Inductive+vs+Deductive+Teaching


 * Inductive Teaching:** This is an all encompassing model of presenting information that includes constructivist theories as well as some teaching designs based on Bruner's theories. The purpose of inductive teaching is to present students with examples while purposefully omitting the general rule or principle initially. Students are then encouraged to piece together the examples in order to formulate the general rule by their own means.
 * **Example:**An example lesson of this teaching strategy would be to present the students with a sheet of polygons mixed in with non-polygon shapes. The instructor would give the students hints by saying one shape is a 'yes' and one is a 'no' without cluing them into what a polygon is. The students must then take the information and discover the definition of a polygon. Bruner labeled this method as //concept attainment// which is a subcategory of inductive instruction.
 * **Advantages:** The students are able to circumvent the abstract instruction of simple defining and problem solving and tie the concept immediately to a concrete example. The plus of student discovery is that the students are more likely to retain information they are more heavily invested in. Each student begins within the ZPD. In other words, a student will approach the problem at the level they are at and will be challenged to increase their knowledge personally.
 * **Disadvantages:** The only overwhelming disadvantage to this strategy is that it is much more time consuming than the alternative. Another factor that is more of a risk than a disadvantage is that students may arrive at a different conclusion than the lesson intended.


 * Deductive Teaching:** This is considered a traditional approach to teaching. The teacher opens the lesson with the general concepts and definitions and then asks the students to apply the concept to abstract and concrete examples.


 * **Example:** In contrast to the above method, the teacher presents the students with the definition of a polygon and then gives the worksheet. The students would match their definition to the shapes to label which is a polygon and which is not.
 * **Advantages:** The planning and executing of a deductive lesson is less demanding on the instructor and the students cannot digress from the intention of the lesson because it is very strict and straightforward.
 * **Disadvantages:** Students' background knowledge is not typically in abstract examples and therefore it is much more difficult for students to apply concepts based solely on regurgitated definitions. Students who are not quite at the level that the problem demands will have much more trouble with the application than if they had been able to investigate on their own.