SOME OBSERVATION ON TEACHING &
LEARNING
• Teaching is helping others learn.
• Learning is not restricted to the classroom.
• Learning is an individual matter. Students differ in learning styles,
backgrounds, and goals.
• Different good teachers have different styles. However, they also have
attributes in common:
– Being knowledgeable about their subject
– Being well organized
– Presenting material clearly
– Facilitating participation effectively
– Showing enthusiasm and promoting interest
OBSERVATIONS:
• Especially for adults, good learning situations tend to have the following
characteristics:
– Learners are treated as unique individuals, are shown respect, and have
chances to make choices and show initiative.
– Learners have chances to draw from and build on their experiences.
– Learners can gain knowledge and skills useful in achieving their preexisting
goals.
– Learners can soon use the material that they are learning.
• Teachers should define their goals and objectives.
• Teaching methods should be suited to the teaching objectives.
• Students should be informed of the goals and objectives of the teaching and
perhaps of the reasons for the teaching methods.
• The material to be learned should be meaningful.
• “Active” learning generally is more effective than “passive” learning.
• Trying to present too much material in a given amount of time is
counterproductive.
• Giving students and teachers feedback is important. The feedback should be
timely and constructive.
• How students’ performance is evaluated influences what they do and what they
learn.
• Teaching and learning should be enjoyable.
GIVING LECTURES:
Engaging the Audience
• Relate what you so to what already interests the group.
• Try to stimulate curiosity.
• Use an engaging manner of delivery.
• Include variety.
• Use audiovisual materials, if appropriate.
• From time to time, give the audience an active role.
Organizing the Material in a Meaningful Way
• Relate the information to what the students already know and to what they will
do in the future.
• Give the lecture a simple, logical structure.
• Unless suspense is intended, present overviews before details.
• Include summaries.
Making the Material Clear by Other Means
• Remember to define terms that might be unfamiliar.
• Avoid or greatly limit the use of abbreviations.
• Speak slowly enough.
• Repeat or otherwise emphasize important ideas.
• Make relationships between ideas clear.
• State your reasoning.
• Consider using audiovisual aids to clarify the material.
• Check with the audience.
Avoiding Stage Fright
• Prepare well, but don’t over-prepare.
• Become familiar with the lecture room beforehand.
• Rehearse before someone supportive.
• Beware of too much caffeine, food, or water.
• Get some exercise.
• Develop rapport with the students before the lecture.
• Think positively.
• Hide physical signs of anxiety.
• Realize that a lecture need not be perfect to be excellent.
Using Audiovisual Aids
• Keep visuals simple, so they can be understood quickly.
• In general, use graphs rather than tables.
• Be sure that visuals are legible.
• Check the room and the equipment beforehand.
• Show visuals only at relevant times.
• Orient the audience to what is being presented.
• Keep each visual in view long enough.
LEADING DISCUSSION:
Using Questions Effectively
• Include questions that stimulate participants to think (not only questions
that just require memorization).
• Phrase questions clearly.
• Ask one question at a time.
• After a question, allow enough thinking time.
• Do not call on only the people who raise their hands first.
• Ask participants to present the reasoning behind their answers.
• If answers are ambiguous, ask for clarification.
Promoting Participation in Other Ways
• If the group is large, perhaps break it into subgroups.
• Perhaps leave the room for part of the time.
• Encourage participants to react to what others say.
• At times give participants specific roles such as note-taker, summarizer, or
discussion leader.
GIVING FEEDBACK
• Be generous with praise.
• If you will give both praise and criticism, begin with praise. May be present
a “criticism sandwich” (praise, then criticism, then praise).
• Give criticism at an appropriate time and place.
• Criticize or praise the behavior, not the person.
• Avoid sarcasm.
• Express criticisms as perceptions, not fact.
• Be specific in your criticisms, and provide suggestions for improvement.
• Make sure the criticism is understood.
• If appropriate, offer help in improving performance.
• Do not make too many points in a single session.
• Show empathy.
• Help recipients learn to evaluate their own performance.
• If performance improves, provide praise.
CONCLUSION
Tip #1: Engage
Engage the students in material that has personal relevance and is meaningful
i.e. real life examples and problems.
Tip #2: Variety
Give the students assignments that involve a variety of learning styles i.e.
Technology, Hand on Experiments, Research with books.
Tip #3: Students Teaching
Provide times when students can teach each other the material within the
classroom i.e. group presentations i.e. Leadership, Ownership, Mastery.
Tip #4: Review
Every other day or so, allot 10 minutes at the beginning of each class for
students to discuss among themselves what they learned in previous lessons.
Tip #5: Reward system
Implement a reward system for students to encourage them to take their learning
outside the classroom.
Tip #6: Goals
Help students establish short term, self referenced goals at the beginning of
the term and have them check up midterm to see if they are still on track to
accomplishing their goals.
Tip #7: Stimulate group work
At the end of each class, present the students with a “challenge for the night”
and allow students to work in groups of 3 or 4 to solve the challenge over the
course of the evening and present answers in class the next day.
Tip # 8: Evaluation
Evaluation of students should be private and focus on individual improvement,
progress and mastery of the material, not simply on performance.
Tip #9: Collaboration
Teachers collaborate with students to work on a big project.
Tip 10: Professionals
Bring in professionals in related careers to give talks about what they do in
their work.