Keywords; Inductive Method And Deductive Approaches, Demerits of
Inductive Method, Merits
of Deductive Method, Demerits of
Deductive Method,
Inductive and Deductive Methods of Teaching Science,
Inductive Method And
Deductive Approaches
Inductive Method: Inductive method is
an important procedure to prove a universal law. In this method, this is done by showing
that if the law is true in a particular condition, then it will also prove to
be true in other similar condition at any place of the world. This method
proceeds from concrete to abstract and from a specific example to the universal
law. As all the scientific principles and conclusions are result of induction,
thus this method is considered to be one of the most important methods of
teaching science. Merits of Inductive Method By making use of this method,
following merits get accrue to the students as well as to teacher:
Merits
of Inductive Method
A. as this is a scientific method, thus it
helps to considerable extent in developing scientific outlook among the
students.
B. This
method helps to develop scientific attitude among the students.
C. With the help of this method, teacher can
develop qualities of critical thinking and habit of keen observation among the
students properly and accurately.
D. This is a very logical and
psychological kind of teaching science.
E. By this method, a very logical and
psychological kind of teaching science. By this method, students get various
opportunities to play an active role in learning process.
Demerits
of Inductive Method This method has certain limitations, some of which are as follows:
A. The
results or conclusions drawn from such method are not found to be final in case
where the amount of data is very large in number
b. All the topics of science cannot be dealt with
this method properly
c. This method can only be used when teacher
have much time for teaching process. Deductive Method: This method is just
opposite of Inductive method. Inthis method, facts are being deduced by application of established
formula or experimentation. In this method, one proceed from general to
particular principles, from unknown to known and from abstract to concrete facts.
Merits of Deductive Method This method has
following merits:
a. As students of lower classes are being
provided with established scientific principles, thus this method can prove to
be effective for them.
b. This method is quite time saving as students
are not required to analyses
the universal principles.
c. Teacher's duty or burden gets lessen to some
extent by making use of this method as a result of which teachers find
themselves in a comfortable and secured position.
d. Through this method, a teacher can cover the
lengthy syllabi of class in shortest period of time.
Demerits of Deductive Method This method
suffers from following demerits:
a. As the approach of this method is UN-conform
and non-explanatory, because of which it is considered to be an unscientific
method of teaching.
b. Through this method, it becomes difficult
for the teacher to develop scientific attitude among the students.
c. As in this method, students do not get
any opportunity toplay active role in learning process, thus, some experts consider it
as UN psychological in nature. d. Rote memory is being encouraged by this
method among the students as a result of which they do not become self-independent.
When to Use: It can be said that on the basis of above discussion that it is
not possible make use of these methods in isolation with each other. In
reality, both of these methods are incomplete without the other. By combining
these methods, education of science can be imparted to students of higher and
Inductive and
Deductive Methods of Teaching Science
Inductive
Method:
Inductive method is an important
procedure to prove a universal law. In this method, this is done by showing
that if the law is true in a particular condition, then it will also prove to
be true in other similar condition at any place of the world. This method
proceeds from concrete to abstract and from a specific example to the universal
law.
As all the scientific principles
and conclusions are result of induction, thus this method is considered to be
one of the most important methods of teaching science.
Merits of
Inductive Method
By making use of this method,
following merits get accrue to the students as well as to teacher:
a. As this is a
scientific method, thus it helps to considerable extent in developing
scientific outlook among the students.
b. This method helps to
develop scientific attitude among the students.
c. With the help of
this method, teacher can develop qualities of critical thinking and habit of
keen observation among the students properly and accurately.
d. This is a very
logical and psychological kind of teaching science.
e. By this method,
students get various opportunities to play an active role in learning process.
Demerits of
Inductive Method
This method has certain
limitations, some of which are as follows:
a. The results or conclusions
drawn from such method are not found to be final in case where the amount of
data is very large in number.
b. All the topics of
science cannot be dealt with this method properly.
c. This method can only
be used when teacher have much time for teaching process.
Deductive
Method:
This method is just opposite of
Inductive method. In this method, facts are being deduced by application of
established formula or experimentation. In this method, one proceed from
general to particular principles, from unknown to known and from abstract to
concrete facts.
Merits of
Deductive Method
This method has following merits:
a. As students of
lower classes are being provided with established scientific principles, thus
this method can prove to be effective for them.
b. This method is
quite time saving as students are not required to analyses the universal
principles.
c. Teacher's duty or
burden gets lessen to some extent by making use of this method as a result of
which teachers find themselves in a comfortable and secured position.
d. Through this
method, a teacher can cover the lengthy syllabi of class in shortest period of
time.
Demerits of
Deduction Method
This method suffers from following
demerits:
a. As the approach of
this method is UN-conform and non-explanatory, because of which it is
considered to be an unscientific method of teaching.
b. Through this method,
it becomes difficult for the teacher to develop scientific attitude among the
students.
c. As in this method,
students do not get any opportunity to play active role in learning process,
thus, some experts consider it as un psychological in nature.
d. Rote memory is being
encouraged by this method among the students as a result of which they do not
become self-independent.
When to Use:
It can be said that on the basis
of above discussion that it is not possible make use of these methods in
isolation with each other. In reality, both of these methods are incomplete
without the other. By combining these methods, education of science can be imparted
to students of higher and secondary levels.
B) The inductive approach – the rule-discovery path
What are the advantages
of encouraging learners to work rules out for themselves?
·
Rules learners discover for
themselves are more likely to fit their existing mental structures than rules
they have been presented with. This in turn will make the rules more
meaningful, memorable, and serviceable.
·
The mental effort involved ensures
a greater degree of cognitive depth which, again, ensures greater memorability.
·
Students are more actively
involved in the learning process, rather than being simply passive recipients:
they are therefore likely to be more attentive and more motivated.
·
It is an approach which favors
pattern-recognition and problem-solving abilities which suggests that it is
particularly suitable for learners who like this kind of challenge.
·
If the problem-solving is done
collaboratively, and in the target language, learners get the opportunity for
extra language practice.
·
Working things out for themselves
prepares students for greater self-reliance and is therefore conducive to
learner autonomy.
The disadvantages of
an inductive approach include:
·
The time and energy spent in
working out rules may mislead students into believing that rules are the
objective of language learning, rather than a means.
·
The time taken to work out a rule
may be at the expense of time spent in putting the rule to some sort of
productive practice.
·
Students may hypothesis the wrong
rule, or their version of the rule may be either too broad or too narrow in its
application: this is especially a danger where there is no overt testing of
their hypotheses, either through practice examples, or by eliciting an explicit
statement of the rule.
·
It can place heavy demands on
teachers in planning a lesson. They need to select and organise the data
carefully so as to guide learners to an accurate formulation of the rule, while
also ensuring the data is intelligible.
·
However carefully organized the
data is, many language areas such as aspect and modality resist easy rule
formulation.
·
An inductive approach frustrates
students who, by dint of their personal learning style or their past learning
experience (or both), would prefer simply to be told the rule.
Research findings into the
relative benefits of deductive and inductive methods have been inconclusive.
Short term gains for deductive learning have been found, and there is some
evidence to suggest that some kinds of language items are better 'given than
'discovered'. Moreover, when surveyed, most learners tend to prefer deductive
presentations of grammar. Nevertheless, once exposed to inductive approaches,
there is often less resistance as the learners see the benefits of solving
language problems themselves. Finally, the autonomy argument is not easily
dismissed: the capacity to discern patterns and regularities in naturally
occurring input would seem to be an invaluable tool for self-directed learning
and one therefore that might usefully be developed in the classroom.
Examples:
|
Example1:
taken from “English in Situations” (O´Neill, OUP 1970
Generative situation:
The teacher sets up a situation in order to “generate” several
example sentences of a structure.
|
 |
Example 2:
The principles of the guided discovery approach were originally
intended for self-instruction as part of the kind of programmes which were
used in language laboratories. They soon adopted for classroom use, and course
books promoting an inductive approach to language learning are now more or
less standard. An example of an inductive presentation of the present ample
from New Wave 1 (Longman 19988) is shown on the left.
|
Teaching differences between past simple and present perfect
(Teacher writes the following three sets of sentences on the board
:)
1a I’ve seen all of Jim Jarmusch’s films.
B I saw his latest film last month.
2a Since 1990, she’s worked for three different newspapers.
B She worked for the Observer in 1996.
3a Have you ever been to Peru?
B When was you in Peru?
 |
Example 3:
Minimal sentence pairs
By presenting two sentences that are only different in one or
two particulars, the teacher is better able to focus the students’ attention
on exactly how the choice of form determines a difference in meaning.
The sentences should
·
be lexically simple
·
have fairly self-evident contexts
As with all rule-explicit presentations, this approach demands a
basic command of grammar terminology on the part of the learners.
Hypotheses must be tested. That stage is essential in the
presentation. It also shifts the focus back on to the learners.
|
The minimal pair approach
is designed to overcome the lack of economy of the generative situation. By
getting straight to the point, the minimal pair’s presentation combines the
best features of an explanation-driven approach and a discovery approach. It is
also relatively easy to plan and to set up. In terms of efficacy, it relies
heavily on the choice of sample sentences. More problematic still is the lack
of context, which can sometimes lead students to the wrong conclusions, or,
more frustratingly, to no conclusion at all.
A
They’ve been painting the kitchen.
B
They’ve painted the kitchen.
|
There is nothing to help
students untangle the difference between these two sentences.
|
A What a mess!”
“Yes,
they’ve been painting the kitchen.”
B “The flat is looking
nice.”
“Yes,
they’ve painted the kitchen.”
|
Whereas, with slightly more
context, the difference in meaning starts to take shape:
|
Example 4: Using
concordance data
Concordance, text analysis and concordance software, is for anyone who needs to
study texts closely or analyse language in depth. This is the most powerful and
flexible software of its kind, with registered users in 52 countries.
With Concordance, you can
·
make indexes and word lists
·
count word frequencies
·
compare different usages of a word
·
analyse keywords
·
find phrases and idioms
·
publish to the web
·
...and much more
Concordance is being used in
·
Language teaching and learning
·
Data mining and data clean-up
·
Literary and linguistic scholarship
·
Translation and language engineering
·
Corpus linguistics
·
Natural language software development
·
Lexicography
·
Content analysis in many disciplines including accountancy, history, marketing,
musicology, politics, geography, and media studies
A concordance derives its power for analysis from the
fact that it allows us to see every place in a text where a particular word is
used, and so to detect patterns of usage and, again, to marshal evidence for an
argument. Since words express ideas, themes and motifs, a concordance is highly
useful in detecting patterns of meaning as well. The concordance focuses on
word-forms, however -- not on what may be meant but what is actually said. It
is an empirical tool of textual research. (You can use Corpus Concordance
Sampler free at http://titania.cobuild.collins.co.uk/form.html)
Example: -ing form or infinitive after „remember
Francois de Menil, told me I
remember
feeling that Fred was like my
Lower in saturated fats - even
so,
remember
to limit the amount of these you
Slipped me a two-shilling piece. I
remember
going bright red and handing it to
Strong, strangely warm wind.
I
remember
having experienced something
Service team. [p] [P] Please
remember
to complete the Direct Debit
That of Tom's girl. Personally, I
remember
leaving the track team for the
Expensive heating being wasted.
Remember
turn your heating system off
Personally. [p] I find it hard
to
remember
to take my Pill every day and I'm
Street, London E1 9BS. [p]
Remember
to state the systems you own and
All the drinks you have this week.
Remember
to include all your drinks, not
Sex that isn't available now. I can
remember
going to a dance hall and being
Take the casualty to hospital and
remember
to take with you any empty tablet
Mark, take colour photos of them.
Remember
to include an object, such as a
Travel Points, it is important to
remember
to
put your card through the swipe
And if you are boarding your dog,
remember
to ask your vet about protection
We are hoping someone will
remember
seeing her. We are extremely concerned for
With a minimum amount of care.
Just remember
to let All Terrain shoes dry away
The famous are already there - just
remember to add your family's and friends'
Don't you
remember
asking me to fetch one?
