Cognitive effects of two opposite teaching styles: expositive and guided-participative

Abstract

Abstract: This paper aims to compare the cognitive effects of two teaching styles. It´s theoretical framework is Vygotsky´s body of work. Hypothetically the research issues that two different teaching styles, expositive and guided participative, produce different systems of learning . The hidden or non-explicit effects of each were focused. These cognitive effects were related to the transfer of knowledge (extended learning), to the cognitive (in)dependence from teacher, to the permanence on time of learned knowledge and, finally, to the efficacy of the peer interindividual support. Four biology teachers were invited to teach their students from secondary school the same extracurricular subject. Two teachers had to use an expositive style and two had to use a participative style. Data was processed with SPSS. t was used to test differences (in quantitative variables) between the means of both conditions. Differences in the linguistic dependence on the teacher were tested with chi-square. Individual post tests regarding learning success show that the participative style enables extended learning, which is the process by which knowledge can be used in new situations. In addition, participative style helps the student to gain independence from the teacher and to use peer individual support more efficiently. Keywords: Teaching styles, Expositive class, Participative class, Cognitive learning, Constructivism.