Instructional Methods and Teaching Strategies
What this domain tests
Matching a method to a learning indicator and justifying the choice against learners, content, time and resources - then describing the lesson structure and questioning moves that make the method work.
Method families
- Teacher-centred: exposition/lecture, demonstration, direct (explicit) instruction.
- Learner-centred: discussion, inquiry, discovery, problem-based learning, project-based learning, cooperative learning (jigsaw, STAD, think-pair-share), role-play, simulation, fieldwork, case study.
- Mixed: questioning, brainstorming, concept mapping, flipped classroom.
Selection criteria
Learning indicator and verb; structure of the content; learners' maturity and prior knowledge; class size; time; available resources; safety; and the assessment that will follow. Justify with these, not with 'it is interesting'.
Lesson structure in Ghanaian SHS
Strand → sub-strand → content standard → learning indicator → core competencies → learning resources → phase 1 starter (recall or hook) → phase 2 main activities → phase 3 plenary and assessment. Success criteria should be shared with learners at the start.
Cooperative learning must be structured
Positive interdependence, individual accountability, promotive interaction, social skills and group processing (Johnson and Johnson). 'Sit in groups and discuss' is not cooperative learning unless those elements are designed in.
Questioning
Distribute questions across the class, use wait time of three to five seconds, probe ('Why do you say that?'), redirect, and climb Bloom's revised taxonomy from remember to create.
Worked example
Indicator: 'Analyse the causes and effects of rural–urban migration in Ghana' for SHS2, 45 students, no textbooks.
Reasoning: the verb is analyse, so students must examine causes, not hear them listed. Structured group inquiry with a teacher-prepared source pack fits. The large class is managed through assigned roles (recorder, presenter, timekeeper) and an individual written summary that supplies accountability. A lecture would be faster but would not produce the analysis the indicator demands; unstructured discovery would overload novices who lack background knowledge.
Traps that cost marks
- Naming a method without linking it to the indicator's verb.
- Treating whole-class question-and-answer as group work.
- Pure discovery for novices - minimally guided instruction overloads working memory; guide it.
- Confusing a teaching resource (a map, a video) with a teaching strategy.
- Writing a lesson plan with activities but no assessment phase.