Submission Type
Event
Faculty Advisor
Emily Kelahan
Expected Graduation Date
2019
Location
Room E102, Center for Natural Sciences, Illinois Wesleyan University
Start Date
4-13-2019 10:00 AM
End Date
4-13-2019 11:00 AM
Disciplines
Education
Abstract
In colleges of education, there is very strong support for minimally-guided instruction. This form of teaching is based around being a “guide on the side” as opposed to a “sage on the stage” – in other words, direct instruction of one’s students is seen as ineffective or even harmful, whereas instructional approaches based on encouraging students to teach themselves and construct their own knowledge with the teacher acting solely as a “facilitator” is seen as best practice. Despite the prevalence of this viewpoint amongst most education professors, there is very little evidence for its effectiveness. In fact, minimally-guided instruction can be quite harmful – it tends to widen the achievement gap between white students and students of color, and between high-income students and low-income students. It also leads to lower overall academic achievement and life success when compared with the results of directly instructing one’s students. This project summarizes the extensive research literature from the past several decades regarding which teaching strategies are most and least effective.
Included in
A Brief Review of Research on Forms of Instruction
Room E102, Center for Natural Sciences, Illinois Wesleyan University
In colleges of education, there is very strong support for minimally-guided instruction. This form of teaching is based around being a “guide on the side” as opposed to a “sage on the stage” – in other words, direct instruction of one’s students is seen as ineffective or even harmful, whereas instructional approaches based on encouraging students to teach themselves and construct their own knowledge with the teacher acting solely as a “facilitator” is seen as best practice. Despite the prevalence of this viewpoint amongst most education professors, there is very little evidence for its effectiveness. In fact, minimally-guided instruction can be quite harmful – it tends to widen the achievement gap between white students and students of color, and between high-income students and low-income students. It also leads to lower overall academic achievement and life success when compared with the results of directly instructing one’s students. This project summarizes the extensive research literature from the past several decades regarding which teaching strategies are most and least effective.