Developing
Teaching Practice
Watching Yourself on Videotape
Watching a
videotape of yourself is an extremely valuable experience. Videotaping
allows you to view and listen to the class as your students do; you
can also scrutinize your students' reactions and responses to your teaching.
… The suggestions in this page are designed to help you use videotape
to gain insights that will help you improve your teaching.
How to Make Your Speaking Easier and More Effective
Audience Analysis, openings and closings, preparation, how to delivery,
handling questions, and how to get feedback.
Learning
with and Teaching for Understanding (PDF file)
This paper
is a selective summary of some basic ideas about learning with understanding
and teaching for understanding. It is intended for Teaching Fellows
who do not have extensive background in this area.
Course
Anatomy: The Dissection and Analysis of Knowledge Through Teaching
(PDF file)
This volume is a contribution to the evolving
scholarship of teaching. The course portfolio is a central element in
the argument that teaching and scholarship are neither antithetical
nor incompatible. Indeed, my argument is that every course is inherently
an investigation, an experiment, a journey motivated by purpose and
beset by uncertainty.
Team-Based Learning Video Clips
The
"Video Demonstration" link has some interesting clips on various
aspects of Team-Based Learning (TBL) process.
Enhanced Lecture Formats
There are ways
to make lectures more participatory, i.e., more active. This handout
describes 4 ways to make students more active in a session that is still
basically a lecture class.
Delivering Effective Lectures
Observe the
lecture and consider each of the presentation skills listed below. For
each skill, use the following rating scale to indicate the level of
performance:
Teaching Feedback Form (PDF file)
Teaching Feedback
Form
Lecture as Active Learning
Here’s one
innovative thing he did that made a big difference…you might want to
try it the next time you lecture. As we entered, each audience member
was given three cards…one green, one yellow, one red. Rogers asked us
to keep one of the three cards visible to him at all times. If we were
following what he was saying, we were to display the green card. If
we were getting lost, the yellow. If we found ourselves disagreeing
with or objecting to what he was saying, the red.
End-Of-Semester Self-Evaluation
I ask my students to write a "self evaluation" at the end
of each semester in all my classes. It is intended to have the students
reflect on their performance and behavior in the class. It is not intended
to be a class or instructor evaluation since these are done officially
by the administration. Some of their comments do reflect their evaluation
of the class but they generally focus upon how the class procedures
have influenced them. This assignment provides me with some interesting
insights into students' thinking and reaction to my cooperative learning
approaches.
Managing Hot Moments In the Classroom
Hot moments
occur when people's feelings -- often conflictual -- rise to a point
that threatens teaching and learning. They can occur during the discussion
of issues people feel deeply about, or as a result of classroom dynamics
in any field... The challenges of dealing with hot moments are 1) to
manage ourselves so as to make them useful and 2) to find the teaching
opportunities to help students learn in and from the moment.
Using Microteaching to Improve Teaching
Microteaching
is organized practice teaching. The goal is to give instructors confidence,
support, and feedback by letting them try out among friends and colleagues
a short slice of what they plan to do with their students.
Videotaping: A Tool for Teachers
The idea behind videotaping a class," says Ellen Sarkisian, a veteran
associate director of the Bok Center, "is that there is not an
outside expert who looks at your teaching with an evaluative checklist
to say what's good and what's bad. You are your own observer."
She adds, "It's a chance for people to observe their own teaching
to see if they're teaching the way they believe they are or the way
they believe they should be. Then they can decide for themselves what
they want to work on.
Effective Explanations (PDF file, pg. 30)
I would like to talk about lecture classes. The purpose of a lecture
is not merely to convey information. In order for the lecture format
to be effective, the instructor must be able to give explanations that
teach students to think critically and conceptually.
Let students know what you're going to
discuss and why
An engineering
professor refers to this as his "battle plan." "At the
beginning of the hour, I give them a battle plan so they know where
the discussion is going and can follow it more easily," he says.
"For example, I tell them that I'm going to discuss such-and-such
a topic for the first twenty minutes, show them how to use it in the
next twenty minutes, and then take questions in the last ten minutes.
By laying out exactly what your are going to do, you eliminate a lot
of student confusion. You don't want students spending an hour wondering,
`why is he talking about that?' or `What does that have to do with anything?'
instead of concentrating on what you have to say."
Write an outline on the blackboard before
you begin
One professor
of physiology says that he picked this up from a colleague when they
were team-teaching several years ago. "I put the outline of my
lecture in the corner of the blackboard when I first come into class,"
he says. "That way the students can tell at a glance when I've
shifted topics and where we are in the day's discussion. I also make
frequent reference to the outline to alert students to transitions and
the relationships between topics."
Outline your lecture on the blackboard
as it develops
One professor
in the biological sciences says that she always outlines her lectures
on the board as she goes along, using colored chalk to differentiate
major and subordinate heads or points and to diagram relationships.
On a separate section of the blackboard she also writes down any technical
terms or names of scientists that the students might not know how to
spell.
Structure a lecture as you would a journal
article
"Each
lecture should have a clearly defined beginning, middle, and end,"
a professor of history notes. A faculty member in computer science concurs,
saying that he prepares his lectures so that they have the oral equivalents
of an introduction, headings, subheadings, summary, and conclusion.
Use "closed lists" whenever
possible in your lectures
A political
science teacher says he makes frequent use of closed lists. "I
make a habit of saying things like, `There are three main implications
of X, number one is...' or `Remember in the last lecture, we were discussing
the six principal steps that an administrator goes through when...;
these are Number one..., etc.'"
Organize your lectures into 10-minute
segments
In the original
article, Bragg says, "Some try to get the timing of a lecture right
by, as they say, `running over it beforehand' and seeing how long it
takes...I prefer to divide it into some half dozen portions, and allocate
about ten minutes to each, marking this timing in the margin of my rough
notes..."
Schedule a break if your class exceeds
one hour
After an hour,
it is difficult for students to concentrate and take notes steadily;
their efficiency drops. Many teachers provide a break after 50 minutes
or so to give students a chance to regain their concentration.
Pay attention to your board-work
First, be sure
to determine the visibility of the board from several vantage points
in the room. Second, if you are teaching in a room with three movable
boards, use the middle board first. When you are finished push that
board up and use the front board next. In this way, the information
you have presented can be viewed for a longer period of time.
Begin and end your lectures with a summary
statement
Beginning and
ending your lectures or discussions with a summary statement. A history
professor finds it helpful to place his watch in full view on the desk
or lectern. "I watch the clock carefully to be sure that there
is time to summarize the day's discussion. Then, at the beginning of
the next class session, I sum up the previous lecture once more before
moving on to a new topic."
Begin with a brief summary of the last
meeting
Beginning each
class period with a brief summary of the main points covered in the
last meeting and then calling for students' questions.
Call attention to the most important
ideas
Explicitly
calling attention to the most important ideas in each lecture. Faculty
members in several disciplines stress the need to call students' attention
to the most important ideas being presented.
Explain or demonstrate why a particular
point is important
Several teachers
believe that the best way to cue students to the importance of an idea
is to show them the role that idea plays in an overall understanding
of the course material or in applications beyond the course.
Indicate the relative importance of ideas
A professor
of engineering also thinks it is important to differentiate between
the most and least important ideas presented in lecture. Therefore,
he tells the students, "You don't have to memorize everything,
but you might want to remember this..." or "This, on the other
hand, is something you will use so many times that it's worth paying
special attention to."
Use dramatic pauses and repetition
Using dramatic
pauses and repetition to draw students' attention to the main ideas.
Several teachers stress the need for repetition (using different language
or examples) to communicate the most important points in their lectures.
Move around the room to promote discussion
A professor
of business administration finds that the way in which he moves around
the room alters the kinds of interaction he is able to generate among
the students. "When a student asks a question, it is natural for
an instructor to move toward that student," he points out. "However,
this tends to exclude the other students and focuses the interaction
between the teacher and each participating student in a series of dialogues.
Redirect student questions
Whenever you
have reason to believe that there are students in the class who know
the answer to a student's question, it is useful to redirect the question
to one of those students or to the class as a whole.
Paraphrase student questions
Paraphrasing
student questions. "In a large class it is important either to
repeat students' questions or to integrate the question into your responses,"
a teacher in the biological sciences notes. "Otherwise, many of
the students will not have heard the question and you will find yourself
in a private dialogue in which the class does not participate."
Understand why students repeat the same
questions
"I try
to keep this in mind and patiently answer all relevant questions. I
try to use different language or different examples, hoping that this
will make it clear without boring those who grasped the idea a day or
two earlier."
Require students to bring examples of
previous work to class
One architecture
teacher who does this has students bring slides of design projects executed
in prerequisite courses and present them to the entire class. In this
way students can share their work and ideas and get to know each other
a little better.
Encourage students to make presentations
to the class
This teacher
assists the students in preparing their presentation and then gives
them 10 to 15 minutes of lecture time. In his lower division class,
two groups of students recently made presentations which were based
on a combination of their experiences and those reported in assigned
readings.
Increase your eye contact with students
A professor
of English says that because he is very near-sighted, he has learned
to listen carefully and pick up on auditory cues which may indicate
that the students are bored or confused. "I find that the rustling
of papers or the scraping and squeaking of chairs are excellent indicators
that students are having difficulty," he says.
Ask students if they understand what
you are saying
Asking students
directly whether they understand what you are saying. Many excellent
teachers punctuate their lectures with such questions as "Is this
explanation sufficient?" or, "Do you agree?" or, "Was
that clear?"
Call on students to paraphrase or to
summarize
Asking questions
of specific students has other benefits too. For example, because students
know that they may be called upon, they listen more attentively for
the main ideas and that in turn helps them to organize their notes better.
Getting students to summarize periodically also breaks the monotony
of a 50-minute lecture.
Ask questions during lecture
Several professors
routinely intersperse questions into their lectures. As he prepares
his lecture notes, for example, an engineering professor identifies
key places where he can stop and ask the class a leading question. In
describing a particular process, he might pause to ask, "Now who
can tell me what happens next?" and then call on a specific student
or wait until someone responds.
Give students problems to solve during
class time
Giving students
problems to solve during class time so that you can observe any difficulties
they are having.
Reserve the last 10 minutes of class
for questions
A faculty member
in the humanities wanted to provide opportunity for student questions
during his lectures, but he was concerned that the questions might monopolize
class time and take them off the topic
Assign "minute papers" at the
end of class
As is the case
with many educational experiments, this one had an additional unintended
benefit. "Because these are mainly science students who are seldom
asked to write, I pointed out that these minute papers were good practice
for the essay questions which would constitute my final. As the term
progressed, I noticed an improvement in the papers: they became longer,
better developed, and more carefully phrased."
Periodically borrow students' lecture
notes
The best way
to select students' notes is at random. Faculty members who have used
this technique warn that it can be a very chastening as well as useful
experience. "There was an incredible difference between what I
thought I had said and the points I thought I had stressed, and what
the students heard or felt was important to write down," one faculty
member reported.
Respond visibly to student suggestions
and criticisms
A critical
aspect of conducting a mid-semester evaluation is to let students know
that their comments have been thoughtfully considered. At the very next
class meeting, thank the students for their comments and their suggestions
and give a brief, non-defensive account of those suggestions you can
use this term, those which must wait until the next time you teach the
class and those which you either cannot or, for pedagogical reasons,
will not change.
Videotape your class
One zoology
professor has had his lectures videotaped many times. "The first
time was a shattering experience," he says, "but it is the
most effective kind of feedback you can get. I have found videotape
invaluable for getting rid of annoying mannerisms, for learning to vary
the speed of my delivery and to put more expression and greater clarity
into my explanations."
Have students solve problems at the board
This method
increases student discussion and interaction and encourages students
to pay close attention in class.
Probe for adequate answers from students
Probing involves
asking the same student a series of questions, when his or her initial
response is inadequate. The procedure is used when the student is suspected
of possessing the necessary background knowledge for handling the question,
but does not produce the full or correct answer.
Provide a relaxed informal atmosphere
"I tend
to bring coffee and donuts periodically to my seminar," says a
professor in engineering. this helps relax the students and lends a
congenial tone to the discussions."
Use index cards as a mnemonic device
As soon as
you have a list of the students enrolled in your class, write each of
their names on an index card. On the first day of class, call roll,
laying the cards on your desk by seat and row to reflect where each
students is sitting in class, refer to the index cards and use students'
names whenever possible.
Arrive at class 10 minutes early to talk
with students
This teacher,
like many others, believes that addressing students by name helps to
break the excessive formality of a large lecture class and creates a
more positive classroom environment.
Keeping the hour or two following a class
open to talk with students.
Hold office
hours immediately following class. The same biochemistry teacher also
schedules his office hours to follow the class meeting. "That way
students who bring up more complicated questions right after class are
invited to accompany me back to my office. I've found that students
are more likely to have questions or comments at the end of a class
when the material is still fresh," he notes. "This strategy
lets me address their concerns immediately."
Make diagnostic and practice audiotapes
Although the
audio quality of most home tape recordings is not good enough to diagnose
fine points of pitch, inflection, articulation, and pronunciation, it
can be used effectively to note whether you speak too slowly or too
rapidly, whether you vary your tone and inflection sufficiently to hold
students' attention and communicate meaning, and whether you articulate
clearly and/or forcefully enough to be heard and understood.
Color-code your lecture notes
One of several
faculty members who does this says, "Because I have a tendency
to speak too rapidly, I find these color-codes helpful as cues to slow
down when introducing a new idea, explaining a concept, or summarizing
major ideas and the relationships between them. This also frees me to
speak at my own normal fast clip when making transitions or giving examples,"
he says.
Vary the pitch or inflection of your
voice
Learning to
vary the pitch or inflections of your voice. Several faculty members
recommended joining a poetry-reading group. "Reading poetry aloud
can be particularly helpful because poetry requires greater vocal inflection
for its meaning to become clear," one said. Reading plays aloud
with friends or family can also be an enjoyable means of practicing
vocal variety.
Practice communication skills in front
of a mirror
This recommendation
comes from a professor of zoology who was a champion debater in college.
"Even today, I frequently rehearse my classroom lectures or research
presentations in front of the mirror," he says. "Of course,
you want to do this in private. It makes you very self-conscious at
first, but I find it an excellent way to practice communication skills."
Build deliberate pauses into your lectures
A zoology professor
stresses the importance of the pause as a rhetorical device. "When
I want to emphasize a point, I always pause until the audience is absolutely
silent (it makes students uncomfortable). Then when I have their full
attention, I proceed to make the point."
Correct students' speaking errors
A professor
of French also believes in promptly correcting students' errors. "It's
important to establish rapport and a good class atmosphere so that the
students are not upset by criticism," he notes. "I do this
in several ways. I correct them in a joking manner (laughing with them
not at them); I correct them in mock outraged fury; I correct them constantly
so they see it as a normal function of the class."
"Thinking" as a Special Learning Goal
Of all the
possible learning goals for courses, none receive more allegiance from
faculty than that of "teaching students how to think." However
surveys and studies of actual teaching also indicate that this goal
is often not accomplished well. If you want to improve your ability
to enhance your students' thinking abilities, you must do three things.
Lecturing
Do you need
to know how to make your lectures more organized and/or more interesting?
Here are three strategies.
Teaching Tips
There are some
teaching tips from different professors
Managing Students and the Classroom climate (PDF file)
How you manage
your students -- and at times, yourself -- can determine your success
or failure in the classroom. This chapter helps you survive in the classroom
-- through behavioral suggestions, preparation guidelines, and solutions
to common problems most instructors have encountered.
Lecturing Effectively (PDF file)
Lectures are
comprised of two components: content and delivery. Both components are
essential for creating an interesting lecture. First, we cover the rules
of content; later in the chapter, we discuss the elements of delivery.
Teaching Contexts (PDF file)
Elsewhere in
this Handbook we have covered the usual lecture teaching situations.
In this chapter we present other contexts -- the discussion class, the
laboratory, and large classes. While the dynamics of the student-instructor
relationship and the criteria used for improving it remain essentially
the same as in traditional situations, additional points should be considered.
Question and Answer Techniques
Questions and
answers are essential components of teaching and learning. You will
ask questions of your students and answer questions from them. Asking
a good question will help you motivate students' curiosity about the
topic, and it will help you assess how well they understand the material.
The Typical Peer Cooperation Process
Peer Cooperation
for teaching improvement is a process whereby individuals seek to increase
their teaching effectiveness through the support and advice of colleagues.
The dozen faculty members of the Peer Cooperation group were all volunteers
who sought to gain some experience with the peer cooperation process
both by having their teaching observed and by being an observer of teaching.
The Teaching Dossier
The teaching
dossier is a condensed record of teaching activities and accomplishments
drawn up by the university teacher or TA. Compiling a dossier may help
you obtain a position in the future. Keeping documentation of outstanding
work, letters of praise, and positive student evaluations of your teaching
will help to build a comprehensive dossier, and perhaps give you some
encouragement at times when it seems that teaching is not such a great
way to make a living.
The Step-by-Step Creation of a Teaching Dossier
Though the
compilation of documentation is an on-going activity, sooner or later
you are faced with the preparation of an up-to-date dossier for presentation
and review. This material, adapted from a Guide published by the Canadian
Association of University Teachers,* simplifies the task by proposing
a step-by-step approach to creating the teaching dossier.
Delivering A Lecture
Lecturing is
not simply a matter of standing in front of a class and reciting what
you know. The classroom lecture is a special form of communication in
which voice, gesture, movement, facial expression, and eye contact can
either complement or detract from the content. No matter what your topic,
your delivery and manner of speaking immeasurably influence your students'
attentiveness and learning.
Keeping Teacher's Voices In Balance
In this chapter
we turn our attention to the roles, responsibilities and actions of
the discussion leader. If students are going to feel that discussion
invites them to develop and express their ideas in an pressure less
way, then the discussion leader must find a way to teach that is neither
too dominant nor too reserved. ...
Notes on Lecturing
These notes
on lecturing have been prepared by Phil Race, Programming Director of
the Certificate in Teaching in Higher Education at the University of
Durham, UK.
Five Techniques Make Material More Understandable
Many techniques
can be used to make material more understandable. Five of the most important
include: justification, review, repetition & examples, introductions,
and sub-concepts.
Strategies for Inclusive Teaching
Corresponding to those things that communicate to students, "you
don't belong here", this page links you to a set of strategies
for inclusive teaching.
Ideas on Teaching
Do you know
how to formulate learning goals for your courses that go beyond "understand
and remember" and that include more than cognitive learning? There
are a number of key ideas to keep in mind when formulating learning
goals for your courses.
Ideas on Teaching; "Thinking" as a Special
Learning Goal
When you want
students to "learn how to THINK" about your subject, do you
have clear ideas about what that means and how to design a course that
will promote it?
Active Waiting
Active waiting requires the patience of not trying to prepare or present
everything you know. Active waiting, because it promotes early and informal
starts, brings the kind of reflectiveness essential to good decision-making
and economical presentation.
The "Seven Principles
of Good Practice: Technology as Lever".
A growing library of
teaching ideas, assessment tools, workshop materials, and more.
This site can be used by faculty members. It also includes ideas for
faculty development staff, IT support, and distance learning support
staff about how to disseminate and evaluate these ideas.
