When you are applying for teaching posts, or undertaking a programme of teacher training, you should demonstrate in your application and interview that you are familiar not only with different theories of learning, such as constructivism, but also that you understand the implications of them for teaching. In order to impart knowledge and promote understanding,…>
Written by Pete Scales
Pete Scales, now retired, was a Senior Teaching Fellow at the University of Derby and also delivered PGC HE programmes to teaching colleagues. His book An Introduction to Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: Supporting Fellowship’ was published by Open University Press in 2017. Prior to this he taught in further education for over twenty years and ran teacher education programmes. His book Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector (Open University Press) is now in its second edition. He still maintains his lifelong learning website at www.peter-scales.org.uk
Using questions to promote learning and understanding
Questioning is one of the most important skills in teaching, but there is evidence to suggest that learners at all levels find many teachers are poor users of questions. Research suggests that teachers ask up to 400 questions every day but only about 8% of these could be classed as higher order questions. Lower order…>
Learning styles: the last farewell
Learning styles of various kinds have been prevalent in education for more than twenty years. The most widely used is VAKT (Visual; Auditory; Kinaesthetic; Tactile). One of the main attractions of learning styles is that they offer a ‘magic key’ to unlock the mysteries of each individual’s learning, thus allowing teachers to use the matching…>
What Will Education Look Like When It’s All Over?
With coronavirus, we are living in strange and worrying times. We don’t know how long this will last, but we know that it will pass and education will resume. However, to what extent things will be the same and return to ‘normal’ is a matter of some debate. The current crisis is likely to accelerate…>
Discussion as a Teaching Method
In an earlier article, I wrote about planning for teaching sessions. In the next few articles, I will provide overviews of some teaching and learning methods you might consider. Discussion is frequently taken for granted, perhaps regarded as just ‘having a chat’ with students or, worse still, derided as not ‘proper teaching’. Discussion deserves serious…>
Planning a Teaching and Learning Session
First impressions count and a well-planned and well-delivered introduction to your teaching and learning session will set the tone for the rest of the session.
Inclusive Learning – Study Skills to Academic Literacy
Inclusion and inclusive learning are among the most important issues in higher education. In the past, universities were accustomed to recruiting ‘traditional’ students who were ‘trained’ and prepared for university and, most likely, had parents and siblings who were graduates. The expansion of higher education has brought more ‘non-traditional’ students from a wide variety of…>
Constructivist Approaches to Teaching and Learning
In my previous article (‘The delivery metaphor of teaching and learning’) I outlined some of the problems of treating knowledge as something to be ‘delivered’ or ‘transmitted’ to students. In this view of teaching and learning, the teacher’s role is to transmit knowledge and information, the learners’ role is simply to receive it. One of…>
The ‘Delivery’ Metaphor of Teaching and Learning
Many of us might remember learning about metaphors in school mainly as a poetic or linguistic device which we were encouraged to identify and discuss when analysing literary texts. Metaphors can help us understand complex ideas and systems by simplifying them; equally, they can confuse or constrain our thinking by over-simplifying things. If we analyse…>
PowerPoint – Has ‘Click and Talk’ Replaced ‘Chalk and Talk’?
PowerPoint was conceived and developed as presentation software. Even though it was not originally designed for use in teaching, PowerPoint has become ubiquitous in all levels of education. Excessive reliance on this program can have a ‘distancing’ effect and, in the worst instances, teachers stop being teachers and simply become operators of technology and readers…>