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Evidence-based Teaching: Essential Implications, Realistic Dilemmas and Possible Paths

Author(s)

Xiaopei Gu*

Affiliation(s)

School of Educational Sciences, Lingnan Normal University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong, China *Corresponding Author

Abstract

As a new paradigm of effective teaching, evidence-based teaching has significant advantages in enhancing the scientific rigor of instruction. However, there remain disagreements within the academic community regarding its essential implications, and its practical pathways within the Chinese educational context are yet to be clarified. This study systematically reviews the theoretical development of evidence-based teaching through a literature analysis method, elucidating its essential connotations and value orientations. It also analyzes the practical dilemmas facing evidence-based teaching by situating them within China's basic education practice ecosystem. The findings reveal that evidence-based teaching is characterized by three features—cyclicality, collaborativity, and diversity—which enable it to achieve the integration of scientism and humanism, enhance educational equity, and create conditions for teaching reform. At the practical level, however, it faces structural obstacles including the absence of an evidence-based culture, the lack of a supporting system, and insufficient evidence-based competencies among teaching practitioners. Based on these findings, the study constructs a four-stage cyclical implementation pathway for evidence-based teaching— "Preparation—Design—Intervention—Dissemination"—providing an actionable reference framework for translating evidence-based teaching from conception to practice.

Keywords

Evidence-Based Teaching; Effective Teaching; Evidence-Based Literacy; Evidence; Instructional Design

References

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