Reddy KR.

Microteaching | Medical Education

Teaching How to Teach: Microteaching

(A Way to Build up Teaching Skills)
Reddy KR
Professor of Microbiology
Medical Education Department
Gandaki Medical College & Teaching Hospital, Pokhara, Nepal

ABSTRACT

Microteaching is one of the most recent innovations in teacher training

program which is used as a professional developmental tool in pre-
service or in-service teacher training programs. Microteaching helps
teachers to better understand the processes of teaching and learning
and provides the opportunity to learn teaching skills, to study their own
teaching, and to study the teaching of others.

Microteaching is an organized, scaled-down teacher training program

where a trainee teacher plans a short lesson, teaches it to a reduced
group of students (Three to ten) in a 5 to 20 minute lesson, and then
reflects on their teaching afterwards. The lesson is video recorded for
either individual or peer review. The trainee teacher’s micro-lesson is
Keywords reviewed, discussed, analyzed, and evaluated to give a feedback. Based
Microteaching, Pedagogi skills, on this feedback, the trainee teacher re-teaches the micro-lesson,
Teacher training technique. incorporating those points raised during the discussion and analysis.

Corresponding author The main objective of this article is to address and emphasize that
Dr. K. Rajeshwar Reddy microteaching has the potential to improve the teachers’ pedagogic skills,
Professor & HOD of Microbiology Gandaki competencies, self-confidence, beliefs, and attitudes with minimum
Medical College & Teaching Hospital,
available facilities and to provide students with valuable teaching
Pokhara, Nepal
Email: [email protected] experiences and make them aware of the benefits and relationships
between theory and practice.

INTRODUCTION teaching and develop specific teaching skills through a

“teach, critique, re-teach” model4. It is a new innovative
For the recruitment of medical teachers, no special prior program for medical teachers, which enhances their
training in pedagogic techniques is considered necessary. classroom attitude and behavior.
Therefore, the training of in-service medical teachers in
specific teaching skills is a major challenge in medical Fig 1: Microteaching
education programs. The pedagogic skills required
for medical teachers can be imparted through more
structured faculty training programs1.

Microteaching is a teacher training technique for learning

teaching skills. It employs real teaching situation for
developing pedagogic skills and helps to get deeper
knowledge regarding the art of teaching2,3. Microteaching
provides medical teachers an opportunity to build their
confidence and improve both content and methods of

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ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF MICROTEACHING Clift JC et al (1976): Microteaching is a teacher training

program which reduces the teaching situation to a simpler
Microteaching was first used in medicine at Stanford and more controlled encounter achieved by limiting the
University in 1960s to promote the quality of students9 practice teaching to a specific skill and reducing time and
and then it was applied for teacher training10. class size9.

The idea of microteaching as teacher training technique Encyclopedia of Education (Ed. Deighton, LC: 1971):
originated for the first time at Stanford University Microteaching is a real, constructed, scaled down teaching
(Teacher education program) in USA in 1963 by Dr Dwight encounter which is used for teacher training, curriculum
W. Allen5 and his colleagues. It was first applied to teaching development, and research10.
science, but later it was introduced to language teaching.
The theoretical basis for this microteaching was initially
related to the psychological theory of behaviorism6
(Bandura’s social learning theory). OBJECTIVES OF MICROTEACHING

Microteaching has become an established teacher training The main objectives of microteaching are12:
education procedure to raise the level of the teachers’
1. It enables trainee teachers to learn and assimilate
competencies in many colleges and Universities.
new teaching skills under controlled conditions
2. It enables trainee teachers to master a number of
teaching skills
DEFINITIONS OF MICROTEACHING
3. The trainee teachers gains confidence in teaching,
Microteaching is a concentrated, focused form of peer understand the concept and principles underlying
feedback and discussion that can improve teaching microteaching.
strategies. Microteaching is a system of controlled practice
4. Also the student can analyze the complex process
that makes it possible to focus on specific teaching
of teaching into essential microteaching skills and
behaviors and to practice teaching under controlled
comprehend the procedure of microteaching for
conditions. Competence in one skill is developed before
developing teaching skills
proceeding to another skill. Microteaching has been
defined in a number of ways.

Allen DW (1966): Microteaching is a scaled-down teaching CONCEPT OF MICROTEACHING

encounter in class size and time7.
Microteaching is a relatively a new innovation in the field
Allen DW and Eve AW (1968): Microteaching is defined of teacher education; a highly individualized training
as a system of controlled practice that makes it possible device to prepare effective teachers. Microteaching is a
to concentrate on specified teaching behavior and to real teaching but focuses on developing teaching skills4.
practices teaching under controlled conditions5.
Microteaching is so called since it gives trainee teachers
Bush RN (1968): Microteaching is a teacher education an opportunity to safely put themselves “under the
technique which allows teachers to apply clearly defined microscope” of a small group audience, so that all faults in
teaching skills to carefully prepared lessons in a planned teaching are observed to get a constructive feed-back and
series of five to 10 minutes encounter with a small group also to observe and comment on others performance.
of real students, often with an opportunity to observe the
result on video8. In microteaching, the trainee teacher is engaged in a
scaled-down teaching situation.
Singh LC (1977): Microteaching is a scaled down teaching
encounter in which a teacher teaches a small unit to a i) It is scaled down in terms of class size, since the trainee
group of five pupils for a small period of five to 20 minutes. teacher is teaching a small group of five to 10 pupils.
Such a situation offers a helpful setting for an experienced
or inexperienced teacher to acquire new teaching skills
and to refine old ones2.

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 Reddy KR. Microteaching | Medical Education

Fig 2: Microteaching gives trainee teachers an opportunity CORE SKILLS APPLICABLE IN CLINICAL TEACHING
to put themselves “under the microscope” of a small group
audience The teaching activity as a whole is divided into its individual
component skills4,11,13,14.
Present Teacher Expected Teacher
1. Lesson planning with clear-cut objectives and an
appropriate planned sequence. The content should
be concise, appropriate, relevant, and could cover the
specified duration.

2. Introduction skill (Set induction) - The process of

gaining pupil’s attention at the beginning of the class
by establishing rapport with pupils, promoting their
attentions, exposing them to essential contents, and
linking their previous knowledge with the topic.
ii) The lesson is scaled down in length of class-time and is
reduced to five to 10 minutes. Thus, microteaching lessens 3. Presentation and explanation skills – Teacher
the complexities of normal class-room teaching. Class size, enthusiasm, explanation, narration, giving appropriate
scope of content, and time are all reduced. illustrations and examples, planned repetition, and
encouraging group discussion wherever necessary.
iii) It is also scaled down in terms of teaching tasks. The trainee teacher should be able to rightly explain
Only one teaching skill or task is taken up at a time, and the concept by simple, relevant, and interesting
practiced through a scaled down encounter and then examples to increase pupils’ understanding.
take others in a similar way. These tasks may include the
practicing and mastering of a specific teaching skill such as 4. Skill of stimulus variation – Securing and sustaining
lecturing or teaching explanation, questioning or leading the attention of the pupil is imperative for a good
a discussion; mastering of specific teaching strategies; teacher. The effective components of the skill are
flexibility, instructional decision making, alternative uses • Gestures (Hand, facial, body)
of specific curricula, instructional materials and class room • Change in the speech pattern
management. Thus, microteaching focuses on training for • Voice variation and modulation (Pitch, volume,
the accomplishment of specific tasks. • speed)
• Change in the interaction pattern
Video recording of the teaching provides adequate feed-
• Focusing
back for trainee teacher’s performance. The trainee
teacher immediately views his/her lesson, evaluates it, • Pausing movement
amends his approach, re-teaches the lesson to another • Emphasis on significant points
group of pupils, reviews and evaluates. Thus microteaching
provides skilled supervision with an opportunity to get 5. Proper use of audio-visual aids – The increased
a constructive feedback. The class room teaching is like awareness of the audiovisual aids and other
learning to swim at the deeper end of the swimming equipment is important for this skill. Neatness,
pool, microteaching is an opportunity to practice at the readability, adequate spacing, distinct size, proper
shallower and less risky side11. spacing between words and lines, and use of relevant
words or phrases are the key components for this
Microteaching allows for the increased control of practice. skill.
In the practice setting of microteaching, the rituals of
time, students, methods of feed-back and supervision, and
many other factors can be manipulated. As a result, a high
degree of control can be built into the training program.
Microteaching greatly expands the normal knowledge of
results or feedback dimensions in teaching.

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6. Skill of black-board writing skill4,11, 13,15-17.

Table 1: The components of the skill of black-board writing 1. Defining the skill: A particular skill to be practiced
• Legibility (Easy to read) is defined and explained to trainee teachers in terms
• Size and alignment (In a straight line) of the purpose, teaching behaviors to provide the
• Highlighting main points knowledge and awareness of the component teaching
• Utilization of the space skills with examples.
• Black-board summary
2. Demonstrating the skills: The specific skill in
• Correctness
microteaching is demonstrated by the experts/
• Position of the teacher
supervisor in simulated conditions or through video
• Contact with the pupils
to the trainee teacher.
7. Reinforcement - Recognizing pupil’s difficulties,
3. Planning the lesson: The trainee teacher selects a
listening, encouraging pupil participation and
topic and plans a short lesson (Micro-lesson) for five
response. The use of positive verbal and non-verbal
to 10 minutes with the help of his/her supervisor, on
cues would be the key components for this skill.
the basis of demonstrated skill for his/her practice.
8. Skill of probing questions - Probing questions are The lesson planning should be in a logical sequence
those which help the pupils to think in depth about where maximum application of the components of a
the various aspects of the problem enabling pupils to skill is possible.
understand the subject deeply. It is important to allow
4. Teaching the lesson: The trainee teacher teaches
and encourage the fellow trainee teachers to ask
the lesson to a micro-class (A small group of pupils,
structured questions and clarify doubts. Redirection,
five to 10) and uses the components of skill as per
refocusing, and increasing critical awareness are
the planning of the lesson. If the situation is different
important components of this skill.
and not as visualized in the planning of the lesson, the
9. Silence and nonverbal cues (Body language) trainee teacher should modify his/her behavior as per
the demand of the situation in the class. The trainee
10. Classroom management – Providing proper teacher should have the courage and confidence to
instructions, restricting inappropriate behavior, and handle the situation arising in the class effectively.
calling the pupils by name are essentials of this skill.
5. The lesson is observed by the supervisor or peers or
11. Skill of achieving closure - Method of concluding a video recorded or televised at close circuit television
teaching session so as to bring out the relevance of (CCTV).
what has been learnt, its connection with past learning
and its application to future learning. Questions and 6. Feedback: This term refers to giving information to
statements by the teacher by consolidation of the the trainee teacher about his performance (Points of
major points covered during the lesson and ability for strength as well as weakness) so that trainee teacher
applying the knowledge gained by pupils during the can improve his/her performance in the desired
lesson to new situations. Closure should be timely! direction. The feedback should be constructive and
Prepare to start and end in time. based on observation. Commenting on observable
behavior also leads to suggestions for improvement.
Thus the teaching is followed by discussion to
provide the feed-back to the trainee on the basis of
PROCEDURE OF MICROTEACHING (MICROTEACHING
observation of the lesson. The teaching is evaluated
CYCLE)
by students, peers and the supervisor. Colleagues and
Microteaching is a system of controlled practice that makes post-graduate students can act as peer evaluators.
it possible to focus on specific teaching behaviors and to The supervisor reinforces the instances of effective
practice teaching under controlled conditions. Competence use of the skill and draws attention of the teacher
in one skill is developed before proceeding to another trainee to the points where he/she could not do well.

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 Reddy KR. Microteaching | Medical Education

The trainee teacher can observe his/her teaching TIME DURATION FOR THE MICROTEACHING
activities on video or CCTV8. The awareness of
his/her own teaching performance provides the Planning of micro-lesson may take 2 hours

reinforcement of the trainee teacher. 1. Time duration

Teach 5 – 6 minutes
7. Re-planning: In the light of the discussion, Feedback session 5 – 6 minutes
suggestions and feedback given by the supervisor, the Re-plan 10 – 12 minutes
trainee teacher re-plans the lesson incorporating the Re-teach another group 5 – 6 minutes
points of strength in order to practice the small skill Re-feedback 5 – 6 minutes
effectively in the second trial for improvement. Total 30 – 36 minutes approximately
2. Number of trainee 10
8.. Re-teaching: The revised lesson is re-taught to teachers in a group
another small group of pupils of same class for the 3. Supervisor(s) 1 or 2
same class duration to practice the small skill. This 4. Feedback by supervisor(s)/ peers
involves teaching to the same group of pupils if the
topic is changed or to a different group of pupils if the
topic is the same. This is done to eliminate boredom
PHASES OF MICROTEACHING
or monotony of the pupil. The trainee teacher teaches
the class with renewed courage and confidence to Microteaching procedure has various phases of acquiring
perform better than the previous attempt. skills4,11,13,17.
9. Re-feedback: The supervisor observes the re-teach 1. Knowledge acquisition phase (Pre-active phase):
lesson and gives re-feed back to the trainee teacher It is the preparatory pre-active phase in which the
with convincing arguments and reasons. Thus the re- teacher gets trained on the skills and components of
teaching is again followed by discussion, suggestions teaching through lectures, discussion illustration and
and encouraging the teaching performance by the demonstration of skills by experts. The trainee teacher
re-feedback provided to the trainee teacher. This is gets theoretical as well as the practical knowledge of
the most important component of microteaching for the skill.
modification of behavior of trainee teachers in the
desired direction in each and every skill practice. 2. Skill acquisition phase (Inter-action phase): In this
inter-active skill acquisition phase the trainee teacher
10. Repeating the cycle: The “teach-re-teach” cycle may plans a micro-lesson for practicing the demonstrated
be repeated several times till desired level of skill or skills and carries out the microteaching cycle and
adequate mastery is achieved. Such repeated cycles of evaluation of the practiced skill (Feedback), then re-
teaching, feedback and re-teaching help the teacher plan, re-teach and re-feedback till the desired level of
to improve his teaching skills one at a time.
3. skill achieved.
Fig 3: Microteaching cycle (The cycle continues up to the
Fig 1: Microteaching
extend cycle (Thewill
when a trainee cycle be
continues
able upto tomaster
the extend
a when a trainee4.
specific will beTransfer phase (Post-active phase): Here, the
able to
skill) master a specific skill) trainee teacher uses the mastered skill in the real
class room teaching and tries to integrate all the
Re-use Class room Plan
feedback data teaching different skills.

Feedback
ADVANTAGES OF MICROTEACHING

A microteaching session is much more comfortable than

Re-teach Re-plan Teach
(Re-implement skill) (Implement skill) real class room situations, because it eliminates pressure
resulting from the length of the lecture, the scope and
Feedback content of the matter to be conveyed, and the need to face
(Video, observers) large numbers of students, some of whom may be
TIME DURATION FOR THE MICROTEACHING
Planning of micro-lesson
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1. Time duration
Teach 5 – 6 minutes
Feedback session 5 – 6 minutes
Re-plan 10 – 12 minutes
 Medical Education| Journal of Gandaki Medical College-Nepal

inattentive or hostile. Another advantage of microteaching Table 3: Changes in student role

is that it provides skilled supervisors who can give support, A shift from A shift to
lead the session in a proper direction4,11,18. 1 Passive recipient of informa- Active participant in the learn-
tion ing process
• It helps to develop, sharpen and master specific 2 Reproducing knowledge Producing and sharing knowl-
edge
teaching skills
3 Learning as a solitary activity Learning collaboratively with oth-
• It employs real teaching situation for developing ers
teaching skills
• It helps to accomplish specific teaching competencies
LIMITATIONS OF MICROTEACHING
• It is more effective in understanding and modifying
teacher behaviors important in class room teaching • It is skill oriented; content not emphasized
• It increases the confidence of trainee teacher • A large number of trainee teachers cannot be given the
opportunity for re-teaching and re-planning
• It is a vehicle of continuous training applicable at all
stages not only to teachers at the beginning of their • It is very time consuming technique
career but also for more senior teachers • It requires special class room setting
• It enables projection of model instructional skills • It covers only a few specific skills
• It provides expert supervision and a constructive • It deviates from normal class room teaching
feedback • It may raise administrative problem while arranging
• It provides for repeated practice without adverse micro-lessons
consequences to the trainee teacher or his/her
students
• It reduces the complexity of teaching process as it is a MICROTEACHING Vs TRADITIONAL TEACHING
scaled down teaching
Table 4: Comparison between microteaching and
• It helps to get deeper knowledge regarding the art of
traditional teaching
teaching
Microteaching Traditional teaching
• It caters for individual differences of prospective
1 Objectives are specified in be- Objectives are general and not
teachers in their training havioral terms specified in behavioral terms

• Duration of teaching as well as number of students are 2 Class consists of small group
of 5 – 10 students
Class consists 40 – 60 students

less
3 The teacher takes up one skill The teacher practices several
• Content is divided into smaller units at a time skills at a time
4 Duration time for teaching is Duration time for teaching is 40
• There is facility of re-planning, re-teaching and re- 5 – 10 minutes – 50 minutes

evaluation 5 There is immediate feedback Immediate feedback is not avail-

able
• It puts the teacher under the microscope, and all the 6 Teaching is carried on under There is no control over situation
faults of the teacher are observed controlled situation

• The problem of discipline can also be controlled

7 Teaching is relatively simple Teaching become complex
8 The role of supervisor is spe- The role of the supervisor is
cific and well defined to im- vague
Table 2: Changes in teacher role prove teaching
A shift from A shift to 9 Patterns of class room inter- Patterns of class room interac-
1 Knowledge transmitter, pri- Learning facilitator, Collaborator, action can be studied objec- tions cannot be studied objec-
mary source of information, Coach, Mentor, Knowledge tively tively
content expert, and source of navigator, and co-learner 10 Provision for re-teaching No
all answers
11 Trainee teachers gain confi- Tense and scared
2 Teacher controls and directs all Teacher gives students more dence in teaching
aspects of learning options and responsibilities for
their own learning

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 Reddy KR. Microteaching | Medical Education

LINK PRACTICE (INTEGRATION OF TEACHING SKILLS) Theory and practice. 1987.

Link practice involves the integration of skills. The main 3. Paintal I. Microteaching – A handbook for Teachers.
objectives of integration of teaching skills are to help in the Oxford University Press, New Delhi.1980.
transition from microteaching situation to real teaching
situation where the trainee teacher is allowed to teach all 4. Ananthakrishnan N. Microteaching as a vehicle
the skills together learnt in microteaching sessions. of teacher training – Its advantages and
disadvantages. J Postgrad Med. 1993; 39: 142-3.
The link practice may be defined as a process of selection,
organization and utilization of different teaching skills to 5. Allen DW, Eve AW. Microteaching. Theory into
form an effective pattern for realizing the specified Practice. 1968; 7(5):181-185.
instructional objectives in a given teaching learning
6. Demir S. Two inseparable facets of technology
situation18.
integration programs: Technology and theoretical
framework. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics,
Science & Technology Education. 2011; 7(2): 75-88.
CONCLUSIONS
7. Politzer R. Microteaching: A new approach to
Microteaching is a teacher training concept that can teacher training and research. Hispania. 1969;
be applied at the pre-service and in-service stages in 52(2): 244-248.
the professional development of the teachers. Medical
teachers have no special prior or in-service training in 8. Aggarwal JC. Essentials of Education Technology.
teaching. Microteaching helps medical teachers to improve Third edition, 2011.
their self-confidence and teaching skills. Microteaching is
9. Clift JC, Batten H, Burke G, Malley J. Structure of the
a vehicle of continuous training applicable at all stages not
skill acquisition phase of a microteaching.
only to teachers at the beginning of their career but also
for more senior teachers. Microteaching is an excellent 10. Deighton LC (Ed). The Encyclopedia of Education.
way to build up skills and confidence, to experience a 1971; Vol 9.
range of lecturing/tutoring styles and to learn and practice
giving constructive feedback. Microteaching is a system 11. Koross R. Microteaching an efficient technique
of controlled practice that makes it possible to focus on for learning effective teaching skills: Pre-service
specific teaching behaviors and to practice teaching under teachers’ perspective. IRA-International Journal of
controlled conditions. Competence in one skill is developed Education and Multidiciplinary Studies. 2016; 4(2):
before proceeding to another skill. Many institutions are 289-299.
using the microteaching model to raise the level of the
teachers’ competencies to develop teaching skills.

Recommendations

The Department of Medical Education should organize

more microteaching sessions because microteaching
experiences have a positive impact on teaching
competencies.

REFERENCES

1. Elliot J. A microteaching experiment at MEDUNSA.

S Afr Med J. 1982; 62: 868-70.

2. Singh LC, Sharma RD. Department of Teacher

education NCERT, New Delhi. Microteaching –

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