Innovative teaching is a process of proactively introducing new teaching methods and strategies into the classroom as a proactive approach. By introducing these teaching strategies and methods, we hope to improve academic performance and promote equitable learning by addressing real-world problems and addressing the needs of the students.The goal of teaching is to promote learning. The strategies we deploy are to promote learning.Trying out different strategies in the classroom is an iterative process to help us promote learning more effectively and successfully.

Flip the Classroom

In a flipped classroom students review lecture material at home and work on projects and assignments in the classroom. Students in the flipped classroom complete coursework typically sent home as homework in class. The flipped classroom provides a great space for peer-to-peer collaboration. Students can engage one another to complete group projects, debates, and practice. Teachers are not the centre of the flipped classroom. Instead, teachers are more flexible, addressing personalized help and direction for students and student groups as they complete their work.

Jigsaws

Jigsaws are another active learning method. Most importantly, jigsaws introduce the opportunity for students to teach other students. With jigsaws, students are divided into groups and given different pieces of information. Students in each group are then tasked with learning the information enough to be able to explain it to someone else. The students are then assigned to different groups where they explain their information to the other members. They complete this process until each group has the full picture of information to complete the puzzle.

Peer Learning

Peer Learning is a teaching and learning strategy that involves groups of students working together to solve a problem, complete a task, or create a product.Peer learning is an education method that helps students solidify their knowledge by teaching each other. One student tutoring another in a supervised environment can result in better learning and retention.

Blended Learning

Blended learning combines physical and online learning experiences that give students more control over the time, place, path, and pace of instruction. Check out our previous post on blended learning to learn all you need to know. What’s exciting about blended learning is that it provides traditional classroom experiences as well as online tools and learning opportunities. It’s not an all-or-nothing method. Still, technology is a key component of blended learning as it is for students in the real world. The flexibility of blended learning enables students to have more control over their learning methods – perhaps they’ll watch online lectures at home and engage in peer groups for collaborative activities or maybe they’ll prefer to join lecture-based virtual classes and do their homework independently.

Peer Learning Models

Effective peer learning can take place through many different models and strategies. See some of the tried-and-true ways to encourage peer learning.

Proctor Model: In the proctor model, an older or more experienced student teaches a younger or less experienced peer. In an elementary school, this might mean that students from a higher grade level come and teach kindergarteners. It could also entail having a more skilled student within the class teach their classmate.

Discussion Seminars: Discussion seminars are more common at the university level. They’re often held after students learn the material through a lecture or a weekly reading. Through these discussions, students deepen their knowledge and gain additional perspectives.

Peer Support Groups: Sometimes referred to as private study groups, peer support groups are student-led gatherings that are generally held outside of class without teacher support. Peers might meet up to study for a test together or complete a group project.

Peer Assessment Schemes: Peer assessment, or self-assessment, is a process whereby students or their peers grade assignments or tests based on a teacher’s benchmarks.

Collaborative Projects: Assigning students to work on collaborative projects can serve them well for their future endeavours in the workplace and society. These projects teach collaboration, the importance of combining skills, and the need to meet deadlines.

Cascading Groups: Cascading groups is a learning method by which students are split into groups that get either progressively larger or smaller. For instance, students might be encouraged to learn about a distinct topic on their own and then share it with a partner. That partnership would then share their knowledge with another partnership and so forth.

Mentoring: A mentor is someone who has experience in a certain area. They guide a student, training them and teaching them the lessons they once had to learn. Peer tutoring is a form of mentoring. Sometimes students who require extra support are assigned a personal peer mentor who works one-on-one with them to help them succeed.

Reciprocal Teaching: In reciprocal teaching, students must develop the skills of questioning, predicting, summarizing, and clarifying. They teach one another using these techniques. They serve to form a sort of scaffolding for peer-led learning.

Jigsaw Method: In the jigsaw method of peer learning, students are split into groups, with each group given a different topic to study. Then, one student from each group is taken to form a collaborative group where multiple concepts are discussed. If there are eight jigsaw groups, then eight topics will ultimately be discussed in one group.

INQUIRY BASED LEARNING

Inquiry-based learning is a student-centered teaching method that encourages students to ask questions and investigate real-world problems. In this type of learning environment, students are actively engaged in the learning process and are given the opportunity to explore their natural curiosities.

Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a large or small group discussion that involves the spontaneous contribution of creative ideas and solutions. It provides a free and open environment that encourages everyone to participate.Contributions are accepted without criticism or judgement.

Mind Mapping

A mind map is a graphical way to represent ideas and concepts.It is a visual thinking tool that helps structuring information, helping you to better analyze, comprehend, synthesize, recall and generate new ideas.