Teaching
Best Practices
 Encourage
Contact Between Students and Yourself
Frequent
student-faculty contact in and out of classes is the most important
factor in student motivation and involvement. Faculty concern
helps students get through rough times and keep on working. Knowing
a few faculty members well enhances students' intellectual commitment
and encourages them to think about their own values and future
plans.
Develop
Reciprocity and Cooperation Among Students
Learning is enhanced when it is more like a team effort that a
solo race. Good learning, like good work, is collaborative and
social, not competitive and isolated. Working with others often
increases involvement in learning. Sharing one's own ideas and
responding to others' reactions sharpens thinking and deepens
understanding.
Example:
Even in large lecture classes, students can learn from one another.
Learning groups are a common practice. Students are assigned to
a group of five to seven other students, who meet regularly during
class throughout the term to solve problems set by the instructor.
Many colleges use peer tutors for students who need special help.
Encourage
Active Learning
Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much just
by sitting in classes listening to teachers, memorizing pre-packaged
assignments, and spitting out answers. They must talk about what
they are learning, write about it, relate it to past experiences
and apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they learn
part of themselves.
Examples:
Active learning is encouraged in classes that use structured exercises,
challenging discussions, team projects, and peer critiques. Active
learning can also occur outside the classroom. Students also can
help design and teach courses or parts of courses.
Give
Prompt Feedback
Knowing what you know and don't know focuses learning. Students
need appropriate feedback on performance to benefit from courses.
When getting started, students need help in assessing existing
knowledge and competence. In classes, students need frequent
opportunities to perform and receive suggestions for improvement.
Emphasize
Time on Task
Time plus energy equals learning. There is no substitute for
time on task. Learning to use one's time well is critical for
students and professionals alike. Students need help in learning
effective time management. Allocating realistic amounts of time
means effective learning for students and effective teaching
for faculty.
Communicate
High Expectations
Expect more and you will get more. High expectations are important
for everyone -- for the poorly prepared, for those unwilling
to exert themselves, and for the bright and well motivated.
Expecting students to perform well becomes a self-fulfilling
prophecy when teachers and institutions hold high expectations
for themselves and make extra efforts.
Respect
Diverse Talents and Ways of Learning
There are many roads to learning. People bring different talents
and styles of learning to college. Brilliant students in the seminar
room may be all thumbs in the lab or art studio. Students rich
in hands-on experience may not do so well with theory. Students
need the opportunity to show their talents and learn in ways that
work for them. Then they can be pushed to learn in new ways that
do not come so easily.
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