What makes teachers effective in the classroom

¶ … Teaching Research

Why is it that you remember a few select teachers from your years of schooling, but the others fade into the dullness of past lectures and boredom? And why is that it was those select teachers who got through to you? And how did they do it? And why couldn't the others do that? What traits did the good ones have that the others didn't?

"Effective teaching promotes a highly interactive environment. While interesting and developmentally appropriate content, tasks, activities and materials spark students' curiosity and set a stage for learning, what teachers do during a lesson is crucial. Teachers exert the greatest influence in the classroom through the way they mentally engage students in a lesson" (Berg & Clough, n.d., p. 6).

If you begin seeking answers to the above questions, you are, by your action, defining what the field of "effective teaching research" is. It may also be referred to as "process-outcome research." According to Perry and Smart (1997, p. 171), "teacher effectiveness research is defined as the study of relationships between instructional activities of teachers and educational changes that occur in students."

In discussing the types of "changes" that occur in students, it is meant to include outcomes due to gains in knowledge, and changes in the attitudes of the student such as increased motivation or change in self-concept (Perry & Smart, 1997).

For our purposes, we will focus on one aspect of effective teaching research. We will briefly describe a few of the principles that have been the result of "effective teaching research" thus far. What does an effective teacher do in the classroom to create the optimum learning environment? In other words, our paper will answer some of our initial questions about what it takes to establish a learning relationship between teacher and student. And we'll attempt to explain, in practical terms, what each means for the classroom.

Create an active learning environment

The more students are actively engaged with the teacher or professor, the more effective the teaching will be and the more material the student will retain. The teachers from whom students learn the most are those who find ways to spend time first, with the whole group, then with smaller groups, and, finally, each student individually, even if that one-on-one time is no more than a couple minutes (Brophy, 1988, p. 277). The effectiveness research also shows that all teachers allocate their time differently from everyone else. But the most effective professors seem to spend about 50% more time involved with the students in one way or another, rather than just lecturing, giving quizzes, having the students read assignments, etc. (Ellis, Worthington, & Larkin, n.d.).

Focus the students on the aspects of instruction that are most important.

Effective teachers accomplish this in a number of ways. First, they must ensure that the course goals are clear to all students. If necessary, they state and restate them, write them out and have the students copy them. A student calendar of all of the course activity can be helpful. And that calendar might include a legend of course grading so they know what each quiz, test, and assignment are worth. Finally, students who receive a pre-quiz quiz or a pre-test test that allows them to assess for themselves how they are doing and what they are retaining, usually do better on the real thing the next day (Kerns, et al., 2005)

The knowledge the student knows already must be correlated to what he is learning, and it must be presented in context and in an organized way.

The professor's job is to ensure this happens in the classroom so that the student can more easily connect the two in his memory banks and recall it later. The obvious way to do this is to verbally relate what is currently being taught to what went before. In the classroom, quizzes, homework, and tests can be designed to match previously learned material to the new information being tested. This can also be done with pre-tests, and by having students re-check the facts they verbalize or wrote in class (Kerns, et al., 2005).

Conclusion

The extensive studies and research into "effective teaching research" over the decades has presented some real, practical conclusions to how relational teaching and learning are superior to some of the older methods. This research goes on, but we are beginning to know "what works and what doesn't." And, sometimes it is easier to mouth the right words and have a surface understanding of the concepts presented here, but much more difficult to put it into action. The impact of this research should be that teachers now have a "research-based" platform from which to make decisions relating to teaching style.

Reference List

Berg, C., & Clough, M. (n.d.). "Alternative" still requires reaching your destination: A visual framework for teacher decision-making. Retrieved June 28, 2009, from stemtec.org: http://www.stemtec.org/act/ABSTRACTS/CRAIG%20BERG.doc. (Google Search Name of Web Page)

Brophy, J. (1988). Research linking teacher behavior to student achievement. Educational Psychologist, 23(3), 235-286.

Ellis, E., Worthington, L., & Larkin, M. (n.d.). Executive summary of the research synthesis on effective teaching principles and the design of quality tools for educators. Retrieved June 28, 2009, from University of Oregon: http://idea.uoregon.edu/~ncite/documents/techrep/tech06.html

Kerns, B., Elhouar, S., Sterling, M., Grant, J., McGowan, McGowan, M., et al. (2005, August). Ten principles of effective teaching and practical examples for the classroom and blackboard. Retrieved June 28, 2009, from Bradley University: http://blackboard.bradley.edu/faculty/Recommended_Ef_Use_BB/index.shtml

Perry, R., & Smart, J. (1997). Effective teaching in higher education: Research and practice. Edison, N.J.: Agathon Press.