Principles for Teaching Effectiveness

Understand and respect individual differences
  • Incorporate class activities that recognize and address varied learning styles
  • Capitalize on learners’ backgrounds by adding relevant learning materials and activities
Set expectations and establish purpose
  • Tell students what is expected of them and what can be expected of you
  • Minimize negotiation of expectations by treating your class outline as a contract; changes should be communicated to students in writing
Application
  • Use focused application to integrate new material and existing knowledge
  • Discuss course materials within the context of concrete, current, real-life situations
Variety
  • Achieve class objectives by using a variety of instructional techniques and aids
  • Design activities that develop higher-order cognitive skills such as summarizing, synthesizing, analyzing and applying
Maximize and optimize learners “time on task”
  • Establish and communicate systematic milestones (e.g., paper drafts, quizzes, reviews) to keep students on schedule and moving towards a clearly defined goal
  • the minimum amount of time students should spend preparing for a class
Communication and cooperation
  • Ask open-ended questions that draw out relevant learner knowledge and experience
  • Fulfill the terms of the syllabus regarding your availability, accessibility, and response turn-around
Feedback
  • Distribute performance evaluations throughout the course to provide ongoing feedback on the quality of each student’s performance
  • Assign final grades according to each student’s individual achievement and contribution (e.g., in group projects)
Encourage metacognitive learning
  • Facilitate learners’ regulation of how they think and learn (e.g., ask them to challenge personal assumptions, evaluate task difficulty, share learning experiences)
  • Use teaching strategies that model desirable learning behaviors and outcomes

 

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