Explain the principles of effective teaching
Being an effective teacher is much more than simply having the right materials. Effective teaching means maximizing communication and developing great presentation skills. While teaching involves innumerable skills and traits, a few basic principles can be distilled for the teacher in-training.
Activate Learning.
Make sure your students are engaged in the learning process by having them participate at every level of the process. Rarely should teaching be just lecture.
Multiple Methods.
Make sure to repeat key concepts in several different medias or venues. Students learn at different paces and through different means. Material should be presented rhetorically, visually and in writing for the most effective learning.
Cooperation.
Cooperation between students is as important as the relationship between the teacher and the student. Often, students working in collaboration can work out concepts that may not have come across in a teacher-dominated setting.
Command Respect.
While a good relationship depends on mutual consideration, the teacher should command attention and respect. Learning is more effective when the teacher is seen as an authoritative source of information and structure.
Deadlines.
Students and people in general, often enjoy boundaries more than seems obvious. Frequent and precise deadlines, even for multiple stages of a single project, will help students produce real progress.
Feedback.
Returning information beyond just a grade can help students more effectively process feedback and improve on subsequent assignments. Evaluation of past effort cements what was learned.
High Expectations.
Keeping high expectations for every student, regardless of past performance, is an important part of driving learning forward. Let them know what you expect up front, then help them amend their work until they achieve it.
To sum up.
Good teaching is kindly and sympathetic, well planned, cooperative, suggestive, democratic environment, reinforcement, feedback, stimulating, progressive, diagnostic, full of guided activity linked with real life and liberate the learner to do without the teacher.
Maxims of Teaching.
- Known to unknown
- Easy to difficult
- Simple to complex
- Concrete to abstract
- Particular to general
- Analysis to synthesis
- Psychological to logical
- Empirical to rational
- Whole to part
- Actual to representatives
