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Here are some teacher strategies that research indicates can bevery effective in
helpingstrugglinglearners to successfully master new academic skills:
 1. Instructional Match. Ensure that students are being taught atthe
optimal instructional level,one that challenges them but provides enough
success to keep these students confidentand invested in learning.
 2. Scaffolding. Provide 'scaffolding' support(individual instructional
modifications) to students as necessary to help them to master a new task
or keep up with more advanced learners.Examples of scaffolding
strategies includereducingthe number of problems assigned to a student,
permitting the student to use technological aids (e.g., word processing
software which predicts student word selection to reduce keyboarding),
and usingcooperative learninggroups thatpool the group's knowledge to
complete assignments.
 3. Step-by-Step Strategies. For complex, conceptually difficult,or multi-
step academic operations,break these operations down into simplesteps.
Teach students to use the steps. When students are justacquiringa skill,
you may want to create a poster or handout for students to refer to that
lists themain steps of strategies that they areto use.
 4. Modeling & Demonstration. Model and demonstrate explicitstrategies
to students for learningacademic material or completingassignments.
Have them use these strategies under supervision until you aresurethat
students understand and can correctly use them.
 5. Performance Feedback. Make sure that students who are mastering
new academic skillshavefrequent opportunities to try these skillsoutwith
immediate correctivefeedback and encouragement. Prompt guidanceand
feedback will prevent students from accidentally 'learning' howto perform
a skill incorrectly!
 6. Opportunities to Drill & Practice to Strengthen Fragile Skills. As
students become more proficientin their new skillsand can work
independently, give them lots of opportunities to drill and practiceto
strengthen the skills.Whenever possible,makestudent practicesessions
interesting by usinggame-likeactivities;comingup with real-world,
applied assignments;or incorporatingthemes or topics that the student
finds interesting.
 7. Student 'Talk-Through' Activities. When students appear to have
successfully learned a skill,setup activities for them to complete and ask
the students to 'talk' you through the activity (i.e., announce each step
that they aretaking, describetheir problem-solvingstrategies aloud,
describeany road-blocks thatthey run into and tell you how they will go
about solvingthem, etc.).
 8. Periodic Review. Once students have mastered a particular academic
skill,the instructor will quickly movethem on to a more advanced learning
objective. However, the teacher should make surethat students retain
previously mastered academic skills by periodically havingthem review
that material.Periodic review is often overlooked but is a powerful
method for keeping students' academic skillssharp.
 9. Progress Monitoring. Teachers can verify that students aremaking
appropriatelearningprogress only when they areableto measure that
progress on a regular basis.Theinstructor may want to consider
information from several assessmentapproaches to monitor student
progress:e.g., curriculum-based assessment,accuracy and completeness
of student assignments,student 'talk-through' demonstrations of problem-
solving,etc
Project Based Learning is a teaching method in which student’s gains knowledge
and skillsby workingfor an extended period of time to investigateand respond to a
complex question, problem, or challenge. Essential Elements of PBL include:
 Significant Content - At its core, the projectis focused on teaching students
important knowledge and skills,derived from standards and key concepts at
the heart of academic subjects.
 21st century competencies - Students build competencies valuablefor today’s
world, such as problemsolving,critical thinking,collaboration,communication,
and creativity/innovation,which are explicitly taughtand assessed.
 In-Depth Inquiry - Students are engaged in an extended, rigorous process of
askingquestions,usingresources,and developinganswers.
 Driving Question - Project work is focused by an open-ended question that
students understand and find intriguing,which captures their task or frames
their exploration.
 Need to Know - Students see the need to gain knowledge, understand
concepts, and apply skills in order to answer the DrivingQuestion and create
project products,beginningwith an Entry Event that generates interest and
curiosity.

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 Voice and Choice - Students areallowed to make some choices aboutthe
products to be created, how they work, and how they usetheir time, guided by
the teacher and depending on age level and PBL experience.
 Critique and Revision - The project includes processes for students to give and
receive feedback on the quality of their work, leadingthem to make revisions
or conduct further inquiry.
 Public Audience - Students present their work to other people, beyond their
classmates and teacher.
TEACHING STRATEGIES
 Institutions of higher learningacrossthe nation arerespondingto political,
economic, social and technological pressures to be more responsiveto
students' needs and more concerned about how well students are
prepared to assumefuture societal roles.Faculty arealready feelingthe
pressureto lecture less,to make learningenvironments more interactive,
to integrate technology into the learningexperience, and to use
collaborativelearning strategies when appropriate.
 Some of the more prominent strategies are outlined below. For more
information aboutthe useof these and other pedagogical approaches,
contact the Programin Support of Teachingand Learning.
 Lecture. For many years,the lecture method was the most widely used
instructional strategy in collegeclassrooms.Nearly 80%of all U.S. college
classrooms in thelate 1970s reported usingsome form of the lecture
method to teach students (Cashin,1990).Although the usefulness of other
teaching strategies is beingwidely examined today, the lecture still
remains an important way to communicate information.
 Used in conjunction with activelearningteachingstrategies,the traditional
lecture can be an effective way to achieveinstructional goals.The
advantages of the lecture approach arethat it provides a way to
communicate a largeamount of information to many listeners,maximizes
instructor control and is non-threatening to students. The disadvantages
are that lecturingminimizes feedback from students, assumes an
unrealisticlevel of student understandingand comprehension, and often
disengages students from the learningprocess causinginformation to be
quickly forgotten.
 The followingrecommendations can help make the lecture approach more
effective (Cashin,1990):
 1. Fit the lecture to the audience
 2. Focus your topic - remember you cannotcover everything in one lecture
 3. Prepare an outline that includes 5-9 major points you want to cover in
one lecture
 4. Organizeyour points for clarity
 5. Select appropriateexamples or illustrations
 6. Present more than one sideof an issueand be sensitiveto other
perspectives
 7. Repeat points when necessary
 8. Be aware of your audience- notice their feedback
 9. Be enthusiastic - you don’t have to be an entertainer but you should be
excited by your topic.
(from Cashin,1990,pp. 60-61)
 Case Method. Providingan opportunity for students to apply what they
learn in the classroomto real-lifeexperiences has proven to be an effective
way of both disseminatingand integratingknowledge. The casemethod is
an instructional strategy that engages students in activediscussion about
issues and problems inherent in practical application.Itcan highlight
fundamental dilemmas or critical issuesand providea format for role
playingambiguous or controversial scenarios.
 Course content cases can come from a variety of sources.Many faculty
have transformed current events or problems reported through printor
broadcastmedia into critical learningexperiences that illuminatethe
complexity of findingsolutionsto critical social problems.The casestudy
approach works well in cooperative learningor roleplayingenvironments
to stimulatecritical thinkingand awareness of multipleperspectives.
 Discussion. There are a variety of ways to stimulatediscussion.For
example, some faculty begin a lesson with a whole group discussion to
refresh students’ memories about the assigned reading(s).Other faculty
find it helpful to have students listcritical points or emerging issues,or
generate a set of questions stemming from the assigned reading(s).These
strategies can also beused to help focus largeand small group discussions.
 Obviously,a successful classdiscussion involves planningon the partof the
instructor and preparation on the part of the students. Instructors should
communicate this commitment to the students on the firstday of class by
clearly articulatingcourseexpectations.Justas the instructor carefully
plans the learningexperience, the students must comprehend the assigned
readingand show up for class on time, ready to learn.
 Active Learning. Meyers and Jones (1993) define activelearningas
learningenvironments that allow“students to talk and listen,read,write,
and reflect as they approach coursecontent through problem-solving
exercises,informal small groups,simulations,casestudies, roleplaying,
and other activities -- all of which requirestudents to apply what they are
learning”(p. xi).Many studies show that learningis enhanced when
students become actively involved in the learningprocess.Instructional

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strategies that engage students in the learningprocess stimulatecritical
thinkingand a greater awareness of other perspectives. Although there are
times when lecturingis the most appropriatemethod for disseminating
information,current thinkingin collegeteaching and learningsuggests that
the use of a variety of instructional strategies can positively enhance
student learning.Obviously,teachingstrategies should becarefully
matched to the teaching objectives of a particular lesson.For more
information aboutteaching strategies,see the listof collegeteaching
references in Appendix N.
 Assessingor gradingstudents' contributions in activelearning
environments is somewhat problematic.It is extremely important that the
coursesyllabusexplicitly outlines theevaluation criteriafor each
assignmentwhether individual or group.Students need and want to know
what is expected of them. For more information aboutgrading,see the
EvaluatingStudent Work section contained in this Guide.
 Cooperative Learning. Cooperative Learningis a systematic pedagogical
strategy that encourages small groups of students to work together for the
achievement of a common goal.The term 'CollaborativeLearning' is often
used as a synonym for cooperativelearningwhen, in fact, it is a separate
strategy that encompasses a broader range of group interactions such as
developing learningcommunities,stimulatingstudent/faculty discussions,
and encouragingelectronic exchanges (Bruffee, 1993).Both approaches
stress the importanceof faculty and student involvement in the learning
process.
 When integratingcooperativeor collaborativelearningstrategies into a
course, careful planningand preparation areessential.Understandinghow
to form groups,ensure positiveinterdependence, maintain individual
accountability,resolvegroup conflict,develop appropriateassignments
and gradingcriteria,and manage activelearningenvironments arecritical
to the achievement of a successful cooperativelearningexperience.Before
you begin, you may want to consult several helpful resources which are
contained in Appendix N. In addition,the Programin Support of Teaching
and Learning can provide faculty with supplementary information and
helpful techniques for usingcooperative learningor collaborativelearning
in collegeclassrooms.
 Integrating Technology. Today, educators realizethat computer literacy is
an important part of a student's education. Integrating technology into a
coursecurriculumwhen appropriateis provingto be valuablefor
enhancingand extending the learningexperiencefor faculty and students.
Many faculty have found electronic mail to be a useful way to promote
student/student or faculty/studentcommunication between class
meetings. Others use listserves or on-linenotes to extend topic discussions
and explore critical issues with students and colleagues,or discipline-
specific softwareto increasestudent understandingof difficultconcepts.
 Currently, our students come to us with varyingdegrees of computer
literacy.Faculty who use technology regularly often find it necessary to
providesome basic skill level instruction duringthefirstweek of class.In
the future, we expect that need to decline.For help in integrating
technology into a coursecurriculumcontactthe Programin Support of
Teaching and Learning or the Instructional Development Office (IDO) at
703-993-3141.In addition,watch for information throughout the year
about workshops and faculty conversations on the integration of
technology, teachingand learning.
 Distance Learning. Distancelearningis nota new concept. We have all
experienced learningoutsideof a structured classroomsettingthrough
television,correspondencecourses,etc. Distancelearningor distance
education as a teaching pedagogy, however, is an important topic of
discussion on collegecampuses today. Distancelearningis defined as 'any
form of teachingand learningin which the teacher and learner are not in
the same placeat the same time' (Gilbert,1995).
 Obviously,information technology has broadened our concept of the
learningenvironment. It has made itpossiblefor learningexperiences to
be extended beyond the confines of the traditional classroom.Distance
learningtechnologies take many forms such as computer simulations,
interactivecollaboration/discussion,and the creation of virtual learning
environments connecting regions or nations.Components of distance
learningsuch as email,listserves,and interactivesoftwarehave also been
useful additions to the educational setting