Instructional Approaches

Instructional approaches are strategies for presenting information and facilitating learning. There are many different instructional approaches. Since certain instructional approaches align better with specific types of information than others, instructors will often use multiple approaches in a course.

Choosing the best instructional approaches begins by establishing your course narrative. The best courses tell a story, inviting students on an engaging and challenging journey.

Once you understand what students need to accomplish to move from the beginning to the end of the story, you will have a better idea of how to present information and facilitate learning through various instructional techniques.

Consider the following questions as you develop your course narrative:

• What role does my course play in the overall narrative of the program?
• Where are students in their journey when they enter my course?
• Where do I want students to be when they complete my course?
• What types of knowledge and skills will they need to develop in my class?
• How will students be asked to use the knowledge and skills they learn in my class in the real world?
• Are there ways for my course to mimic or build toward the same processes, situations, or applications that students will encounter later in the program or in the real world?