Kimerlee Ami Soo Ting

#03769747

13th August, 2015

Teaching strategies employed; a reflection

Economics is a complex discipline that maintains good use of country statistics.
Therefore it is only natural that to properly explain certain concepts I refer to the latest statistics
from our country and other countries. One of my main teaching strategies is the use of data
response. Although data response was a Cambridge assessment method I still maintain the use of
data response because I think it really helps develop a childs analytical skills. I try where
possible to draw on current local articles to use for data response because most children are
interested in the performance of their country, however I also use older international data
response articles. While I have found the data response to be helpful to many students, there is
still a significant number of students who struggle with it as they have difficulty understanding
what the article is conveying. I often find myself having to go through the article with them and
practically pointing them to the answer in the passage. I would like to improve on my execution
of the data response because I think I help them too much and they will learn more of they can
decipher the meaning of the passage themselves. The data response is helpful to students as it
helps them with comprehension, identifying trends and interpreting data so I would like to
continue using it but possibly in groups for better understanding.
Economics is also a controversial subject which leaves room for personal opinion and can
be easily tied to politics. My strategy for teaching certain topics is debate. Students find debating
to be quite interesting and interactive and I think they really enjoy it, until they lose of course.
Separating the class into two opposing groups teaches them the importance of teamwork, they
learn public speaking and they learn how to argue their points in a calm civil manner, which I
think are important life skills. The problems I have encountered with debating are, sometimes

Kimerlee Ami Soo Ting

#03769747

13th August, 2015

there is conflict within the team such that each person does not get to contribute to the debate as
their opinions may have been side lined. The noise level associated with the debate is also a
major issue as our classrooms are very close and students cheer on their teams during the debate.
I enjoy debating but I also feel it must be coupled with some kind of summary or note at the end
to ensure that all of the content the students are required to know has been discussed and
everyone has had the opportunity to write down the main points. This means that I believe
concluding a session like this should involve some sort of traditional teaching. I would like to
learn other interactive ways of teaching that can be less noisy and less competitive.
Another teaching strategy I employ is that of peer teaching. I admit that I have been teaming up
students who are weak with those who are strong, which I now know may not be the most
effective strategy, according to Piaget. The success of this strategy is average because in some
cases it has worked by helping the weaker student become more competent but in other cases the
weaker student actually caused the stronger student to fall back. One thing I have realised is that
students paired together learn not only content from each other but also behaviour and in some
cases the delinquent behaviour of their peer has rubbed off them. In reflecting on the strategy I
have considered using a group rather than pairs and I will also like to learn any guidelines that
can be used to pair or group students.
Overall I wish to learn innovative ways to teach students who are not mathematically
inclined quantitative concepts and to learn more fun and interactive teaching techniques. I would
also be interested in learning better time management because since I teach only exam classes I
often feel anxious about completing my syllabus on time and I have found that the interactive
sessions take longer than traditional teaching in accomplishing syllabus objectives.