The Art of Explaining Things Well: Expository Teaching

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The Art of Explaining Things Well: Expository Teaching

Educational Psychology · Chapter 9: Instructional Strategies and Effective Teaching PracticeSection 9.5 · lesson 87 of 1008 min · free with a free account

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In this lesson

Ausubel, clarity, worked examples, and why telling is not the problem.

  • Explain Ausubel's theory of meaningful verbal learning
  • Describe what clarity of instruction consists of
  • Use worked examples and fade them appropriately
  • Structure an expository lesson deliberately

Transcript

Everything said in the video, section by section (1,050 words). Read along, or search it.

Instructional Strategies and Effective Teaching Practice

The Art of Explaining Things Well

Telling students things has a bad reputation in education. Lecture is treated as the opposite of real learning. David Ausubel argued that this diagnosis is simply wrong. Not because lecture is always fine, but because the fault lies elsewhere. This section is about explaining things well. We start with Ausubel's theory of meaningful verbal learning. Then clarity, which turns out to be the strongest single predictor. Then worked examples, and the cognitive load argument behind them. Then how to fade that support as expertise develops. And finally the architecture of a well-built expository lesson. The claim to watch for is that reception itself is not the problem.

Ausubel

Most School Learning Is Receptive

David Ausubel challenged the dominance of discovery-oriented theories. And he did it with an unusually blunt claim. Most school learning is, and should be, verbal and receptive. That is, students learn most of what they know by being told. Not by discovering it independently. But his theory adds a crucial condition to that. It is called meaningful verbal learning. New information is only genuinely learned under one circumstance. When it is meaningfully connected to what the learner already knows. Rote memorization is what happens when that connection fails. It is surface-level association, without integration. Nothing gets attached to existing cognitive structures.

The Key Insight

Delivery Quality, Not Delivery Mode

Now Ausubel's key insight, which reframes the whole debate. What determines whether learning is meaningful or rote? It is the quality of expository teaching. It is not the act of discovery. Consider a teacher who presents information well. Well-organized, and conceptually clear. Explicitly linking new concepts to students' prior knowledge. That teacher creates the conditions for deep understanding. By telling, not by withholding. So the method of reception is not the problem. Poorly organized, context-free delivery is the problem. And that is a far more fixable diagnosis than the alternative.

Clarity

The Strongest Predictor There Is

Which brings us to clarity, and how much it matters. Clarity of instruction is the single strongest predictor. The strongest predictor of achievement in teacher-centered lessons. And clarity is made of specific, learnable behaviors. Using precise language. Avoiding ambiguous pronouns, and vague quantifiers. Structuring explanations with explicit transitions. And checking for understanding at regular intervals. Here is the finding that should unsettle experienced teachers. Teachers perceived as unclear produce significantly worse outcomes. Worse than those rated as clear by their students. And that holds regardless of content expertise. Knowing more does not make you clearer. It sometimes does the reverse.

Worked Examples

Showing the Reasoning, Not Just the Answer

Worked examples are one of the most powerful expository tools. Particularly when introducing complex procedures. Or multi-step problems, where students get lost midway. A worked example presents a complete solution. Alongside explicit annotations explaining each step. And explaining the reasoning behind each step. That second part is what distinguishes it from an answer key. The justification for this comes from cognitive load theory. Worked examples reduce extraneous cognitive load. Which frees working memory for something better. For focusing on the essential features of the problem itself.

Fading

Support Has to Come Back Out Again

But worked examples cannot stay in place forever. As expertise develops, they should gradually be replaced. First by partially completed problems. Some steps supplied, and some left for the student. And ultimately by independent problem-solving. That progression is called fading. Teacher support decreases as student effort increases. Across the whole instructional sequence. And there is a real cost to skipping the fade. A worked example left in place too long stops reducing load. It starts removing the practice that actually builds the skill.

Underused

Why Teachers Skip Worked Examples

Worked examples are underused, and there is a reason. Many teachers skip them out of a specific concern. That students will simply copy them without thinking. It is a reasonable worry, and the research contradicts it. Two conditions turn a worked example into real learning. The teacher thinks aloud through the example. And students are asked to identify the purpose of each step. Under those conditions, students develop problem-solving schemas. And they develop them far more quickly. More quickly than through trial-and-error practice alone. Which is exactly the alternative most teachers reach for.

Architecture

The Shape of an Expository Lesson

Effective expository lessons follow a clear architecture. It opens with a hook, or an objective statement. Then explicit presentation of the new content. With examples, and importantly with non-examples. Then opportunities for guided practice. Followed by independent practice. And finally a closing summary that consolidates the learning. This structure is not meant to be rigid. Skilled teachers adapt it based on how students respond. But having a deliberate architecture prevents a common pitfall. Explaining too much, without adequate processing time. That failure is almost always a structural one, not a knowledge one.

Five Components

Each One, and How It Goes Wrong

Each component has a characteristic way of going wrong. The objective statement should state the lesson goal explicitly. The mistake is skipping it, or leaving it vague. The advance organizer is a schema-activating opener. The mistake is jumping into content without any context. The worked example is an annotated complete solution. The mistake is showing the answer without the process. Guided practice is collaborative practice with feedback. The mistake is moving to independent work too quickly. And closure is the summary and key concept review. The mistake is ending class without synthesizing anything. That last one is the easiest to fix, and the most often skipped.

Not Passive

The Difference Between a Lecture and Teaching

Teacher-centered approaches are frequently criticized as passive. That criticism describes bad expository teaching accurately. It does not describe good expository teaching at all. High-quality expository instruction demands cognitive engagement. It achieves that through strategic questioning. Through think-alouds that make expert reasoning visible. And through deliberate use of challenging examples. Examples that challenge understanding rather than merely confirming it. So what separates a lecture from real expository instruction? The difference lies in the intentionality of delivery. Not in whether the teacher is doing the talking.

Classroom Example

Narrating the Thinking, Then Fading It

One example brings the whole section together. A chemistry teacher is introducing stoichiometry. She projects a worked example onto the screen. And she narrates her thinking step by step as she writes. I first identify what I am given. Then I determine the mole ratio. Then I convert. That narration is the think-aloud, and it is the active ingredient. Students copy the example first. Then they complete a similar problem with one step removed. Then they solve one independently. That is fading, compressed into a single lesson. And it rests on Ausubel's most famous statement. The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows.

About Educational Psychology at UPI Study

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Universities that work with NCCRS

Educational Psychology carries a NCCRS credit recommendation. These universities work with NCCRS; some are UPI Study's signed partners. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.

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FAQ

Questions students ask us

About The Art of Explaining Things Well: Expository Teaching

What is Ausubel's theory of meaningful verbal learning?
David Ausubel's theory of meaningful verbal learning holds that most school learning is, and should be, verbal and receptive, but new information is truly learned only when it is meaningfully connected to what the learner already knows. When that connection fails, the result is rote memorization. For Ausubel, the quality of expository teaching, not discovery, determines whether learning is meaningful or rote.
What makes a teacher's explanation clear?
Clear explanations rely on specific, learnable behaviors: precise language, avoiding ambiguous pronouns and vague quantifiers, explicit transitions between ideas, and regular checks for understanding. Clarity is considered the strongest single predictor of achievement in teacher-centered lessons. Teachers whom students rate as unclear produce significantly worse outcomes, regardless of how much content expertise they have.
What are worked examples and why do they help students learn?
A worked example is a complete solution with annotations explaining each step and the reasoning behind it. According to cognitive load theory, worked examples reduce extraneous cognitive load, freeing working memory to focus on the essential features of a problem. They work best when the teacher thinks aloud and students identify the purpose of each step, which builds problem-solving schemas faster than trial and error.
What is fading in instruction?
Fading is the gradual withdrawal of support as students gain expertise, typically moving from full worked examples to partially completed problems and then to independent problem-solving. For example, a chemistry teacher might model a stoichiometry problem aloud, then give a similar one with a step removed, then one to solve alone. Leaving worked examples in place too long removes the practice that builds the skill.

About the Educational Psychology course

How many college credits is Educational Psychology?
Educational Psychology (Psychology 120) carries a NCCRS credit recommendation for 3 semester credits. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.
How much does Educational Psychology cost and what is included?
$250, paid once, with lifetime access: all 100 video lessons, a practice quiz after each, the graded work and final exam, and an official transcript when you finish. Students who want several courses choose UPI Study PRO instead.
Which universities accept UPI Study credits?
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How long does Educational Psychology take?
It is self-paced with no deadlines. The 100 lessons total about 15 hours of video; most students add reading and practice time and finish in a few weeks to a few months, on their own schedule.
How are the exams done?
Quizzes and assignments are online in the course. The final exam is taken online with proctoring; a person on the UPI Study team checks assignments, usually within two days.
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100 video lessons, a quiz after each one, and the graded work that earns the credit. Recommended for credit by NCCRS.

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