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The Many Faces of Inductive Teaching and Learning

Journal of College Science Teaching – March/April 2007

Science courses are traditionally taught deductively. The instructor first teaches students relevant theory and mathematical models, then moves on to textbook exercises, and eventually—maybe—gets to real-world applications. Often the only motivation students have to learn the material, beyond grades, is the vague promise that it will be important later in the curriculum or in their careers. Failure to connect course content to the real world has repeatedly been shown to contribute to students leaving the sciences (Seymour and Hewitt 1997; Kardash and Wallace 2001). This study examines the effectiveness and implementation of different inductive teaching methods, including inquiry-based learning, problem-based learning, project-based learning, case-based teaching, discovery learning, and just-in-time teaching.
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