Skip to main content
Education Development Toolkit

Teaching Approaches for Engagement and Learning

This page introduces you to the vast array of teaching approaches, strategies or techniques you might use when engaging with your students.  It is designed for anyone who is teaching or supporting learning.

Aligned to PSF: V1,V2, K1, K2, A2

The Xerte resource ‘Teaching Approaches Toolkit’, below, contains 50 teaching approaches for you to explore, to enhance your teaching and deliver a variety of strategies to meet your diverse learners’ needs, preferences and characteristics. The six sections of the Xerte toolkit match the ‘learning types’ of ABC Learning Design .

ABC cards in rainbow colours sit are depicted. Acquisition, collaboration, discussion, investigation, practice and production are each represented as Laurillard’s 6 learning-teaching activities.

You can develop your understanding of Teaching Approaches by engaging with Designing for Engaging and Active Learning and with our seven other related teaching approaches workshops.  Find out more on the Cardiff LTA CPD page.

There is also School-based further support available: ABC workshops provide a space for module teams to set aims, make plans and evaluate how close your plans are to what you are seeking to achieve. Cardiff Learning and Teaching Academy can facilitate ABC workshops for programme teams: reach out by contacting the LTA. For more information about ABC, you can also explore the intranet page. 

The Toolkit is designed to embed the following key principles:

Educational theory​ 

These teaching approaches are underpinned by extensive research and theoretical perspectives on learning and teaching. To read a short summary of educational theory, to support your selection of teaching approaches, access Chapter 1 of Hunt and Chalmers University Teaching in Focus, or read this summary of 3 key theories and their application.​ 

Inclusive Education​ 

Each approach identifies the inclusivity considerations of the method. To inform your understanding of the inclusive education advice given for each approach, you may want to delve a little deeper into the principles of inclusive education. Access the Inclusivity theme page to expand your understanding. Any teaching approach will disadvantage some groups of students: consider employing Universal Design for Learning using multiple modes during a session, or across sessions, to ensure students experience some approaches which are comfortable. 

The Teaching Toolkit:

(Click on the menu icon, top right on the toolkit below, to open the pages. To open on a new browser, access this Teaching Toolkit link.)

Globe

Case Study: Inclusive Teaching in Labs

Considerations for Inclusive Education in Experiments and Laboratory Settings (Anna Richards, Cardiff university Biosciences): 

Teaching Strategy: Demonstration and observation of a practical laboratory technique

Students are expected to read and understand a protocol, observe practical demonstration of a particular technique, take notes, sometimes stand for up to several hours, and join small, instructor-led group discussions to ask questions.

Barriers to Learning might include cognitive and/or sensory processing, physical discomfort, limited visibility or access, language or communication issues, impacting students with visual, auditory or cognitive impairments; Students with health conditions, particularly mobility issues, chronic pain, or disabilities; Dyslexic students; or students with English as an additional language 

Solutions:

  • Break down the protocol and technique into smaller, manageable steps. 

  • Provide pre-session reading materials that explain the theory and steps of the technique in simpler terms. 

  • Use diagrams, videos, or animations before the demonstration to visually represent complex steps. 

  • Allow for frequent breaks during long demonstrations to reduce fatigue from standing. 

  • Provide seating options for students who cannot stand for extended periods. 

  • Use visual aids, such as overhead cameras or screens, to project the demonstration clearly so everyone can see it, and record the demonstration for future revision. 

Authored by: Cardiff University Learning and Teaching Academy: Fellowships Team