Lecturing, Discussion, or Interaction: The Heterogenous Effects of Teaching Methods on Academic Achievements of Junior Secondary School Students

Abstract

Currently, the traditional teacher lecturing-dominated instruction remains the prevalent teaching method in Chinese basic education. In recent years, as a result of the deepening curriculum reform, teachers have increased the use of group discussion in classroom teaching. In this article, teaching methods were classified into three categories: teacher lecturing, group discussion, and teacher-student interaction. Based on the baseline survey and follow-up data of China Education Panel Survey (CEPS), the study used the difference-in-differences (DID) model and the PSM (propensity score matching) -DID model to examine the respective effects of the three teaching approaches on student academic achievements in Chinese, mathematics, and English.