Benfits of Teaching Backwards
While educators grapple with the centuries old challenge of aiding student learning, new research brings to light the potential benefits of flipping the order of classroom instruction, challenging the traditional teaching model of presenting a lecture first, followed by a lab. Assistant professor Dr. Kasee Smith conducted a study published in the Journal of Agricultural Education examining how matching teaching approaches with student learning styles enhances educational gains. Smith’s research is rooted in experiential learning theory, which recognizes two approaches in grasping knowledge. According to the theory, some people’s learning generally improves with abstract conceptualization, or by thinking through concepts and crafting theories based on observations. This learning style is provided with lectures and readings. Others learn more efficiently through immersion in concrete experience, a hands-on approach to learning directed by tangible activities and exe...
