Teaching methods
College Teaching Methods, by Dr. James Forest
A large body of research on college and university teaching has developed over the last half-century, exploring a variety of theories and highlighting a collection of accepted routines upon which faculty rely in the classroom. These routines - encompassing issues of method, time, physical space and tools, and evaluation procedures - relate generally to the type of instruction preferred by the teacher, whether it be lecture, group discussions, or laboratory assignments. There are a limited number of these methodological routines, many of which have struggled to gain legitimacy within the academic profession. For example, criticism of some methods is based largely on ideological grounds, such as the use of drama and humor in the classroom. Other routines are held almost without question or debate. Issues of time, for example, are standardized across institutions such that all classes, regardless of subject matter, must meet a certain number of hours each week, at the same time, on the same days, and in the same classroom. Modifications of these patterns are rare, despite the professor's presumed authority over the use of time in the classroom.
Overall, teaching is perhaps the most difficult and complex responsibility for members of the academic profession. From textbook selection to classroom management and organization, to giving and grading exams, teaching requires a considerable commitment of time, energy and skill. Thus, it comes as no surprise that a good deal of research on college and university teaching is dedicated to helping the teacher achieve these multiple tasks more effectively. While addressing the wide range of perspectives available on this issue is well beyond the scope of this discussion, it may be useful to explore a few kinds of instructional methods that effectively enhance learning in many different contexts.
Lecturing Effectively - While much has changed about teaching in American higher education, much remains constant. Despite all the research, faculty development, and pressure for change - judging both by studies of teacher's classroom behavior and by the popular media - lecturing is still the most common teaching method. Thus, a considerable body of research on university and college teaching is focused on improving the effectiveness of lectures. While effective lecturing requires clarity and thoughtful organization of the material, it is often suggested that the personal attributes of the lecturer are more important than the material. For example, lecturers who are enthusiastic, dynamic, and charismatic are often perceived as more effective than those who appear pompous, disinterested in the materials, or show irritation at questions in the classroom. Research on effective lecturing also suggests the need for a certain sense of self-awareness (including one's posture, hands, gait, and clothing), and that a sense of humor can enhance a classroom's perception of the lecture.
Other attributes of effective lecturing are more related to behavior. Making eye contact, being well-rested before the lecture, never reading from a book, using emotion-enhancing words and moving about the classroom to avoid remaining in a stationary position are all important attributes of an effective lecturer. According to the research literature, many of the personal attributes related to effective teaching are also related in some way to verbal aptitude - how one uses his or her voice in the classroom matters considerably. A monotone voice, an inability to speak loudly or project one's voice, mumbling, or speaking too rapidly or too slowly can impair a lecturer's effectiveness. Clearly, an animated teacher will be comparatively more successful at eliciting and maintaining student attention.
Employing Effective Group Assignments - Assigning effective group assignments and activities can be a powerful tool for developing students' higher-level cognitive skills. Several research studies offer guidelines for designing appropriate questions, forming groups and establishing a grading system to support individual preparation and team development, and conclude that effective group assignments require an understanding of the course concepts; a level of difficulty that requires collaborative (over individual) effort; ensuring that groups perform activities that groups do well (e.g., identifying problems, formulating strategies) while minimizing time spent on activities that individuals could do more efficiently alone (e.g., creating a polished document); giving students the opportunity to apply the course concepts to realistic problems; work that is interesting or fun; and a tangible output that can be effectively evaluated.
Encouraging Classroom Discussion - Classroom discussions can produce benefits for students along the same lines as effective group assignments. Early work on comparing lectures and discussions introduced a measure of 'delayed recall' to determine long-term learning. This research showed that although there was little difference between student performance on tests immediately following a course, there was a considerable superiority for students in the discussion group over the lecture group on the measure of delayed recall. Effective discussions hinge on instructors' learning to become more comfortable with control issues and with their ability to guide students (and themselves) through the minefield of interpersonal interactions, especially those in multicultural classrooms.
Collaborating with Colleagues - Academics are largely autonomous, and are usually rewarded only for their work as independent researchers or teachers, as opposed to collaborative research or teaching. However, interest in team teaching, faculty collaboration, and interdisciplinary education is increasing. Faculty collaboration and team teaching can amplify the energy of a classroom, particularly when the instructors have organized the material (and their presentation of it) in ways that highlight their collective as well as individual strengths. As well, team teaching can play an important role in presenting students with useful models for working together effectively and respecting diversity of opinion and perspective.
Assigning Problem Solving Exercises - By assigning problem-solving activities that promote critical thinking, teachers help students develop creativity by providing avenues for intrinsic motivation. Effective teachers must adamantly discourage "killer statements" - statements that cut down an idea before it has a chance to grow ("that's been tried before," "that's ridiculous/impossible . . ."). When students "own" a problem, intrinsic motivation for creative problem solving is best enabled.
Seeking Feedback from Students - Demonstrating respect for and interest in student opinions and perceptions is a powerful tool for engaging them more in the learning process. During the late 1980s, Patricia Cross and Thomas Angelo illustrated the value of "One Minute Papers" as a quick and effective way to collect written feedback about a course or a specific class session, particularly in large lecture classes. Here, the instructor asks students to write a brief answer to the following two questions: "What was the most important thing you learned in today's class?" and "What question or questions that you have from today's class remain unanswered?" Another technique that is useful is to allow for anonymous, open-ended teaching evaluations at various points throughout the course, and then make adjustments to meet the concerns expressed in these reports. In general, seeking feedback from students about the course direction or discussion encourages students to be more active participants in the classroom learning experience.
Organizing the Classroom Experience - The most common form of academic writing involves opening our discussion with a brief summary of what will be said, presenting the main arguments, and then closing the discussion with a concluding summary of the discussion's highlights. We often use this same structure in many areas of academic work, including the course syllabus we design or grant proposals we write. Applying the same organization to each class we teach can help students considerably in constructing their understanding of the material and how the ideas and concepts presented relate to one another. In addition to summarizing the main points of the lecture or discussion, it is also useful to leave time for questions and clarifying concepts at the end of the class session.
Promoting Inquiry - Effective teachers use different questioning techniques to promote creative and critical thinking and cooperative learning. Asking questions, and then asking for further clarification, or for connections to other pertinent materials, is a very valuable skill for teachers. Research on developing critical thinking suggests that what teachers tell their students to do with the material greatly affects how they think about it. Thus, teachers should show students how (and encourage them) to ask their own questions, which helps make the learning experience more their own responsibility, which in turn helps to make the classroom into a "community of learners."
Using Experiential Learning Exercises - Field trips help students to see things as they really are: complex and imperfect, and not as they might be idealized in a textbook. Field trips provide students with an opportunity to get involved in the learning process, which promotes active learning through student participation. As research on cognitive development have shown, participation plays an important role in fostering student motivation for learning.
Establishing Learning Contracts - Learning contracts are useful tools for the teacher and the student to come to terms with what each expects from the course. Students may desire a guarantee that the activities they will perform in the course will help to foster the knowledge they desire. They may seek recognition from their professors that their efforts have been of high quality, and they may also seek to establish a relationship between themselves, their teacher, and their fellow classmates that includes mutual trust, respect, and collegiality. Teachers may desire a written agreement from the student that he or she will complete their assignments on time and in the format requested. They may also seek to ensure by some form of signed agreement that the student knows and understands what is expected for successfully completing the course. These contracts offer an effective strategy for structuring the teaching and learning environment to benefit both the learner and the teacher. Additionally, learning contracts provide a means through which students can set goals, which they are then motivated to achieve. Providing students with a perception of control over the learning environments and experiences can provide a powerful motivating factor for effective learning.
In conclusion, teaching methods - or routines - have not changed substantially since the first institutions of higher education at Bologna and Paris, perhaps a reflection of the organizational theory that where there might be uncertainty, individuals choose imitation. Recent questions raised over teaching behaviors and methods in terms of student cognition have generated interest, but generally have not been well-received by most faculty members, the majority of whom are comfortably secure in their chosen routines of classroom activity. Using routines almost seems necessary to make ambiguity in teaching and learning understandable and manageable. A fair amount of the current literature on teaching and learning in higher education is directed towards developing new routines, adding to the collection of teaching routines a teacher may chose from, without questioning the underlying presumptions of the uses of routines in college teaching. However, research on teaching and learning in higher education also holds many diverse opinions on how to induce effective learning. This is not a bad thing, as teachers are provided with a rich banquet of approaches from which to choose those that best suit their personal tastes. Of course, this diversity also may create a problem for those seeking the formula for "best practice."
Source: Forest, James and Thomas Angelo, 2002. Teaching. In Forest and Kinser (eds.), Higher Education in the United States: An Encyclopedia. New York: ABC-CLIO Publishing