Teaching Strategies Catalogue:

Interviewing
Explanation

DESCRIPTION: Interviewing is a form of interactive instruction, which is an instructional

strategy that involves students working with others in order to move toward their learning
goals. An interview refers to a meeting or conversation held between individuals during which
questions are asked and information is obtained.

HOW DOES IT WORK: Interviews can serve a variety of purposes within the classroom. For
example, teachers may conduct interviews among their students as a method of formative
assessment. Furthermore, students may engage in interviewing as a strategy to enhance their
learning. Students may interview one another within the classroom, or they may interview
individuals outside of the classroom, depending on the particular learning goal. Interviews have
the ability to enrich student learning, as students have the potential to interact with more
knowledgeable others, different perspectives, and those with first-hand experience.

STEPS TO IMPLEMENT: The steps to implement interviewing as a teaching strategy, as

described by Jackie Acree Walsh and Beth Dankert Sattes (2011), is as follows:

1. Students prepare a list of questions that they will use in their interview, keeping in mind
both the topic they are investigating and their interviewee

2. Students engage in the interview

o Students ask questions with interest in the interviewees response
o Students listen to interviewees response and record notes
o Students probe, as necessary, to get behind the interviewees thinking
o Example: Can you give an example? Can you say more about that?
o Refrain from making evaluative comments

3. Students summarize their data after the interview

o Students re-read their interview notes
o Students create a summary of the big ideas

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Key Considerations

BENEFITS: Interviewing is a fun and engaging method for students to engage with curriculum
in depth. It allows students to explore various perspectives, relate to concepts personally, and
gain additional insight. Furthermore, students can connect on a personal level with their
interviewee, whether that be another student, a family member, or member of their
community. Additionally, as discussed in Educational Psychology, in order for information to be
stored in our long-term memories, it must be encoded using either the phonological loop, the
episodic buffer, or the visuospatial sketchpad. Interviewing strategies have the potential to
activate both students phonological loop (the speech-based storage system that handles
auditory and verbal information) and episodic buffer (the storage system that integrates input
from a variety of different sources and stores information as one entire event or episode). Thus,
interviewing is a great strategy to promote long-term retention of learning outcomes.

LIMITATIONS: It is often difficult to anticipate the potential range of answers that

interviewees may give during their interviews (Dimitra Hartas, 2010). Interviewee responses
may inappropriate, off topic, or clash with the curriculum. Furthermore, students that are shy
may struggle with the interactive interview process itself. It may make these students
uncomfortable and/or keep them from achieving the full potential the interview has to offer
their learning. Students may also struggle to develop meaningful interview questions if they do
not understand the topic that is being explored.

LOGISTICAL CONSIDERATIONS: The instructional strategy of interviewing can be

incorporated into classrooms of any size or subject. Interviews can be used prior to learning, in
order to spark interest in a topic, or the strategy can be applied after learning, in order to
reinforce and further understanding. Furthermore, for older or more advanced readers,
teachers may allow students more independence in their interview process. For example, these
students may create their own interview questions and choose their own interviewee.
However, for younger students or those with learning disabilities, teacher may want to provide
more structure in the interview process. For example, teacher may want to provide interview
questions or co-create them with students. Furthermore, a teacher may decide who the
interviewee is to be.

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ASSUMPTIONS: Interviewing is an instructional strategy that assumes that teaching and
learning is an interactive process that places emphasis on drawing connections. During the
interview process, the learning is derived from the interviewees personal experiences and their
knowledge on a particular subject. The interviewer can explore topics in a more personable
light, and engrain the curriculum concepts into their memory by connecting them to narratives.

POWER DYNAMICS: In the instructional strategy of interviewing, it is the students that hold
the power as opposed to the teacher. Students get to create their interview questions,
although sometimes guided by their teachers. Furthermore, students may be presented with
the opportunity to choose their interviewee. The process of interviewing also allows students
to take an active role in their learning by deciding the extent to which they delve into the
concepts. Hartas (2010) states, The interviewer is able to probe participants responses in
order to gain more detailed data, and that they can seek clarification regarding the meaning of
particular (e.g. ambiguous) answers.

APPROPRIATENESS: Interviewing may be used across subjects and grades. Interviewing is a

great way for students of any age to engage in curriculum and learning, although may work for
some subjects better than others. For example, interviews may be more difficult to incorporate
into a math class than perhaps a social studies or english class. Furthermore, depending on the
particular learning goal, the person who should be interviewed changes. For example, when
conducting interviews of past events, such as World War II, an elderly person should be
interviewed as opposed to a classmate.

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 Teaching Strategies Catalogue:

Field Trips
Explanation

DESCRIPTION: Experiential Learning is an important aspect to a student's learning. It allows

students experience learning rather than being taught verbally and doing paper assignments.
Behrendt and Franklin (2014) see field trips as Experiential Learning and that it involves hands
on learning that students get to learning through physically interacting with the content.
Students can learning the application of a concepts easier because you can involve interactive
real life experiences. During field trips students will often not be introduced to new information
but expand and use the knowledge that they have been taught in the classroom.

HOW DOES IT WORK:

How can teachers implement field trips:
Explaining Field Trips.
Field trips provide students an alternative way to learning a subject
matter away from the classroom. Field trips work best when they are
unique and memorable so that students get the full extent of the benefits
for this change in pace of their educational experience.
When to do field trips:
Most field trips will happen during the school day but overnight field trips
can be an option.

STEPS TO IMPLEMENT: The steps to implement a field trip for teachers below is according
to Behrendt and Franklin (2014) they shared three steps.
Three Steps to planning field trips
Before - There must be a learning objective that needs to me met within the
curriculum. Not all learning outcomes would be effective for a field trip but there
are many that are. A teacher in encouraged to visit the location of the field trip
and if it involves a community member they should introduce themselves and
both understand each other's expectations before the trip. Also students should
be prepared for this unique learning experience. Its especially important that the

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 students understand the connection of the field trip to their learning in the
classroom.
During - A teacher must become an effective role so that the field trip is
meaningful for students. Some field trips would require a teacher to sit back and
observe and others the teacher would still be the main source of information. In
most cases a teacher would need to be prepared to make sure students act
accordingly to what's expected. This is an important aspect because students
tend to show extreme excitement on field trips, while others will be
uncomfortable. A teacher need to recognize and act accordingly.
After- Field trips need proper debriefing and reflection to reinforce what has
been taught and learned.

Key Considerations

BENEFITS:
Can involve members and locations that are in the community.
Field trips can motivate students to learn a subject that they normally wouldnt enjoy,
Strengthens observation and perception skills of students.
Can be used with all age groups.
Students will gain a personal connection first hand with a learning objective.

LIMITATIONS:
Field trips require a lot of planning, organization and inquiry time from educators.
They require extra support both financially and physically.
Transportation is often required.
Managing students can be difficult in new situations.

LOGISTICAL CONSIDERATIONS:
What is needed to implement field trips?
Administration approval and financial support.
Transportation for students to the location.
An organization or an individual willing to share knowledge about a concept that
will enrich your students learning.
Assistants to help supervise and assist during the field trip.
A plan to resolve for any potential behavioral issues.
Consider class size and any disabilities or restrictions your students may need.

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ASSUMPTIONS: Field trips are a beneficial learning strategy that is geared towards a learner
centered way of teaching. Some believe that students learning best through their own
experience and not from worksheets. During a field trip students get to interact with what they
are learning. In many ways their learning will become more clear if executed properly. Field
trips work effective in many subject areas.

POWER DYNAMICS: In field trips, there are many individuals that could potentially have the
power. Ultimately the administration and parents have the power about field trips. They both
can decide whether or not students will go on a trip. Secondly teachers have the power to
decide if they want to go on a field trip and the purpose of the field trip.

APPROPRIATENESS: Field trips can be used for a wide degree of ages and topics. Field trips
are not limited only to elementary school but continue even into postsecondary experiences.
They can enhance the learning experience for students; however, field trips are expensive and
time consuming. In some cases field trips won't be as effective for some learning objectives and
for some students. Field trips should be utilized at appropriate times for students to benefit.

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 Teaching Strategies Catalogue:

Inquiry
Explanation

DESCRIPTION: Inquiry based learning is a technique that enables students to get actively
involved in their own learning process. Through posing a question, this method allows
educators to guide students from a position of wonder to a position of investigation. When
given this freedom, success is only gained when students engage fully with the task given.
Power is placed on the students motivation to learn, as there is no predetermined path to
knowledge.

HOW DOES IT WORK: To carry out this process the teacher spark students curiosity by
presenting an investigative question, problem, or new experience to his/her students. Students
may also form their own inquiry questions while they undergo their research.

STEPS TO IMPLEMENT:
The chart below shows the steps involved in implementing an inquiry based learning strategy.

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Key Considerations

BENEFITS:
Creates a supportive learning environment
It teaches students to be motivated learners
Fosters students independence
Learning can be more rewarding based on the control given to the learner
Greater understanding results when students engage independently with their own
research

LIMITATIONS:
Harder to implement this strategy with younger ages, as they lack the ability to research
independently
May be difficult for lower level learners to stay on task, or effectively gain knowledge in
this learning style
Could be hard to monitor if students are staying on task or not

LOGISTICAL CONSIDERATIONS:
When implementing an inquiry based learning strategy, students must be able to
navigate independently through the researching process. Students must have prior

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 knowledge of how to conduct web based and library research. Computers must be
easily accessible to the students. Students may also need a tutorial from the school
librarian to ensure that they are able to find resources on their own.
With the independent nature of this teaching strategy, a teacher must assess if they
are able to keep a large number of students on task without assistance.
Teacher must consider if students should implement this strategy independently or
within small groups.

ASSUMPTIONS:
For this teaching strategy to be useful, the assumption should be that
Students are capable of creating valid inquiries from the question posed.
Each subject should be able to adopt this method to further students knowledge in one
way or another.
Students will enjoy their learning, because of the freedom involved with style of
learning.
Students will want to learn for the joy of learning, and not based as much on results.
Students will seek out information, identify their learning goals, and persevere.
POWER DYNAMICS: When executed effectively, power should be equally distributed
between the teacher and student. The teacher poses an open ended question and the
students are responsible to come up with a individual response to this question. knowledge
and students are responsible for answering the inquiry question set forth

APPROPRIATENESS: This strategy would be most appropriate when there is more than one
answer to the question asked. It helps kids explore when questions are less guided and more
open ended. For example if a teacher was preparing students for a math test, they probably
would not learn how to solve a math equation through an inquiry question. On the other hand,
if the assignment was to choose an endangered species and do a report on that animal, there
would be more leeway given to the student.

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References

Behrendt, M., Franklin, T., (2014). A Review of Research on School Field Trips and Their Value in
Education. International Journal of Environmental and Science Education. 9, 235-245.
Doi:10.12973/ijese.2014.213a

Harlen, Wynne. (2015). Teaching science for understanding in elementary and middle schools.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. (p. 21)

Hartas, Dimitra (2010). Educational research and inquiry: qualitative and quantitative
approaches. London: Bloomsbury.

Walsh, Jackie Acree and Beth Dankert Sattes (2011). Thinking through quality questioning:
deepening student engagement. Sage Publications.

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