Teaching Strategies

Excellence in teaching rouses students’ intellectual curiosity and prepares them to solve complex and challenging public health problems. It starts with careful course design and engaging teaching strategy. There is no one-size-fits-all effective teaching method for courses at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health because courses take on different formats, take place in different environments, and have different class sizes. However, research does support a practical range of teaching strategies that can be adapted to meet the needs of your students.

When selecting teaching strategies, consider the teaching modality and the learning objectives for the course. The strategies selected should match the level of complexity of the desired learning objectives. For example, an introductory-level course may use different teaching strategies than a specialization course.

Introductory teaching methods tend to be instructor-led while more complex teaching methods require more student direction and ownership. This is depicted with a 2 headed arrow pointing left and right with example methods, including lecture on the left under "teacher directed" and project-based on the right under "student directed", under the arrow.

Teaching strategies are opportunities to engage and prepare students by providing opportunities for students to see the world through different perspectives, share their work with others to give and receive feedback, practice problem-solving, and develop a lasting intellectual curiosity. Learn more below.

Course Formats

Courses are offered in a variety of formats. Some of the different delineations about course format can be based on course structure (lecture vs. lab vs. seminar) or location (on-site or online).

Learning Activities

The purpose of learning activities is to practice the skills outlined in the course objectives. These activities should engage students and help them build the skills needed to successfully complete the summative assessments for the course.

Assessment and Grading

Assessment is “the systematic collection, review, and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development” (Palomba & Banta, 1999). It is through assessment that faculty can determine whether their students have achieved their learning objectives.

Classroom Support

Classroom support is offered by the Multimedia technical support team, which provides technical and operational support on behalf of the Office of Information Technology at the Bloomberg School of Public Health.