Face to face teaching methods

Lectures are generally used to present information to large groups of learners with the learners adopting a more passive role that might involve listening, looking, and/ or note-taking.

Teaching methods such as tutorials, workshops and seminars can be used for smaller groups; in general these require students to be more interactive, and to undertake practical work, discussion or problem solving exercises.

There are some situations when teaching is ideally provided on a one to one basis, for example teaching a learner a clinical procedure or offering a tailored remediation session or teaching interview skills.

The table below compares essential features of common methods of teaching.

Please note you can download the table as a PDF at the bottom of this page in the Downloads section.