BECE. Newsletter 

Vol.13, No.1, 2023 1693 

 

 

 

 

Lecturing, Discussion, or Interaction: The 

Heterogenous Effects of Teaching Methods on 

Academic Achievements of Junior Secondary 

School Students 

By Feng, Q. X. & Ma, L. P. 
Correspondence to: Liping Ma, Graduate School of Education, Peking Universi-

ty, China. E-mail: lpma@pku.edu.cn  

URRENTLY, the traditional teacher lecturing-dominated instruction 

remains the prevalent teaching method in Chinese basic education. In 

recent years, as a result of the deepening curriculum reform, teachers have 

increased the use of group discussion in classroom teaching. In this article, 

teaching methods were classified into three categories: teacher lecturing, 

group discussion, and teacher-student interaction. Based on the baseline sur-

vey and follow-up data of China Education Panel Survey (CEPS), the study 

used the difference-in-differences (DID) model and the PSM (propensity 

score matching) -DID model to examine the respective effects of the three 

teaching approaches on student academic achievements in Chinese, mathe-

matics, and English. 

The study utilized the baseline survey data of CEPS in the academic 

year of 2013- 2014 and the follow-up data in the academic year of 2014-

2015. The student sample included 7,826 junior secondary school students 

who were randomly sampled from 438 classes of 112 junior secondary 

schools in 28 counties (districts) across the country. Obtained from the 

teacher database were the data of 246 Chinese teachers, 239 math teachers 

and 234 English teachers who have been teaching the sampled students since 

they were in grade seven. Mid-term examination results of the student are the 

dependent variable in this study. The core independent variable is the teach-

ing method of the instructor - teacher lecturing, group discussion, and teach-

er-student interaction. The control variables include students’ individual 

characteristics, family background, personal effort, and parental discipline; 

and teachers’ gender, professional title, administrative position and teaching 

awards. 

The research findings showed that increasing group discussion in 

Chinese and math classes is beneficial to student performance, but the oppo-

site is true in the English class; and that teacher lecturing and teacher-student 

interaction also help improve student academic achievement in Chinese. Fur-

thermore, the teaching method should be adjusted to the academic level of 

C 

mailto:lpma@pku.edu.cn


 

Vol.13, No.1, 2023 1694 

various classes and students. Chinese language teachers should lecture more 

in classes of lower academic level, lecture less and increase teacher-student 

interaction in classes of medium level, and organize more group discussions 

in those of higher academic level; in Chinese teaching, group discussions are 

particularly beneficial to above-average students in high achieving classes. 

Math teachers should lecture less and reduce teacher-student interaction in 

classes of lower academic level, and increase group discussion in those of 

higher academic level; in math instruction, group discussion also benefits the 

high achieving students in classes of medium academic level. English teach-

ers should lecture less, reduce group discussion, and increase teacher-student 

interaction in low achieving classes, restrict the amount of group discussion 

and teacher-student interaction in classes of medium academic level, and lec-

ture more in those of higher academic level; teacher lecturing is particularly 

favorable to English performance of below-average students in high achiev-

ing classes. 

 

Source: Journal of Educational Science of Hunan Normal University, 2022; 

2022(5):90-100.