Presentation of new knowledge
Direct instruction, characterized by clear, explicit teaching of content, is an important component of any learning environment. The most common modes of direct instruction are in-person and video lecturing, and they are widely leveraged for good reason. Direct instruction plays an important role in scaffolding learning, especially when students are novices or are being presented with new subjects.
But while lectures and direct instruction have their place, research shows they should not be the sole mode of delivering new knowledge. In fact, relying on lecture content alone can limit students’ ability to absorb and retain information. Lectures often emphasize passive learning, where students receive information but have limited opportunities to apply it. As Ambrose et al. (2010) argue, while lecture is effective for transmitting knowledge, its impact can be enhanced when combined with active learning.
This can pose something of a chicken-and-egg dilemma for teachers. Group work, discussions, and projects provide some of the most exciting opportunities for students to apply knowledge and construct new ideas. But how can they apply knowledge without first being exposed to it via lectures or readings–which then takes time away from group work, discussions, and projects!
The strategies on this page are designed to help educators navigate this challenge by thoughtfully considering when to use direct instruction and how to integrate it with active learning opportunities. The key is not to replace lectures entirely, but rather to use them strategically while ensuring students have ample chances to engage with and apply the material.
Worked examples
A worked example is a form of direct instruction that walks students step-by-step through the solution to a problem, clearly demonstrating both the process and the reasoning behind it. This approach aligns with cognitive apprenticeship models, which emphasize the importance of making thinking visible to learners (Collins et al., 1991).
Worked examples can be especially useful for teaching concepts such as financial analysis, decision-making models, or quantitative methods. For example, an instructor might walk students through a detailed analysis of a balance sheet or a cost-benefit analysis, breaking down each step in the process and explaining the reasoning behind each decision.
You can see some worked examples in action on this page. These videos were recorded in a studio environment, but the same structure can be applied to videos you record on your own.
Components of a worked example: A well-designed worked example includes:
- a clear problem statement,
- step-by-step instructions for solving the problem,
- and the final solution.
A single worked example, in isolation, doesn’t fully address the issue of active student engagement. However, together with partially worked examples, students can work through the problem with increasing autonomy. Let’s look at an example of how this could be structured.
Before class, you could share a completed worked example, introducing students to the type of problem they need to gain proficiency in, and the steps to complete it.
During class, you could then present them with a partially worked example. In a partially worked example, the final answer is withheld. Students are still offered support through part of the process, but are asked to take an active role in completing the problem. This provides you with the opportunity to discuss their responses and any remaining confusion or misconceptions.
In an online course, you could replicate some of this interaction with an interactive quiz or, if the problem is complex enough to merit it, a group discussion board.
After class, students would then be tasked with fully completing the problem on their own.
Varied examples help students understand how to apply concepts in different contexts. By mixing worked examples with practice problems and prompting students to explain their reasoning during the process, instructors can help students build both conceptual understanding and procedural fluency. As students become more comfortable with the material, instructors can gradually phase out the support provided by worked examples, encouraging students to solve problems independently and tackle more complex problems.
Mini-lecture paired with activities
Mini lectures, typically no longer than 10-15 minutes, focus on a single topic or concept, providing students with manageable chunks of content. This not only keeps their attention but also allows for easier integration with other instructional strategies.
Mini lectures are particularly effective when paired with activities, such as discussions or formative assessments, that reinforce the material immediately after it is presented. This combination of instruction with active learning helps to strengthen student understanding and improves their ability to transfer knowledge to new situations.
- Planning mini lectures: Lectures of 10-15 minutes or less are ideal for maintaining student attention. But time limits are just a rule of thumb. When designing mini lectures, it is essential to focus on one concept at a time. This makes the objective of each mini-lecture clear to students.
- Incorporating other materials: Mini lectures can be supplemented with readings, third-party videos, or case studies, giving students multiple entry points into the content.
- Interleaving instruction and activities: Alternating between instruction and engagement activities keeps students involved and allows for immediate application of concepts. This approach can be particularly useful for online and hybrid courses, where allowing instruction and application to reinforce one another is key to fostering engagement.
That final point–”interleaving instruction and activities”–is critical to the success of this model. Presenting lecture material in shorter sections helps avoid cognitive overload, but it’s through complementary activities that new knowledge is reinforced and internalized by students.
How might that look in a classroom session?
Rather than devoting a full session to lecture, one could, for example, begin with a short mini-lecture (with students primed by a pre-class reading), followed by a Think-Pair-Share exercise. This pattern–direct instruction mini-lecture, followed by reinforcing activity–can be used multiple times throughout the session.
This kind of structure is more effective for student learning, but it does pose one significant challenge: more in-class time is taken up by activities, leaving less time for direct instruction.
Rather than viewing this as a limitation, one can lean into these changes to take full advantage of classroom time.
Leveraging time outside of class
One of the most well-known frameworks for rethinking classroom time is the “flipped classroom” model. In this model, instructors deliver the more passive, content-heavy portions of their instruction—such as lectures—outside of class, typically through videos or readings, allowing class time to be devoted to interactive, student-centered activities. The key insight of the flipped classroom is that lecture content is relatively easy to replicate through media, whereas discussion, problem-solving, and collaborative work are harder to reproduce outside of the classroom environment (Bishop & Verleger, 2013).
This approach is particularly effective in business education, where case studies, simulations, and group problem-solving all dovetail well into the work students will do in professional contexts. When students have already been exposed to key concepts via pre-class work, they arrive at class better prepared to engage in higher-order thinking tasks, such as applying concepts to new scenarios and collaborating on projects.
The resulting structure looks like this:
- Before class: Readings, videos, and other instructional materials allow students to familiarize themselves with content at their own pace.
- During class: Once in class, students participate in discussions, problem-solving activities, and group work, which reinforce and extend their understanding.
- After class: Discussions and group projects can continue after class.
By shifting the passive aspects of learning outside of the classroom and using class time for active engagement, instructors can create a richer, more dynamic learning environment.
The idealized version of the flipped classroom model involves restructuring an entire course, but the concepts behind the flipped classroom model can still be applied at a smaller scale, and it often makes sense to start small.
You may want to begin with a single lesson, allowing you to complete the full process before redesigning a course in full.
For longer class sessions, consider flipping half the session. Even if your entire session is not devoted to group work, introducing these activities even for a part of the time still provides benefits.
Despite its benefits, this model is not without its challenges. Two key considerations frequently emerge when trying to implement these changes:
- Providing asynchronous content
- Ensuring students complete asynchronous work
Providing asynchronous content
If students are to view content ahead of class, then they will need to receive it ahead of class. Providing this content is less daunting than it sounds, however.
Such material rarely needs to be created from scratch. Readings, third-party video videos, existing case studies, etc., can all prepare students for follow-up in-class work.
If your lecture content is very specific and cannot be sourced elsewhere, you can record video mini-lectures to provide to students ahead of class.
Ensuring students complete asynchronous work
To effectively participate in in-class activities, students need to complete content ahead of class. It’s important to think about ways to incentivize that completion. There are several ways you can do this:
- Attach graded items to the prep-work, such as a graded quiz or knowledge check in Brightspace. Even if you are only grading for participation, this can emphasize to students the importance of the work.
- Specify the most pertinent content. If a specific portion of a reading of a video applies to in-class work, make that clear. Distinguish that content from general or optional readings.
- Remind students of their responsibility to their peers. If they come poorly prepared for group activities, then they undermine others’ learning as well as their own.
By making expectations clear to students and communicating the significance of pre-class work to their in-class activities, you can successfully promote a more dynamic class structure that enhances student learning.
References
- Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K. (2010). How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching. Jossey-Bass.
- Collins, A., Brown, J. S., & Holum, A. (1991). Cognitive apprenticeship: Making thinking visible. American educator, 15(3), 6-11.
- Bishop, J., & Verleger, M. A. (2013, June). The flipped classroom: A survey of the research. In 2013 ASEE annual conference & exposition (pp. 23-1200).