Instructional Strategies: Types, Examples and How to Choose

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Two people start at a plant nursery on the same weekend. One has never repotted anything. The other spent eight years at a wholesale grower. The owner gives them both the same 15-page plant-care guide and the same 10-question quiz. A month later, the new starter is still selling fertiliser for overwatered plants, and the experienced grower has been bored since page two. The content was right for both of them. The way it was taught suited neither.

Instructional strategies are the methods a trainer or course designer plans to help people learn, such as explaining and demonstrating, guided practice, discussion, case work and independent practice. Choose them around the outcome, the learner's relevant knowledge and the conditions for practice. Someone new to a task may need a model and guided attempts; someone who can already perform it may need less explanation and more demanding cases.

A disclosure first: I cofounded Coursebox, which makes an AI course builder for employee training. My view on strategy comes from earlier work as lead learning designer on three edX courses at the University of Adelaide. Every course I have designed since comes down to three kinds of page: a lesson, a practice activity and an assessment. Most courses have far too much of the first.

What are instructional strategies?

Instructional strategies are the methods a trainer or course designer plans to help people learn, such as explaining and demonstrating, guided practice, discussion, case work and independent practice, chosen to fit the goal and sequenced within a lesson.

A strategy describes how teaching and learner activity support an outcome. A demonstration, a case with hints and supervised customer practice give learners different kinds of support, even when the topic is the same. Designers plan the opportunities; learners can also choose study strategies within them.

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Instructional strategies vs teaching methods, techniques and learning strategies

People use these terms loosely, and there is no agreed order for which word sits above which. A common way to arrange them runs from broad to specific:

• Approach: the overall stance, for example learner-centred or teacher-led.
• Strategy: the plan for how people will learn, for example explicit instruction.
• Method: a way of carrying out that plan, for example a demonstration.
• Technique: one move inside a method, for example thinking aloud while you demonstrate.

Treat the ladder as a convention for keeping a conversation straight. When a colleague says "teaching strategy" or "teaching method", ask what the learner will actually do, and the confusion usually goes away.

Learning strategies are actions learners use to study and manage learning, such as recalling without notes, explaining an answer or spacing practice; our guide to learning strategies covers those choices. They can be taught and supported by a trainer. Learning styles are a different idea: a 2008 review by Pashler and colleagues found virtually no evidence for the claim that matching teaching to a preferred style improves learning. Our guide to types of learning styles examines the models.

Why instructional strategies are important

Instruction changes what learners practise and the feedback they receive. One useful study compared the same physics topics and class time under two teaching approaches, although the instructors also differed.

Case study: Two ways to teach the same physics topics

Researchers at the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative at the University of British Columbia compared two large sections of an introductory undergraduate physics course, with 267 and 271 students. Both sections covered the same set of topics and objectives in three hours of class.

• What they did: One section had three hours of traditional lecture from an experienced, highly rated instructor. The other had three hours from a trained but inexperienced instructor, using what the authors describe as instruction based on research in cognitive psychology and physics education.
• Evidence and result: Deslauriers, Schelew and Wieman reported in Science in 2011 that the research-based section had higher attendance, higher engagement and more than twice the learning on the topics measured.
• Limitation: It covered three hours of one course, with university students, and the two sections had different instructors. Science published two letters about the study later that year, with a reply from the authors. It measured learning on a test, and says nothing about performance at work.
• Lesson: a well-presented explanation is not the whole design. Check what learners do with it and what feedback they receive, while treating this short university comparison as evidence for its setting.

The five types of instructional strategies

One useful grouping, also used in Manitoba Education's instructional approaches guide, has five families. Their boundaries overlap: discussion can include explicit teaching, and independent study can include a recorded demonstration. A lesson can draw on several.

The families describe teaching and activity choices, not fixed learner types. Accessibility, language, available tools and the consequences of an error can also affect the choice.

The examples below come from one hypothetical course that runs through the rest of this guide. Saltbush Nursery is a family-owned plant nursery in regional Victoria. Before spring it hires four weekend staff: three have never worked with plants, and the fourth is an experienced horticulturist moving from a wholesale grower. On the floor, a customer shows a phone photo of a sick plant, and the staff member gathers relevant information and checks whether approved guidance supports advice or the customer needs the horticulturist.

Each family covers several teaching methods. Our guide to effective teaching methods for adult learning works through ten of them in one adult training programme.

Direct (explicit) instruction

Direct instruction means the trainer explains the content, demonstrates it and shows a worked example before learners try it. A worked example is a solved problem with every step shown. Lectures, demonstrations, drill and practice, and "I do, we do, you do" all sit here.

Clark, Kirschner and Sweller's 2012 review argues for explicit guidance, practice and feedback when learners are new to the content, rather than asking them to discover essential information with little help. This supports the amount of guidance, not a claim that one family always beats every other method. Their examples include discussion, group work and independent practice when these provide or apply the required information.

Indirect instruction

Indirect instruction uses a case, problem or inquiry question to develop an answer, with support from the trainer or materials. Case work, problem-solving tasks and concept mapping can sit here. Match the guidance to what learners know; I would avoid asking new nursery staff to invent the shop's check from scratch.

Interactive instruction, including collaborative learning

Interactive instruction means learners talk and work with each other: discussion, peer teaching, think-pair-share, debate and role play. In collaborative learning, small groups work on a shared task. Our guide to collaborative learning in the workplace shows examples.

Freeman and colleagues' 2014 meta-analysis of 225 undergraduate science, technology, engineering and maths studies found higher examination performance under active learning and a greater risk of failure under traditional lecture. Active learning included several designs, not just group discussion. The review did not establish a universal order for explanation and pair work; the nursery sequence below is a design choice for learners new to its task.

Experiential learning

Experiential learning connects experience with reflection and another attempt: workplace tasks, simulations and scenarios can provide that experience. Our guides to experiential learning activities and scenario-based learning show examples. For nursery staff new to the task, I would prepare and supervise the early attempts, then discuss what happened.

Independent study

Independent study means working individually through modules, reading, research or practice. It can still provide explicit instruction through a worked example, demonstration or feedback. Independence in scheduling is different from being left to discover unfamiliar content without support.

Other instructional strategies you will see named

Three more terms come up often. They describe adaptations or delivery choices that can work with several of the families.

Differentiated instruction

Differentiated instruction adjusts content, support or activity for learners' needs. Check relevant prior knowledge and performance, and account for access and language needs, rather than assigning an unverified learning style. Our guide to adaptive learning design covers ways to provide different routes.

Gamification

Gamification uses game-design elements such as points, badges, levels or challenges in a learning activity. Sailer and Homner's 2020 meta-analysis found small average positive effects on cognitive, motivational and behavioural outcomes; the latter two were less stable in the higher-rigour subset. Elements can affect practice and feedback as well as motivation. Our guide to elearning gamification covers design choices.

Technology-enhanced and blended learning

Technology-enhanced learning uses technology to support instruction; blended learning combines online and face-to-face activity. Neither specifies what learners actually practise. Our guide to the benefits of blended learning covers that delivery choice. Microlearning organises focused, relatively short units; it also leaves the strategy to be designed.

How to choose the right instructional strategy

Ask three questions, in this order.

1. What must they do at the end? Name the task on the job. "Know plant care" is a topic. "Work through the nursery's plant check with a customer before recommending a product" is a task. Our guide to action mapping is a good way to get there.
2. What do they already know and do? Use relevant records or a short representative task, rather than years in the role alone. New content may need models and guidance; demonstrated expertise can justify less support. Everyone still needs unfamiliar local rules.
3. Where will they practise, and what will you observe? I ask training providers converting a unit into a course to point to an actual learner attempt. A quiz can practise recall or decisions, especially with feedback, but it cannot stand in for a conversation or physical task it does not ask learners to perform.

The worked example: new weekend staff at Saltbush Nursery

Back to the nursery. A customer shows a phone photo and says, "My potted lemon tree's leaves are going yellow, what do I buy?" For this hypothetical lesson, staff gather information with five prompts before deciding whether the nursery's approved guidance supports a recommendation or the question needs its horticulturist:

1. How often is it watered?
2. How much light does it get?
3. Are there any pests on the leaves or stems?
4. When was it last fed, and with what?
5. What changed recently?

For the worked lemon case, the customer reports daily watering and brings a pot whose soil is visibly saturated, with drainage holes blocked. The nursery's supplied case note says to withhold fertiliser and refer the drainage/watering question to the horticulturist. Daily watering alone would not establish the cause of yellow leaves. Staff use approved product and label information when a recommendation is supported, and do not invent doses or a diagnosis from a photo.

The horticulturist first receives this nursery's five prompts, referral rule and label guidance, then attempts three representative customer cases with the approved answer notes available to the trainer. If her answers demonstrate the relevant knowledge and judgement, she can skip the introductory explanation. Gaps lead to targeted support, rather than a skip based only on eight years in another role.

Clark and colleagues discuss the expertise reversal effect: support useful to a novice can become redundant as relevant expertise grows. That is a reason to check what someone knows and adjust guidance, rather than always giving an experienced hire an unsolved problem first. Our guide to cognitive load theory explains the underlying idea.

Sequencing instructional strategies inside one lesson

Choosing a family is half the job. The other half is the order. Barak Rosenshine's Principles of Instruction draws on research in cognitive science, studies of master teachers and research on cognitive supports. Its principles describe a sequence: begin with a short review, present new material in small steps with practice after each, provide models, guide practice, check understanding, then require independent practice and come back to it weekly and monthly. The research comes from school classrooms. I treat the moves as well-supported practice that transfers to adults learning a new task; they have not been tested as a set in workplaces.

Models such as Merrill's principles of instruction formalise a similar order, and our overview of instructional design frameworks and models compares them. Here are the seven steps in the nursery course for the three new starters, and a planner to lay out your own.

Step 1: Review

• In the nursery course: two quick questions from their store induction: where the citrus section is, and which shelf holds the fertilisers.
• Why here: it links the new check to something they have already learned.

Step 2: Explain in small steps

• In the nursery course: each of the five check questions on its own short page, with one example photo each.
• Why here: a small amount of new information followed by a check lets the trainer adjust the pace. Five questions is this lesson's checklist, not a universal memory limit.

Step 3: Worked example

• In the nursery course: the lemon case above, working through the prompts and the supplied observations. Saturated soil and blocked drainage match the case note: no fertiliser recommendation; refer the drainage/watering question.
• Why here: learners see the reasoning behind the answer.

Step 4: Guided practice with hints

• In the nursery course: two cases with photos and customer answers. One supplies evidence of waterlogged compost, with a hint to inspect the watering/drainage information; the other shows scale insects, with a hint to inspect the stems. The trainer supplies approved answer notes and referral options.
• Why here: it is the small step between watching and doing alone. The hints are instructional scaffolding: support you give now and remove later.

Step 5: Check understanding

• In the nursery course: four short customer descriptions. Learners name what else they would ask or inspect, then explain whether the available evidence supports a recommendation or a referral. "It was fine until we moved it inside last week" prompts a light/history question; it does not settle the diagnosis.
• Why here: it tells the trainer whether to move on or go back.

Rosenshine discusses success during supported classroom practice, rather than a universal workplace pass mark.

Use errors and explanations to decide whether to keep, reduce or restore hints. Do not turn 80% into a nursery pass rule, particularly with only four cases. Before independent work, the supervisor needs evidence of each required action and appropriate referral; an average cannot excuse a consequential error.

Step 6: Independent practice

• In the nursery course: three new cases with photos, customer answers and relevant approved guidance, but no teaching hints. A supervisor then plays a customer so the learner has to ask the questions, check the information and explain the next action.
• Why here: the teaching hints are removed while normal references remain available.

Step 7: Revisit later

• In the nursery course: two weeks on, the plant check on two customer cases they have not seen.
• Why here: a later attempt helps check what learners can still do. The supervisor also reviews real work; two cases are an example, not proof of readiness. Our guide to spaced repetition and how to practise it covers the timing.

What course briefs leave out

We classified a sample of the requests people typed into the Coursebox course builder to see which instructional strategies they named.

The classifier tagged four requests as asking for a worked example, and a spot-check found false positives. We did not measure how many it missed, so four is not a reliable upper bound. These approximate labels describe briefs, not finished courses or all Coursebox users.

A brief that names only topics leaves the strategy to whoever builds the course. If you write course briefs, name the strategy for each section: "explain the check one question at a time, show a worked example on a yellowing lemon tree, then two practice cases with hints" gets you a different course from "cover the five-question plant check".

How to tell if an instructional strategy is working

Watch people attempt the intended task. At the nursery, the supervisor checks whether staff gather the relevant information, use approved guidance, refer uncertain cases and give supported advice during their first two weekends. Completion records show recorded participation; ratings show reported reactions. A quiz can assess knowledge or decisions, depending on its design. Compare those measures with the workplace task and investigate other causes of errors. Our guide on how to evaluate the effectiveness of training covers the wider picture.

Putting instructional strategies to work

The five families help name the options. Choose activities and guidance around the task, what learners can already demonstrate and the support available. A model and guided attempts are a useful starting point for unfamiliar work; reduce that support as performance warrants, while keeping new local rules and required controls visible.

Pick one course and identify the first place learners attempt the job task. Check whether they have the information, a suitable model where needed, feedback and another attempt. Use a short representative task to offer experienced staff a targeted route, then review how both groups perform at work. The nursery's activity counts and timing are planning examples to adapt, not a recipe that guarantees a result.