Guido Schwerdt, a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard and researcher at Germany’s Ifo Institute for Economic Research, discusses a recent study that he co-authored. It found that eighth graders performed better on standardized content-based mathematics tests when their teachers instructed more with lectures than with problem-based approaches. Gains were observed for the entire cohort, but were significantly better for high-performing students.
Some of the online commenters appear to be somewhat defensive about the results. However, assuming that these results can be replicated in other settings, they do not discredit problem-based instructional methods. Rather, they suggest that lectures, when teachers prepare and deliver them well, are still a useful instructional method. Well-taught courses should not rely on any one method whether that is lecture, demonstration, or simulations.
Sage on the Stage: Is Lecturing Really All That Bad? (Guido Schwerdt and Amelie C. Wupperman/Education Next)
Is Traditional Teaching Really All That Bad: A Within-Student Between-Subject Approach [Complete Working Paper] (Guido Schwerdt and Amelie C. Wupperman)
Email
Twitter
Vimeo
Flickr
Subscribe via RSS
Follow on Tumblr
Mobile version
Random post