Teachers care deeply about the success of their students, and you undoubtedly are one of them if you’re reading this article.
Teachers have a significant impact on the academic success of their students. Specific teaching strategies are more effective than others when you look at the thousands of research studies about the topic.
Evidence-Based Teaching Strategies
Research has shown that evidence-based teaching strategies have the most significant impact on student outcomes. Because you, and other teachers, have too much to do with decades of research, I wrote this article. However, I also wanted to help teachers see beyond their teaching philosophies and the fancy jargon used by authorities to understand the science behind what works.
To be eligible for this list, teaching strategies had to meet the following requirements:
* Support your theories with complex research and not anecdotal cases or untested theories
* They have a significantly higher impact on student outcomes than other teaching strategies
* Ability to use the skills in a variety of subjects and at all levels of education
Which evidence-based teaching strategies cut? The top 5 strategies are listed below – you may be surprised by the results.
Evidence-Based Teaching Strategy 1: Clear Lesson Goals
It would help if you clearly defined what you want students to understand during each lesson. Clear communication has a 32% higher effect on student performance than high expectations. Your lesson goal will not be clear if you cannot quickly state what you want students to learn and do after each lesson. Clear lesson goals will help you and your students to keep your reading focused on the most important things.
Evidence-Based Teaching Strategy 2: Show & Tell
Show and Tell should be the first thing you do in your lessons. Put, showing, and telling are sharing knowledge or information with students. Once you have a clear understanding of what you want your students to know and to be able to do by the end of the lesson, tell them and then show them how you expect them to accomplish the tasks. It’s not a good idea to have the whole class listening to your students. Instead, focus your talk and tell on what is most important. Take a second look at the lesson goal to see how you can do this.
Evidence-Based Teaching Strategy 3 – Questioning to Examine Understanding
Research shows that teachers spend a lot of time asking questions. However, teachers rarely use questions to verify understanding during a lesson. Therefore, you should still ensure that you understand the task before moving on to the next. Techniques like randomized sampling, student answer boards, and tell-a-friend help you check your understanding before you move on to the next part of your lesson. You can also use other questioning techniques at various stages of your address.
Evidence-Based Teaching 4: Summarize new learning in a graphical way
Graphic outlines can be used to create mind maps, flow charts, and Venn diagrams. They can help students summarize what they have learnt and understand the interrelationships among the various aspects of what you have taught. Research shows that it doesn’t matter who creates the summary graphic. A graphical summary can be a great way to end your show and tell. It can be referred to again at the end.
Evidence-Based Teaching Strategy 5: Lots of Practice
Practice makes perfect, as the saying goes. Students retain their knowledge and skills through practice. It also allows you to test your understanding. You must make sure that your students practice the right things if you want to tap into the power of practice. Students should practice what they have learned in your show-and-tell, reflecting on your lesson goal. Practice isn’t about doing nothing. It doesn’t involve assigning tasks you haven’t already taught or modeled. Research shows that students perform better when they are allowed to practice the same skills over a more extended period.
However, some teaching strategies are not as effective in improving student outcomes. These include inquiry learning, teaching test taking, whole language, and teaching tests.
