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Inductive and Deductive Teaching Approaches 1.

Introduction Inductive Teaching This is the teaching style which aims at the constructive model which is mostly student centric. The teacher or the professor will provide the live examples to the students based upon the discussion topic and the students are advised to practice the examples and thus figure out the best understanding from them. This will increase the practical thinking of the students as the inductive teaching encourages experimental learning approach. The guidance given will help the students to expand their inbuilt analytic thinking. Deductive Teaching This is the general traditional way of teaching and thus the professor or the teacher will provide the lectures and thus explain the theoretical data and then share the examples for the concept explained. The students will be explained with the necessary skills before they are allowed to practice so that the students will get the complete idea of the topic on which the lecture was given. However, the practicality of the students will be reduced if this approach is practiced. This method of teaching is teacher centric and hence the students have to learn what the teacher says. 2. Examples Inductive Teaching During the training sessions in the software or IT industry, the group manager or the team leader will interact with the team members and discuss the concepts before explaining them. They will try to explain the advantages and disadvantages of using the existing technology and how to overcome the existing problems with different approaches. After the discussion, they will take the feedback and suggestions from the team members and thus they will introduce the training topic and how to implement that technology. After the practical teaching by giving few examples, the team members are allowed to practice by providing them with few examples. Deductive Teaching

This type of training is generally given to the people who are not well known about particular concepts. In software or IT firm, the fresher employees will be recruited and they will be provided with basic training before placing them into projects. Thus the recruits will be given a full pledged basic training as they are not well aware of the technologies and processes that are being practiced in the organization. Hence, the instructor will provide the recruits with detailed theoretical knowledge and then they will be asked to practice on the theory that had been explained. 3. Advantages and disadvantages Inductive teaching
a. Students will learn the best concepts due to this approach. The self-learning is one of the

best ways of understanding and practicing. Thus if the trainees are given enough information, they can practice on the concepts and thus can learn the concepts very fast.
b. The examples that are provided to the trainees will always be practical and will enhance

the practical knowledge. This will improve their knowledge on a particular subject and they can read themselves for the further topics in the subject.
c. Only disadvantage is that the trainees who have less IQ power cannot understand the

examples and thus will lag behind in the training. This teaching technique is advantageous only to the trainees who are confident enough about their capability. Deductive teaching
a. This is a theoretical approach and hence all sets of people can easily understand the

concepts without failure. The trainees can easily understand the basics of the topic and hence they can further proceed to the practical sessions. b. Due to the strong hold on the basic concepts of the topic, the trainees can perform the practical sessions very well and this will further enhance their knowledge.
c. However, the disadvantage is that the trainees will be deprived from involving in the

learning process and hence they will lack in the analytical thinking.

According to Brudnik et al (2008), the students will try to remember 10 % which they have read, 20 % of the topic which they have heard, 30 % of the topics which they have seen, 50 % of the topics which they have heard and seen, 70 % of the topics which they have said and 90 % of the topics which they have done by themselves. Thus in order to learn cooking, it is waste of time and resources to watch chef while cooking, instead it is better to cook themselves by taking the instructions from the chef. A famous quote from Benjamin Franklin is that: Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn. Thus whenever the trainees or the students are involved into the practical sessions through inductive teaching, the people will learn fast and thus gain better knowledge of the topics in which they used to learn. When to use what Deductive training can be used under the following concerns:
a. When the students are taught the grammar basics, the instructor should use the deductive

training methodology as the students have to memorize the grammar concepts with the help of the instructors lesson.
b. When the students are taught the theoretical subjects like political sciences, mathematical

theorems, historical sciences etc., the students have nothing much to do with the practical classes and hence they have to listen to the theory classes. Inductive training will be used in the following cases: a. During the IT training in the IT companies, the trainees will have to gain the knowledge by their self-training and thus the practical approach is followed.
b. In the biological classes, the students are taught the practical sessions and will be allowed

to practice on the practical classes. This will increase their practical knowledge.

c. In the subjects like management, finance, accounting and investment banking, the

practical approach is an essential component rather than the theoretical and hence the students and the professors follow the inductive teaching. Both deductive and inductive teaching styles are important in the practical world and both have their own advantages over the other. These teaching styles will depend on the different sets of the people and different requirements in the learning field. Hence, both the learning styles will help to enhance the knowledge. References [1] Mbp, Deductive vs. inductive teaching, accessed online at

http://knol.google.com/k/deductive-vs-inductive-teaching, last accessed on 1 July, 2010. [2] W H Winch, Inductive Versus Deductive Methods of Teaching: An Experimental Research, Read Books, ISBN-10: 1444640909, 2009 [3] Gilbert H. Hunt, Gilbert Hunt, Timothy J. Touzel, Effective Teaching: Preparation and Implementation, Charles C Thomas Pub Ltd, ISBN-10: 0398069956, 1999

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