additional Tips
Questions, Questions, Questions
Heart of critical thinking
Create environments where curiosity is
fostered & questions encouraged
Ask the majority of the questions in the
beginning to introduce this high level
thinking to students
Give out a wrong answer just to make
sure your students are thinking

10 Additional Tips
Start with a prompt & then help to
uncover
Pose a provocative question to build an
argument around and help your
students break it down.
Identify any ambiguous or subjective
terms and have students clarify and
define them.

10 Additional Tips
Provide tools for entering the
conversation
Provide sentence starters & connectors
Helps with entering the conversation &
guiding their thoughts
I agree/disagree because
I can connect to your statement because
Can you clarify what you mean by

10 Additional Tips
Model the expectations
The best way to teach behavioral
expectations is to model them
Instructors also observe their colleagues
for tips on how to facilitate effectively

10 Additional Tips
Allow and encourage constructive
controversy
Provide a controversial topic & allow
students to hash it out
Pick a student to play devils advocate
Set rules beforehand such as remaining
respectful and what language to use

10 Additional Tips
Choose the correct content- content
the students will invest in
Choose topics that are relevant &
significant in order to get the students
engaged
Helps to build communication skills

10 Additional Tips
Set up Socratic discussion
Socratic discussion is the method of
inquiry in which participants ask one
another questions that test logic with
the goal of gaining greater
understanding or clarity.
Teacher acts as the observer offering
prompts only when the conversation
stalls

10 Additional Tips
Assess their reasoning through different
methods
To test their critically thinking skills,
challenge them to communicate back to you
Methods

Essays
Socratic discussions
Speeches
Written tests
Assign the student a topic to discuss in class

10 Additional Tips
Allow the students to evaluate each
other
By evaluating their peers with the same
rubric the teacher uses, students gain a
better understanding of the criteria for
strong critical thinking and discussion.

10 Additional Tips
Step back- allow the students to
maintain the flow of the conversation
Let go & allow the student to teach
Give them the responsibility of being the
thinkers & drive the content
Students may make the information
more relevant to them which is more
likely to stick

Sources
Apps, J. W. (1991). Mastering the
teaching of adults. Malabar, FL:
Krieger Publish Company.
Nobori, M. (2013, September 27).
Critical Thinking: A Path to College
and Career. Retrieved October 21,
2015, from
http://www.edutopia.org/stw-kippcritical-thinking