Teaching Strategies for Direct and Indirect Instruction in Teaching Engineering

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PAPER TEACHING STRATEGIES FOR DIRECT AND INDIRECT INSTRUCTION IN TEACHING ENGINEERING Teaching Strategies for Direct and Indirect Instruction in Teaching Engineering http://dx.doi.org/ijep.v1i3.1805 Tiia Rüütmann, Hants Kipper Tallinn University of Technology Estonian Centre for Engineering Pedagogy Tallinn, Estonia

Abstract—It is important to select the proper instructional II. CATEGORIES OF TEACHING AND LEARNING strategy for a specific learning outcome in teaching engi- One way to vary instruction is to use deductive and in- neering. There are two broad types of learning outcomes: ductive instructional strategies. Deductive strategies are facts, rules and action sequences (on lower levels of complexity in the cognitive, affective and psychomotor do- more direct and straightforward and lend themselves to mains), and concepts, patterns and abstractions (on higher direct instructional approaches, whereas inductive strate- level of complexity in the above named domains). Facts, gies are intended to tap into the interests and thinking rules and action sequences are taught using instructional abilities of the students, being more indirect. strategies of direct instruction. Concepts, patterns and Deductive strategies are instructional approaches that abstractions are taught using strategies of indirect instruc- start with a known principle and then attention moves to tion. Strategies of both types of learning may be combined, the unknown. The strengths of the deductive strategy are providing a menu of teaching strategies that help students the directness and specific focus of the teaching strategy, solve problems, think critically and work cooperatively. and the tight linkage between the teacher’s examples and This article presents teaching strategies suitable for direct the task required of students. The lesson begins with and indirect instruction used in teaching engineering. known principles and then leads to examples of the new principle. It is a fairly direct straightforward way of ad- Index Terms—Teaching strategies; direct instruction; indi- dressing the lesson objective [1]. rect instruction, engineering pedagogy. Inductive strategies are instructional approaches that start with and unknown principle and then attention I. INTRODUCTION moves to a known one. A teacher using an inductive approach may start a lesson with asking questions and Have you ever wondered why some teachers are more using examples and thus helping students to recognize the liked than others? Students cannot wait to attend the principle being learned. This inductive approach is more classes of some teachers, but dread attending the classes indirect, but it can be very effective because students of others. interact with the content to make meaning. Inductive Knowledge of a variety of instructional strategies and strategies often begin with exploratory activities and lead flexibility to change them within and among lessons are to students discovering a concept or generalization. two of greatest assets a teacher can have. Just as the car- Teachers should select the proper instructional strategy penter or electrician must select a proper tool for a spe- for a specific learning outcome [2]: cific task, a teacher must be able to select a proper instruc-  Outcomes for teaching facts, rules and action se- tional strategy for a specific learning outcome. quences often represent behaviors at lower levels of Students learn in various ways, and teachers should complexity in the cognitive, affective and psychomo- vary their use of instructional strategies so that they can tor domains. These include the knowledge, compre- relate to their learning styles and needs. hension and application levels of the cognitive do- Even before instruction takes place, teachers should main; the awareness, responding and valuing levels think about and make decisions concerning prerequisite of the affective domain; and the imitation, manipula- knowledge of students, teaching content, instructional tion and precision levels of the psychomotor domain; strategies, the use of instructional materials and technol-  Outcomes for teaching concepts, patterns and ab- ogy, teaching techniques, classroom management and stractions represent behaviors at the higher levels of discipline, assessment of student learning, and a host of complexity in these domains. They include outcomes other related issues. During instruction, teachers must at the analysis, synthesis and evaluation levels of the implement these decisions in a dynamic way. Decision cognitive domain; the organization and characteriza- making involves giving consideration to a matter, identi- tion levels of the affective domain; and the articula- fying the desired end result, determining the options to get tion and naturalization levels of the psychomotor to the end result and selecting the most suitable option to domain. achieve the desired purpose. Teacher decisions will ulti- mately influence student learning. Facts, rules and action sequences are most commonly taught using instructional strategies that emphasize knowledge acquisition (direct instruction), in a presentation-recitation format, involving large amount of teacher

iJEP ‒ Volume 1, Issue 3, October 2011 37 PAPER TEACHING STRATEGIES FOR DIRECT AND INDIRECT INSTRUCTION IN TEACHING ENGINEERING talk, questions and answers, review and practice, and the tive teaching methods are taught during the study pro- immediate correction of student errors [3]. gram: Concepts, patterns and abstractions are most com-  Pair and compare – students pair off with their monly taught using strategies that emphasize inquiry or neighbors and compare lecture notes filling in what problem solving (indirect instruction). Knowledge acqui- they have missed, thus reviewing and processing re- sition and inquiry are different types of learning out- flectively the lecture content. Time: 2-3 minutes; comes, and each must be linked with specific strategies to  Pair, compare and ask – additionally to the previous reach the desired outcome. Both types of learning could teaching method, students jot down questions on the be combined to provide a menu of teaching strategies that lecture content, thus the material is reviewed and help students solve problems, think critically and work analyzed. Teacher answers the questions that stu- cooperatively. dents cannot answer themselves. Time: 3 minutes, plus time to answer students’ questions; III. EFFECTIVE TEACHING STRATEGIES IN TEACHING  Periodic free-recall, with pare and compare option – ENGINEERING students put away their lecture notes and write down the most important points of the lecture and ques- A. Strategies for Direct Instruction tions they have, thus reviewing and processing re- Direct instructional strategies are academically fo- flectively the lecture content. Students may work in- cused with the teacher clearly stating the goals for the dividually or in pairs and answer each other’s ques- lesson. The teacher monitors student understanding and tions. Time 2-3 minutes, plus time for teacher to an- provides feedback to students on their performance. swer students’ questions; Direct instruction has four key components:  Listen, recall and ask, then pair, compare and an-  Clear determination and articulation of goals; swer – students only listen to mini-lecture with no  Teacher-directed instruction; note-writing, then open notebooks and write down all major points they can recall and questions they have.  Careful monitoring of students´ outcomes; They pair off and compare lecture notes and answer  Consistent use of effective classroom organization each-other’s questions. This activity makes students and management methods. to review and mentally process your lecture content. Time 3-4 minutes for note-writing, 2-4 minutes for Direct instruction is effective because it is based on pair fill-ins and question answering, plus time for behavioralistic learning principles (obtaining students´ teacher to answer remaining questions; attention, reinforcing correct responses, providing correc- tive feedback, and practicing correct responses), increas-  Solve a problem – students solve a problem based on ing the academic learning time during which students are the lecture content it makes students to apply the lec- attending to the task at a high success rate. Students learn ture content, informing the teacher how they have basic skills more rapidly when they receive a greater understood. Time: 3 minutes for solving, 1-3 minutes portion of their instruction directly from the teacher [4]. to answer questions; Most students cannot stay focused throughout a lec-  Pair and discuss – students pair off and discuss an ture. After about 10-15 minutes their attention begins to open ended question, in order to apply, analyze or drift, first for brief moments and then for longer intervals, evaluate the lecture material and synthesize it with and by the end of the lecture they are receiving very little the course material. Time: 3-10 minutes, plus 5 -10 and retaining less. A classroom research study has showed minutes for discussion; that immediately after a lecture students recalled 70% of  Think-pair-share – teacher gives students an open the information presented in the first ten minutes and only question or a problem and asks them to think quietly, 20% of that from the last ten minutes [2]. Students’ atten- then to discuss with their neighbor and finally to tion can be maintained throughout a class session by share with the class; giving them periodically something to do [5].  Students’ teams achievement divisions – after a lec- There is no sense to stop a lecture and wait for stu- ture students’ teams receive a worksheet to discuss, dents’ questions. More effective in teaching engineering is complete and give oral presentation on results to oth- to involve students actively, thus finding out what the ers; students have not understood and only then the teacher  Send a problem – each group of students write a answers arisen questions. The wide array of effective question or a problem on a flashcard and write a right active methods in lecture should wipe off the notion that answer or a solution on the back. The card is passed good teachers are born and not made [6]. to other groups which formulate their own answers Once a teacher incorporates students’ active breaks and check them against that written on the back side, into the lecture, an interactive lecture is given, during and write their alternative answers if necessary. At which students are in some way interacting with the mate- the end the original senders discuss alternative an- rial for brief, controlled period of time. A teacher must swers; carefully time-control the student-active breaks, thus  The one-minute paper – students summarize the most keeping students focused on the task [7]. important or useful points they learned from the lec- At Estonian Centre for Engineering Pedagogy several ture and questions that remained. It helps students tested interactive methods, suitable for teaching engineer- think, absorb, digest, extrapolate and internalize new ing are taught to the future technical teachers. The stu- material moving it to long-term memory; dents practice holding interactive lectures in seminars and  The muddiest point – students give a quick response workshops. The following most frequently used interac- to a question: “What was not clear or confusing point

38 http://www.i-jep.org PAPER TEACHING STRATEGIES FOR DIRECT AND INDIRECT INSTRUCTION IN TEACHING ENGINEERING

in the lecture or topic?” They must identify and for-  Providing feedback and correctives – providing stu- mulate what they did not understand. This method dents with an additional explanations and correct an- requires some higher-order thinking skills, ability to swers if necessary; concentrate and pay attention;  Conducting independent practice – providing the  One-sentence summary – students summarize con- additional review and reinforcement; cisely, completely and creatively a large amount of  Weekly and monthly review. information of the lecture or topic, thus developing abilities to synthesize, summarize and integrate ideas The following main strategies of direct instructions and information; may be used in teaching engineering [3]:  Directed paraphrasing – develop students’ ability to  Presentations – should be used when objectives other translate highly specialized information into every- than knowledge are sought; the information is de- day language paraphrasing a lesson compactly in tailed, abstract or complex; learner involvement is their own words; important; higher cognitive learning is sought, or  Application cards – after students have heard or read students are below average ability; presentations are about an important principle, theory etc index cards more effective when using interactive breaks; are handed out to write down at least one possible  Demonstrations – involves a visual presentation to real-world application for what has been learned. The examine processes, information and ideas allowing method develops ability to think creatively, to apply students to observe real things and how they work; principles to a new problem and situation, to draw in-  Questioning – is a critical instructional strategy [6]; terferences from observation.  Recitations – determine if students remember or A well-known direct instruction approach, explicit understand previously covered content with the teaching calls for the teacher to gain student attention, teacher clearly in control of directing the learning; reinforce correct responses, provide feedback to students  Practice and drills – going over the material just on their progress, and increase the amount of time that learned to consolidate, clarify and emphasize what students spend actively engaged in learning course con- has already been learned and repeating information tent. Its objective is to teach skills and help students to on the topic until it is firmly established in students´ master a body of knowledge. Ten general principles apply minds; when developing and explicit teaching lesson [2]:  Guided practice and homework – teacher-directed  Begin a lesson with a short statement of goals; strategy for the use of techniques through which stu-  Begin a lesson with a short review of previous dents use and practice the knowledge and skills being prerequisite learning; addressed in the class, including seatwork, teacher-  Present new material in small steps, with student led practice, student cooperative practice and home- practice after each step; work;  Give clear and detailed instructions and explanations;  Review – an opportunity to look at the topic another time, not requiring drill techniques, being intended to  Provide a high level of active practice for all stu- reinforce the material learned; dents;  Ask many questions, check for student understand- When preparing a lesson plan, it is not enough to write ing, and obtain responses from all students; a discussion plan. Teacher should select at least three discussion questions ahead that will advance student  Guide students during initial practice; understanding. These key questions should guide mean-  Provide systematic feedback and corrections; ingful discussion in the class, the questions should include  Provide explicit instruction and practice for seatwork words how, why, what if. Also teachers could ask students exercises, and when necessary, monitor students dur- to explain their views by citing material from what has ing seatwork; been covered in the class [6].  Continue practice until students are independent and The direct instruction model is characterized by full- confident. class instruction by the organization of learning based questions, provision of detailed and redundant practice, by Based on studies of explicit teaching, six teaching func- presentation of material. Direct instruction is most appro- tions have been identified [1]: priate when the content in textbooks does not appear in  Daily review – to determine if students have obtained appropriately sized piece, and when it is necessary to the necessary prerequisite knowledge or skills for the arouse student interest. lesson; While using direct instruction, the teacher is clearly in  Presenting and structuring – effective teachers spend control of the content or skill to be learned and the pace more time presenting new material and guiding prac- and rhythm of the lesson, introducing new skills or con- tice than do less effective teachers, they also explain cepts in a relatively short period of time. learning objectives to be covered, teach one point at Direct instruction is limited to learning units of the con- a time and provide specific examples; tent taught so they can be remembered and composing  Conducting guided practice – the purpose of which is parts of the content learned into a whole, so that a rapid to supervise initial practice of a skill and to provide and automatic answer can occur. The task for the learner reinforcement necessary to progress new learning is simply to produce a response that mirrors the form and from short-term into long-term memory; content of the stimulus. Learning at lower levels of the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains relays

iJEP ‒ Volume 1, Issue 3, October 2011 39 PAPER TEACHING STRATEGIES FOR DIRECT AND INDIRECT INSTRUCTION IN TEACHING ENGINEERING heavily on remembering and composing, a great deal of  Cooperative learning – involving students work to- teaching involves these simple processes. gether addressing specific instructional tasks, aiding and supporting each other; B. Strategies for Indirect Instruction  Simulations – student-directed activity placing stu- Real-world activities, however often involve analysis, dents in situations that model a real-life environment synthesis and decision-making behaviors in the cognitive requiring, assuming roles, making decisions, facing domain, organization and characterization behaviors in the consequences. affective domain, and articulation and naturalization behaviors in the psychomotor domain. These behaviors are The learner acquires information by transforming not learned by memorizing and rapidly and automatically stimulus material into a response that requires students to reassembling them into a whole. Instead they must be rearrange and elaborate on the stimulus material. The constructed by learner´s own attempts to use personal process of generalization helps students classify different- experiences and past learning to bring meaning to and appearing stimuli into the same categories on the basis of make sense out of the content provided. Teaching for essential attributes. higher-order outcomes requires instructional strategies The main instructional strategies of the inductive model that represent the indirect instruction [7]. in teaching engineering are: use of advance organizers Indirect instruction is an approach to teaching and (gives students a conceptual preview of what is to come learning in which concepts, patterns and abstractions are and helps them store, label, package the content for reten- taught in the context of strategies that emphasize concept tion and later use), conceptual movement (inductive- learning, inquiry learning and problem-centered learning. deductive), use of examples and non-examples (helping to There are various ways to use indirect strategies: some define the essential and nonessential attributes needed for have a higher degree of teacher-directed activities and making accurate generalizations), use of questions (to others have students more actively involved in planning guide students into discovering new dimensions of prob- and designing instructional activities. In teaching engi- lem or new ways of resolving a dilemma), use of student neering more commonly used indirect instructional strate- ideas (to heighten student interest, tailor feedback, organ- gies are inductive and social strategies. ize subject content around student problems, encourage positive attitudes toward the subject), student self- More commonly used inductive instructional strategies evaluation (to reason out their answers, comment and in teaching engineering are: consider the accuracy of the responses), use of group  Concept attainment strategies – concepts serve as the discussion (involves student exchanges with successive building blocks for student higher-level thinking, be- interactions among a large number of students, helps to ing the main ideas used to help to categorize and dif- review, summarize and evaluate). ferentiate information: comparisons, classifications, Generalization in indirect strategy is a process by which metaphors and analogies, using questions, drawing the learner responds in a similar manner to different stim- examples and non-examples in order to define the es- uli, thereby increasing the range of instances to which sential and nonessential attributes needed for making particular facts, rules and sequences apply. By discrimina- accurate generalizations; tion learner selectively restricts the acceptable range of  Inquiry lessons – inquiry, discovery and problem- instances by eliminating things that may look like the solving approaches, being open-ended and creative concept but differ from it on critical dimensions. The way of seeking knowledge, consisting of following processes of generalization and discrimination together steps identify and clarity the problem, for hypothe- help students classify different-appearing stimuli into the ses, collect data, brainstorm solutions, formulate same categories on the basis of essential attributes acting questions, investigate, analyze and interpret the data as magnets, drawing together all instances of a concept to test hypotheses, discuss, reflect, draw conclusions, without the learner having to see or memorize all in- present results; stances of it.  Projects, reports, problems – project-based lessons In indirect instruction the role of questions is to guide flow in problem-solving environment where students students into discovering new dimensions of a problem or work independently or cooperatively solving prob- new ways of resolving a dilemma. The use of questions lems; during indirect instruction includes the following [5]:

More common indirect social strategies used in teach-  Refocusing; ing engineering are:  Presenting contradictions to be resolved;  Discussions – students learn when they participate,  Probing for deeper more thorough responses; thinking out loud about concepts. The use of full-  Extending the discussion to new areas; group discussions and small-group discussions im-  Passing responsibility to the class. proves student interactions. The best strategy in small-group discussions is to use think-pair-share Inductive teaching methods suitable for teaching engi- method (teacher poses a question; students think in- neering (project-based, problem-based learning, and “just- dividually; each students discusses his/her answer in-time” teaching) are taught in the teaching process of the with a fellow student; students share their answers master program for technical teachers at Estonian Centre with the whole class) – students learn from one an- for Engineering Pedagogy. other; In problem-based learning students are confronted with  Students self-evaluation – engaging students in criti- an open-ended, real-world problem and work in teams to cal evaluation of their own responses and thereby identify learning needs and develop a viable solution, with taking responsibility for their own learning; instructors acting as facilitators rather than primary

40 http://www.i-jep.org PAPER TEACHING STRATEGIES FOR DIRECT AND INDIRECT INSTRUCTION IN TEACHING ENGINEERING sources of information. A well-designed problem guides plans, and setting the stage for active engagement in the students to use course content and methods, illustrates classroom. Just-in-time teaching classes are a combination fundamental principles, concepts, and induces the students of interactive lectures, in which the instructor does a fair to infer those things for themselves instead of getting amount of mini-lecturing between activities and laborato- them directly from the instructor; thus engaging the stu- ries. In the lectures, the instructor might begin by summa- dents in the types of reflection and activities that lead to rizing student responses to the preparatory exercises and higher-order learning. Problem-based learning is not an then discussing common errors. The collaborative recita- easy teaching method to implement. It requires consider- tions are likely to begin with a review of the homework, able subject expertise and flexibility on the part of instruc- and then teams of students work on new problems [7]. tors, who may be forced out of their areas of expertise [7]. Just-in-time teaching is widely used in teaching technical Project-based learning begins with an assignment to teachers at Estonian Centre for Engineering Pedagogy. carry out one or more tasks that lead to the production of the final product – a design, a model, a device or a com- C. Applying Induction and Deduction puter simulation and is very suitable for engineering edu- Both induction and deduction are important tools for cation. The culmination of the project is normally a writ- concept learning, inquiry learning and problem-centered ten report summarizing the procedure used to produce the learning. But neither model need be used to the exclusion product and presenting the outcome. of the other. The teaching of concepts with the indirect There are three types of projects in engineering educa- instructional strategies uses inductive and deductive think- tion that differ in the degree of student autonomy: ing to develop initially crude and overly restrictive concepts into more expansive and accurate understandings  Task project: student teams work on projects that [8]. have been defined by the instructor, using largely instructor-prescribed methods. This type of project In Table I some examples of direct and indirect instruc- provides minimal student motivation and skill devel- tion have been presented. opment, and is part of traditional instruction in most Under direct instruction the objective is rapid attain- engineering curricula. ment of facts, rules and action sequences. Content is di-  Discipline project: the instructor defines the subject vided into small, easily learned steps through the presenta- area of the projects and specifies in general terms the tion, involving brief explanations, examples, practice and approaches to be used (which normally involve feedback. Both guided and independent practice help en- methods common in the discipline of the subject area), but the students identify the specific project TABLE I. and design the particular approach they will take to EXAMPLES OF OF DIRECT AND INDIRECT INSTRUCTION complete it.  Problem project: the students have nearly complete Direct Instruction Indirect Instruction autonomy to choose their project and their approach Objective: To teach facts, rules Objective: To teach concepts, to it. and action sequences patterns and abstractions

The teacher begins the lesson with A common difficulty faced by engineering students in a The teacher begins the lesson advance organizers that provide an with a review of the previous project-based environment is transferring methods and overall picture and allow for day´s work skills acquired in one project to another project in a differ- concept expansion. ent subject or discipline. Teachers educators should in- The teacher focuses student The teacher presents new clude such transference in their course objectives and responses using induction and/or content in samll steps, provid- deduction to refine and focus should guide students to see connections between their ing explanations and examples current project and what they have learned previously, generalizations gradually withdrawing this support as the students become The teacher provides an opportunity for guided practice on a The teacher presents examples and more adept at seeing the connections themselves. Teach- small nuber oif sample prob- non-examples of the generaliza- ers should also prepare students to fill in gaps in content lems and then prompts and tions, identifying critical and knowledge when a need arises, taking into account the models when necessary to noncritical attributes fact that such gaps may more likely arise in project-based attain 60-80% accuracy learning than in conventional lecture-based instruction. The teacher provides feedback and correctives according to The teacher draws additional Just-in-time teaching [7] combines Web-based technol- whether the answer was cor- examples from student´s own rect, quick and firm; correct but ogy with active learning methods in the classroom. Stu- experiences, interests and prob- hesitant; incorrect due to dents individually complete Web-based assignments lems carelessness; or incorrect due to before class in which they answer questions, the instructor the lack of knowledge reads through their answers before class and adjusts the The teacher provides an lessons accordingly (“just in time”). The use of questions opprtunity for independent The teacher uses questions to to drive learning makes the method inductive. It can be practice with seatwork and guide discovery and articulation of combined with almost any in-class active learning ap- strives for automatic responses the generalization proach. The preliminary Web-based exercises normally that are at least 95% correct require the student to preview the textbook material. The The teacher involves students in evaluating their own responses exercises are conceptual in nature and are designed to help The teacher provides weekly students confront misconceptions they may have about the nad monthly reviews and re- The teacher promotes and moder- teaches unlearned content ates discussion to firm up and course material. They serve the functions of encouraging extend generalizations when students to prepare for class regularly, helping teachers to necessary identify students’ difficulties in time to adjust their lesson

iJEP ‒ Volume 1, Issue 3, October 2011 41 PAPER TEACHING STRATEGIES FOR DIRECT AND INDIRECT INSTRUCTION IN TEACHING ENGINEERING sure that students are actively engaged in the learning TABLE II. process at a high rate of success. Weekly and monthly COMPARISON OF INDUCTIVE AND DEDUCTIVE TEACHING reviews reinforce learned content and indicate what may need to be re-taught. Teaching Inductively Teaching Deductively Table II illustrates the different steps involved in induc- The teacher presents specific The teacher introduces the gener- tive versus deductive teaching. data from which a generaliza- alization to be learned tion is to be drawn Under indirect instruction, the objective is to teach con- Students are allowed uninter- The teacher reviews the task- cepts, patterns and abstractions with a problem, inquiry or rupted time to observe or study relevant prior facts, rules, and the data illustrating generaliza- action sequences needed to form concept-centered lesson. The teacher prepares for teaching tioin the generalization high-order outcomes by providing an overall framework Students raise a question, pose an Students are shown additional or content organization into which the lesson is placed, hypothesis or make prediction examples and non-examples thought to be supported by gener- allowing for problem solutions, inquiry and concepts to be supporting gerenalization developed. Initially crude and inaccurate responses are alization gradually refined through induction and deduction, focus- Student attention is guided first to the critical (relevant) aspects Data, events, materials and objects ing on generalization of what is learned to some larger of the data supporting the are gathered and observed to test context. To accomplish this, both examples and non- generalization and thento the the prediction examples – some drawn from student interests and experi- noncritical (irrelevant) aspects ences – are used to distinguish essential from non- The results of the test are analyzed essential attributes. Throughout the teacher uses questions and a conclusion is drawn as to to guide students to inquire about and discover concepts whether the prediction is sup- A generalization is made that ported by the data, events, materi- and problem solutions and to evaluate their own re- distinguishes the examples als or subjects that were observed from the non-examples sponses. When the content is relatively unstructured, The starting generalization is discussion groups may replace a more teacher-controlled refined or revised in accordance format, and the teacher becomes a moderator: with the observations.  Orienting students to the objective of the discussion;  Providing new or more accurate information where psychological structure, social structure, teaching media needed; and teaching methods, all having a complex interdepend- ent relationship [4]. Taking account of the named compo-  Reviewing, summarizing or putting together opinions and facts into a meaningful relationship; nents a technical teacher can build up an effective model of engineering pedagogy for teaching engineering. Some  Adjusting the flow of information and ideas to be strategies introduced below are used at Estonian Centre most productive for the goals of the lesson; for Engineering Pedagogy in order to teach engineering  Combining ideas and promoting compromise to ar- more effectively. rive at an appropriate consensus. Write comprehensive instructional objectives that list

Direct and indirect instruction are often used together the things the students should be able to do (identify, even within the same lesson. Teachers should not adopt explain, calculate, model, design, critique etc) to demon- one model to the exclusion of the other. Each contains a strate that they have satisfactorily mastered the knowledge set of strategies that can compose an efficient and effec- and skills the instructor wants them to master, including tive method for the teaching of facts, rules and sequences high-level thinking and problem-solving skills [5], [7], and to solve problems, inquire and learn concepts. and [8]. Make the objectives available to the students. Design IV. TEACHING MODEL THAT WRKS in-class activities and homework to provide practice in the desired skills, and make the tests specific instances of a Most professors begin teaching without so much as five subset of the instructional objectives [4], [5], [7], and [8]. minutes of training on how to do it. Even those who are genuinely concerned about their students and would like Find out at the beginning of a course what most of the to be effective teachers automatically fall back on straight students know and don’t know and what misconceptions lecturing, which is the only instructional strategy most of they have about the subject – start teaching from that point them have ever seen. Although they work hard to make [4]. the course material as comprehensible and interesting as Recognize that good students vary considerably in mo- they can, many of them consistently see only glazed eyes tivation, cultural background, interests, and learning style, during their lectures, terrible test grades, and evaluations and teach accordingly. Motivate learning – relate the suggesting that the students liked neither the course nor material being presented to what has come before and them. Some of them eventually figure out better ways to what will to come in the same course, to material in other do their job; others never do, and spend their careers courses, and particularly to the students’ personal experi- teaching ineffectively. ence [4], [5]. Teaching methods fostering active and long-term en- Provide a balance of concrete information (facts, data, gagement with learning tasks emphasizing conceptual real or hypothetical experiments and their results) and understanding are used in the study program for technical abstract concepts (principles, theories, and mathematical teachers at Estonian Centre for Engineering Pedagogy. models), using both, deductive and inductive teaching. Teaching is a process being a subject to specific regu- Balance material that emphasizes practical problem- larities and determined by a series of components solving methods with material that emphasizes fundamen- throughout its course – teaching goals, teaching materials, tal understanding [3], [4], and [5].

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Follow the scientific method in completing, structuring vidual accountability for all the work done and following and presenting theoretical material. Provide concrete other procedures known to promote good teamwork skills examples of the phenomena the theory describes or pre- (including communication, leadership, project manage- dicts then develop the theory or formulate the mod and ment, time management, and conflict resolution skills). show how the theory or mod can be validated, deduce its This is cooperative learning [1], [2]. consequences and present applications [3], [4], and [5]. At Estonian Centre for Engineering Pedagogy coopera- Use pictures, schematics, graphs, and simple sketches tive learning is used. Cooperative learning is an instruc- liberally before, during, and after the presentation of tional approach in which students work in teams on a verbal material. Show films. Provide demonstrations, learning task structured to have the following features [1], hands-on, if possible. Use suitable modern teaching media [3], and [7]: [3], [4], and [5].  Positive independence – there must be a clearly de- Do not fill every minute of class time lecturing and fined group goal (complete the problem set, write the writing on the board. Provide intervals – however brief – lab report, design the process) that requires involve- for students to think about what they have been told [3], ment of every team member to achieve. If anyone [5], and [7]. fails to do his/her part, everyone is penalized in some Provide opportunities for students to do something ac- manner; tive besides transcribing notes, hold interactive lectures.  Individual accountability – each student in the team Small-group activities that take no more than five minutes is held responsible for doing his/her share of the are extremely effective for this purpose [3], [7]. work and for understanding everyone else’s contri- In addition to interactive lecturing, have students work bution; individually and in small groups on brief course-related  Face-to-face interaction - although some of the activities, such as answering questions, setting up problem group work may be parceled out and done individu- solutions, completing steps in derivations, interpreting ally, some must be done interactively, with team observations or experimental data, estimating, predicting, members providing one another with questions, brainstorming, troubleshooting. Call on several students feedback, and instruction; for responses at the conclusion of each activity then invite  Appropriate use of interpersonal and teamwork skills volunteers to provide more responses to open-ended ques- – students should be helped to develop leadership, tions, and proceed with the lesson when the desired points communication, conflict resolution, and time man- have been made. This is active learning [3], [6], and [8]. agement skills; Assign some drill exercises to provide practice in the  Regular self-assessment of team functioning – teams basic methods being taught. Also provide some open- should periodically be required to examine what they ended problems, questions and exercises that call for are doing well together and what areas need im- analysis, synthesis and evaluation [5], [7], and [8]. provement. Recognize that students learn best when they perceive a need to know the material being taught. Start with realistic Cooperative learning exercises may be performed in or complex problems, let students establish what they know out of class. Common tasks for cooperative learning and what they need to find out, and then guide them in groups in engineering are completing laboratory reports, finding it out by providing a combination of resources design projects, and homework assignments in lecture (which may include interactive mini-lectures and inte- courses. grated hands-on or simulated experiments) and guidance Once a class accustomed to group work gets started on on performing library and Internet research. This is induc- a problem, the classroom atmosphere is transformed: tive teaching and has a number of variations, including discussions, arguments, and occasional laughter can be problem-based learning, project-based learning, guided heard, all sounds of learning taking place. Even students inquiry, discovery learning, and just-in-time teaching [1], who may not be doing much talking are engaged in think- [2]. ing about the question at hand instead of just mechanically Supplement the traditional content with training in transcribing notes. Just five minutes of activities in a 50- critical and creative thinking, methods of solving open- minute class can be enough to keep the students awake ended multidisciplinary problems (which tend to be what and attentive for the remaining 45 minutes of lecturing. practicing engineers spend most of their time dealing with) [2], [3], and [4]. V. CONCLUSION Talk to students about different learning styles, both in When used with the appropriate content and purpose, advising and in classes. Students are reassured to find direct and indirect instruction can significantly improve their academic difficulties may not all be due to personal teaching effectiveness. Although both models of instruc- inadequacies [8]. tion are significant contributions to teaching and learning, Although the diverse styles with which students learn neither should exclusively dominate the instructional style are numerous, the inclusion of a relatively small number in teaching engineering. It would be unfortunate if teach- of described techniques as an instructor’s teaching tools ing exemplified only the direct model or the indirect should be sufficient to meet the needs of most or all of the model as the original purpose of introducing these models students in any engineering class. The techniques and is to increase the instructional strategies in teaching engi- suggestions presented above should serve this purpose in neering. any case. These models and their strategies provide a variety of Assign a combination of individual work and team- instructional tools that could be used in many combina- work, structuring the latter to provide assurances of indi- tions to match teacher´s particular objectives and students.

iJEP ‒ Volume 1, Issue 3, October 2011 43 PAPER TEACHING STRATEGIES FOR DIRECT AND INDIRECT INSTRUCTION IN TEACHING ENGINEERING

Just as different entrees have prominent and equal places [3] Eggen P.D; Kauchak D.P.: Strategies and Models for Teachers, on a menu, so should the direct and indirect models have Teaching Content and Thinking Skills, Pearson Education, 2006, prominent and equal places in teaching engineering. 376 p. Teachers should alternately employ both, the direct and [4] Melezinek A., Ingenieurpädagogik. “Praxis der Vermittlung technischen Wissens”, Springer, 1999, 237 p. indirect instruction to create tantalizing combinations of [5] Orlich D.C.; Harder R.J.; Callahan R.C.: Teaching Strategies – A educational flavors for the students. Guide of Effective Instruction, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007, Professional-level teaching is both an art and a science. 384 p. Like an artist, a good technical teacher makes decision [6] Rüütmann T; Kipper H.: Strategies and Techniques of Question- from both a technical and a creative perspective. Profes- ing Effectuating Thinking and Deep Understanding in Teaching sional technical teachers develop their science by using Engineering at Estonian Centre for Engineering Pedagogy, Prob- carefully-planned, fine-tuned lessons that reflect an under- lems of Education in 21th Century, vol 19, pp 36 – 45, 2010. standing of many different teaching techniques. They [7] Felder, R. M., “Inductive Teaching and Learning Methods: Defi- nitions, Comparisons and Research Bases”, Journal of Engineer- develop artistry by being aware of what they are doing, ing Education. 95 (2), pp 123-138, 2006. and how it affects their learners. They are constantly [8] Felder, R. M., “Teaching Engineering in the 21st Century with a aware that the choices they make affect the intellectual, 12th-Century Model: How Bright is that?”. Chemical Engineering attitudinal and psychomotor skills of their students. Above Education, 40(2), 110-113, 2006. all, they make decisions. AUTHORS REFERENCES Tiia Rüütmann and Hants Kipper are with Tallinn [1] Burden P.R.; Byrd D.M., A.B.: Methods for Effective Teaching, University of Technology, Estonian Centre for Engineer- Meeting the needs of All Students, Pearson Education, 2010, 377 ing Pedagogy, Tallinn, Estonia. p. [2] Borich G.: Effective Teaching Methods, Research-Based Practice, Received 30 August 2011. Published as resubmitted by the authors 26 7th ed., Pearson Education, 2011, 477 p. August 2011.

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