Teaching Styles

5 Types of Classroom Teaching Styles

No two teachers are alike, and any teacher with classroom teaching experience will agree that their style of teaching is uniquely their own. Teachers need to account for students’ various learning abilities and must adapt their teaching styles to benefit each individual student and the classroom as a whole. Below are five common classroom teaching styles that help teachers better connect with their students.

5 Teaching Styles that are Used in the Classroom

Authority Figure:

The formal authority strategy is one of the most popular and widely used teaching styles. Also known as “sage on the stage”, authority figures act as the center of attention, demanding all students to focus on the teacher’s direct instruction. In order to maintain control of the classroom, any type of misbehavior must be dealt with quickly. The teacher maintains power through negative punishments in a swift and severe manner. This style of teaching is most common in disruptive classrooms, and may produce short-term gains. A teacher’s potential influence, however, may degrade as the student moves on.

Authority Model:

Also known as the “demonstrator”, the teacher models or demonstrates certain behaviors that are beneficial to the students. Instruction is provided in a similar fashion as the authority figure, but model behavior is shown by example–not demanded of students. There is often a clear cut discipline structure that is communicated to both parents and students. The teacher finds satisfaction in the strides that the students make each day. In return, the students begin to build a trusting relationship with their teacher that lasts beyond the classroom year.

Student-Centric:

A student-oriented teaching style focuses heavily on each particular student, as this style assumes every student learns in a different capacity. Teachers must spend more time with each individual student, accommodating the lesson plans to fit the student’s needs. This teaching style is ideal in smaller settings, but may not suit a larger classroom.

Facilitator:

Teachers create several activities and provide the classroom with materials and an outline, placing the impetus on students to complete assignments individually or in groups. Teachers may walk around the classroom to help facilitate thoughts about the subject matter, or they may stay at their desk answering questions when necessary. Facilitators trust students to help their peers and derive answers mostly on their own. At the end of each activity, the teacher may gather the classroom for a joint discussion.

Delegator:

This type of teaching style is known as the “hands-off” method. The delegator is very similar to the facilitator, but much more emphasis is placed on student-driven learning. The teacher prepares complex situations or problems that students must resolve individually or as a group. The teacher allows students to design and implement their own assessments and projects, and reinforces the friendships and relationships amongst the students. The teacher acts as a consultant, providing guidance and support only in times of great need.
No one teaching style will work in every situation. Remember, even though you may prefer one teaching style over another, you must find the style that works best for your students! Try different styles to meet different objectives, and always challenge yourself to find ways to reach each student.

EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM: IMPLICATIONS OF PRAGMATISM IN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM: IMPLICATIONS OF PRAGMATISM IN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM: INTRODUCTION One of the most important schools of philosophy of education is pragmatism. Pragmatism stands between idealism and mate...

EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM: IMPLICATIONS OF PRAGMATISM IN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM: IMPLICATIONS OF PRAGMATISM IN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM: INTRODUCTION One of the most important schools of philosophy of education is pragmatism. Pragmatism stands between idealism and mate...

Population,Sample, and its Validity

Population - Any set of people or events from which the sample is selected and to which the study results will generalize.
Sample - A group of people or events drawn from a population. A research study is carried out on a sample from a population. The goal is to be able to find out true facts about the sample that will also be true of the population. In order for the sample to truly reflect the population, you need to have a sample that is representative of the population. The best method to use to obtain a representative sample is to randomly select your sample from the population. A study that has a large, randomly selected sample or a carefully matched sample is said to have external validity.
 
Samples and the Validity of a Study

A valid research study is one that finds the truth. We hope to discover facts and principles that explain or predict. There are two components of validity that have been identified. These components are external and internal validity. We can use these components of validity as criteria to see if a particular study is valid.
External validity is dependent on the adequacy of the sample. If the sample is representative of the desired population then our results will generalize. This is called generalizability. Thus, if we study patients in a free clinic can we generalize to patients of a private physician? The answer is no, to be able to generalize to both groups we must include subjects from both care sources.
To have a generalizable sample, first define your population, then randomly select a large sample. With a random sample of sufficient size research findings can generalize to the larger population. As a rule of thumb random sample sizes of twenty subjects per group are minimally sufficient.
Internal validity refers to the adequacy of our study design and the degree of control we have exercised in our data gathering. Good internal validity is insured by application of the concept of control. This concept is very important in research. By control we mean that all variables except the dependent variable are controlled by the experimenter. In this way if the dependent variable changes during the study then that change is due to the changes the experimenter made in the independent variable(s). The concept of control has six major parts:

1. Groups have equal scores on the dependent variable at the start of the study and are of large size. Random assignment will insure they are equal without testing if sample size is large
2. Extraneous variables are controlled so no group is effected by them during the study.
3. Each group receives identical treatment during the study except for the manipulations of the independent variable
4. Large numbers of subjects are not lost from the study and any losses are distributed evenly across the groups
5. The treatment (manipulation of the independent variable) was of sufficient magnitude and duration to expect it to change the dependent variable(s).
6. The dependent variable(s) are accurately measured.

In evaluating the internal validity of a study we ask this question: Was the experimental manipulation the only possible cause of a change in the dependent variable? In general, if a study adequately responds to the six factors above, then it will have controlled for many extraneous influences, will allow the researcher a good chance of detecting any change in the dependent variable, and will have internal validity. Note that a study can have good internal validity and NOT find any changes in the dependent variable due to the independent variable. Also, a study can have good internal validity, but without a generalizable sample, it may have no external validity. Finally, remember that a study with no external validity still found true relationships for the sample that was studied. If I study Mongolian fishermen in Cleveland, I cannot generalize to Vietnamese shrimpers in the Gulf, but I still know more about Mongolian fishermen.
Do not confuse internal validity with the validity of the method by which the dependent variable is measured, called test validity. Internal validity refers to the overall degree of control exercised. Test validity refers to the suitability of the measuring instrument used.
Over the years a number of terms have been introduced that describe various factors that can adversely influence the internal validity. We have already discussed most of these factors, but we have not necessarily used these common terms before. The list below will familiarize you with these names and their definitions.

1. History: Specific events unrelated to the study, occurring between the first and second measurements in addition to the experimental treatment.
2. Maturation: General events/experiences occurring to participants over an extended period of time, e.g., growing older, fatiguing, etc.
3. Pre-Test Influence (Test Practice): The effects (e.g., cueing and practice) of taking one test upon the results of taking a second test. Sometimes the subjects can learn about the dependent variable by just taking the pre-test. This additional learning can confound the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable.
4. Statistical Regression: Changes in scores over time due to unreliability of measuring devices; especially troublesome when using subjects selected on the basis of extreme scores.
5. Experimental Mortality: Loss of more subjects from one group than from the other. This may make groups unequal.
6. Instrumentation Error: Error of measurement due to:
   1. Changes in the assessment instrument (e.g., shortening a test, adding different items, changing the scoring procedure),
   2. Changes in the observers (e.g., different observers at O1 and O2, some observers using different standards than others, or training of observers changes from one treatment to the next), and
   3. Changes in the equipment (e.g., a fault in the equipment, non-standardization of equipment prior to study, loss of calibration).
7. Bias in Group Composition (Differential Selection): Biases or conveniences in creating comparison groups that cannot be assumed to be equivalent (e.g., the groups are not equal because they were not randomly chosen. For example, if one hospital uses one treatment method and a second hospital uses a second method, then the groups are biased because it is unrealistic to assume the hospital populations are the same).
8. Selection-Maturation Interaction: Biases in the selection of groups to be included in the study may differentially be affected by the time between assessments. For example, if the subjects are children and the average age of one group is older than the others, then the maturation process will effect the older group differently than the younger groups. If changes due to maturation can be confounded with changes due to the independent variable then the internal validity of the study is reduced.
9. Hawthorne Effect: Being in an experiment sometimes changes the response of the subjects. New treatment methods may be exciting, and people improve due to the thrill of it all and the increased attention.

Summary of Internal and External Validity
 

  

There are seven important factors affect external validity:

• Population characteristics (subjects)
• Interaction of subject selection and research
• Descriptive explicitness of the independent variable
• The effect of the research environment
• Researcher or experimenter effects
• Data collection methodology
• The effect of time

 

Table of Random Numbers; Uses

Use of the Random Number Table - A random number table is often used for subject assignment and sample selection. While subjects can be selected or assigned by drawing their name out of a hat, a more elegant method is to use a random number table. The steps below illustrate the use of a random number table.
To use the table:

1. List subjects in any convenient order, i.e., alphabetical
2. Close your eyes and point to any row of the table.
3. Close your eyes and point to any column.
4. Begin at the intersection of the row and column you picked. Assign the random numbers that appear in the column to your subjects, e.g., the first number is given to the first subject on the list.
5. When you get to the end of the column of numbers begin over with the next column.
6. Now order your subjects by their assigned random numbers.
7. You now have a list of randomly ordered subjects, you can assign them to groups by just taking the first k subjects for group 1, the next k subjects for group 2, and so on until all are assigned.

Table of Random Numbers

ROW	COLUMN
	1	2	3	4
1	10480	91646	16308	51259
2	22368	89198	19885	60268
3	24130	64809	04146	64904
4	42167	16376	14413	58586
5	37570	91782	06691	09998
6	88321	53498	30168	29119
7	48235	31016	25306	63553
8	52636	20922	38005	09429
9	87529	18103	00256	42751
10	71048	59533	92420	19734