Policies and Guidelines – Some strategies for improving teaching
Where to turn when you need a helping hand
U-MS-G-01 Some strategies for improving teaching
There is more than one way of teaching well.
Therefore, the ideas presented in this document offer a range of effective strategies for improving teaching from which an instructor can select those which best suit his or her teaching style as well as the course level, size, and content. With judicious selection and adaptation, both novices and experienced teachers can augment their teaching strengths, correct or ameliorate their teaching weaknesses, and greatly expand their repertoire of teaching techniques to respond to new teaching situations.
Section 1 – Being Prepared
Tip 1
Be well-prepared
Maintain your enthusiasm for the subject matter
Have your course reflect your own professional growth
Completely reworking your lecture notes each time you teach the course. It’s important to completely redo your notes each time you teach the course. It helps you rethink the material so that the ideas seem fresh and new to you as well as to the students.
Tip 2 – Review several textbooks for each lecture topic
Introduce recent developments in the field
Have your lectures complement the textbook
There is no such thing as the perfect textbook; each has its strengths and weaknesses. By comparing several approaches, you may be able to distil the best definitions, explanations and examples and are less likely to overlook important aspects of the topic.
Tip 3 – Use an abbreviated set of lecture notes
Have a more interesting style of presentation
Students like structure, but they do not like terribly formal lectures delivered verbatim.
Tip 4 – Reread the texts assigned to students
Identify what you think is most important
Complement the textbook
Rereading the text assignment over the weekend not only ensure that it is fresh in your mind, but also you can acknowledge the parts you will find dull, unclear, or especially important.
Tip 5 – Prepare hand-outs of the outline and important details
Be well-prepared
Give lectures that are easy to outline
It is of utmost important to prepare handouts of the lecture outline and any detailed formulae, derivations, or illustrations to be presented in the class. Your handouts should include the essential points of your lecture, including definitions, notations, important formula, and derivations.
Tip 6 – Prepare a detailed course syllabus
Prepare a detailed course syllabus. It should be organised by class session and each section consists of the major topic, four to eight important study questions or issues the students are expected to understand or be prepared to discuss, and the required reading and recommended supplemental readings.
Tip 7 – Teach the same course in a subsequent semester
Profit from your own mistakes
You can frequently teach the same course “back to back” in two consecutive terms. This way you can maximise learning from mistakes you have made.
Section 2 – Know your students
Tip 8 – Have students fill out a background questionnaire
Relate to students as individuals
Invite students to share knowledge and experiences
Learn something about the students’ backgrounds
Typically such questionnaires include information on the student’s major, prerequisite or related courses taken, job experiences, career plans, and so forth.
Tip 9 – Pair students up to introduce each other
Encourage students to get to know one another
Create a relaxed atmosphere
Pairing students up to introduce themselves first to one another and then to the class. I think this approach tends to establish an atmosphere in which students feel free to talk. It also helps set a pattern for discussion in which students are expected to listen to one another and to address their comments and questions as much toward one another as toward the instructor
Tip 10 – Have students do a structured exercise
Encourage students to get to know one another
Create a relaxed class atmosphere
Developing a structured exercise in which students share their backgrounds with one another. It is especially appropriate in a course on counselling and interviewing, but it might also be used in other seminar or discussion classes where it is important for students to learn how to listen to one another.
Tip 11 – Provide a relaxed informal atmosphere
Get to know your students
Create a climate for discussion
This simple act seems to make the sessions more interactive. People tend to discuss issues over coffee and donuts more readily than in a fixed formal classroom setting.
Tip 12 – Host an informal social gathering for your students
Create a relaxed positive environment
Get to know your students better
Host an informal party halfway through the course. Students become comfortable in saying whatever they want to and are more likely to express their views when they know they are being treated as individuals.
Tip 13 – Ask students their names whenever possible
Relate to students as individuals
Learn student names
Students are hungry for some recognition of their individuality, and they appreciate it enormously when I take time to learn their names.
Tip 14 – Arrive at class 10 minutes early to talk with students
Relate to students as individuals
Arriving at class ten minutes early each day and talking informally with students sitting in different sections of the room.
Tip 15 – Review student transcripts
Motivate students to do their best work
Identify students who may have difficulty in the course
Give help to students who may have difficulty in the course
Reviewing student transcripts to be sure they have prerequisite knowledge and skills to succeed in the course.
Tip 16 – Orient new students to the Institution, the department and course
Help students meet performance objectives
Make new students feel at home at LCC
It is important to orient new students to the Institution in terms of faculty expectations for student performance and the resources available to assist them with any problems they may have. You should let them know where the major tutorial, counselling, and advising services are and invite them to come see you if they are having any difficulties.
Tip 17 – Give a mini-lecture on how to write a paper
Help reinforce high standard of literacy on the campus
In his course, students’ papers are subjected to peer as well as faculty critiques; students learn both editing and writing skills.
Tip 18 – Give a mini-lecture on how to read a book
Give students tips on effective reading skills
Give a mini-lecture on how to read a book most efficiently.
Tip 19 – Devote the last day of class to an overall review
Summarise major points
Emphasise conceptual understanding
Devote the last day of class to an overall review of the course concepts and issues. It is important to give an overall review so that students can compare where they were at the beginning of the course to where they are now. By highlighting the main concepts and issues and how they fit together, you give students a conceptual framework for retaining what they have learned in the course as well as for preparing for the final examination.
Tip 20 – Correct students’ speaking errors
Help students improve their oral communication skills.
Correct students’ diction, grammar, logic, and pronunciation promptly but in a constructive way. If a student makes an error of fact or logic, mispronounces a word, uses words incorrectly or deals in malapropisms, immediately correct him or her by rephrasing what they have said.
Tip 21 – Make personal contact with individual students
Motivate students to do their best work
Get to know your students
Some examples a voluntary questionnaire on the personal and educational backgrounds of members of the class; timetabled one to one tutorial for each student.
Tip 22 – Individualise instruction as much as possible
Relate to students as individuals
It is better to first know the students as individuals, and then focus on their weak points (excessive shyness, lack of confidence, aggressive over-confidence, etc.). Then begin to draw them out individually to help them overcome those weaknesses.
Tip 23 – Treat students like colleagues
Motivate students to do their best work
Help students meet your performance expectations
Section 3 – Lecturing
Tip 24 – Distribute a bibliographic list on each major topic
Give references for more interesting and involved points
Encourage students to read further on a topic
Updating and annotating these bibliographies is made easier if you keep a file on each topic and insert journal articles, book reviews, or notes throughout the year.
Tip 25 – Give students a conceptual framework
Emphasise conceptual understanding
Give students a conceptual framework on which to hang the major ideas and the factual information of the course. The framework might be a structure, a theme, a conceptual typology, a controversial issue, or a theory.
Tip 26 – Divide your course into parts
Discuss recent developments in the field
Respond to student diversity
You can divide course topics into three groups: those which are “Basic” (i.e., should be mastered by every student); those which are “Recommended” (i.e., should be mastered by every student seeking a good competence in the subject); and those which are “Optional” (i.e., should be mastered only by those students with specialised interests).
Tip 27 – Focus your lectures on a few main points
Explain clearly
Emphasise conceptual understanding
Focusing your lecture on a few main points and omitting unnecessary exceptions, complexities or details. The key to explaining clearly is to limit the amount of material covered by a single lecture.
Tip 28 Rephrase explanations of major points several times
Emphasise the main point
Repeat major points several times from a different direction or in different words. Repetition leads to learning, every student will eventually understand.
Tip 29 Use lots of concrete or memorable examples
· Have an interesting style of presentation
· Most excellent teachers agree that the choice of examples is very important, favouring those that are anecdotal, personal or humorous because they find that students tend to remember these best.
Tip 30 Demonstrate (rather than describe) a concept or idea
Emphasise conceptual understanding
Have an interesting style of presentation
Don’t describe how to solve a problem; demonstrate how to solve it on the whiteboard and label and describe the steps and your reasons for them as you go. Demonstrations are superior to discussions because they make use of additional senses. Drawing examples from everyday experiences, even if they cannot be demonstrated in class, will help students to visualise or re-experience them and reinforce their learning.
Tip 31 Empathise with students’ difficulties in learning
Explain clearly
Help students follow explanations or difficult concepts
Empathise with the students’ difficulties in learning the material for the first time.
Tip 32 Let students know what you’re going to discuss and why
Give lectures that are easy to outline
State objectives for each class section
Summarise major points
Beginning each lecture by letting the students know what you are going to talk about and why. By laying out exactly what you are are going to do, you eliminate a lot of student confusion. You don’t want students spending an hour wondering. Why is he talking about that, or what does that have to do with anything, instead of concentrating on what you have to say.
Tip 33 Give students a list of questions
Give students a conceptual framework for taking notes
Give students a list of questions which cover topics to be addressed in your lecture. The questions are designed to give them a conceptual framework and guide so they can identify where we are and where we are going in the overall discussion.
Tip 34 Outline your lecture on the whiteboard as it develops
Reinforce student learning
Keep yourself from going through the material too rapidly
Outline your lecture on the whiteboard as it develops using coloured pens to differentiate major and subordinate heads or points and to diagram relationships.
Tip 35 Use “closed lists” whenever possible in your lectures
Give lectures that are easy to outline
Summarise major points
Closed lists help them both to listen for major points and to take notes. They also provide a very natural bridge or transition mechanism for letting students know when you are changing from one topic to another.
Tip 36 Organise your lectures into 10-minute segments
Organise your lectures to leave time for a summary
Improve the pace and timing of your lectures
The advantage of dividing the time up in this way is that the pace can be adjusted during the lecture when it is clear that it is going to be too long or (rarely) too short. The beginning or the end must not be hurried
Tip 37 Schedule a break if your class exceeds one hour
Give lectures that are easy to outline
Show interest and concern for students
After an hour, it is difficult for students to concentrate and take notes steadily; their efficiency drops. Many teachers provide a break after 50 minutes or so to give students a chance to regain their concentration.
Tip 38 Begin and end your lectures with a summary statement
Summarise major points
Beginning and ending your lectures or discussions with a summary statement.
Tip 39 Use the whiteboard for effective summarization
Summarise major points
Give lectures that are easy to outline
You need to plan your whiteboard work carefully so that the most important concepts are still visible at the end of the hour and can be used in making a summary.
Tip 40 Begin with a brief summary of the last meeting
Check students’ understanding of a major concepts and ideas
Provide a good transition between major topics
Begin each class period with a brief summary of the main points covered in the last meeting and then calling for students’ questions. The advantage of summarising and asking questions at the beginning of a class period is that, the students are fresher and after a brief recapitulation, they are more likely to realise and acknowledge if they have any problems.
Tip 41 Call attention to the most important ideas
Identify what you think is most important
Explicitly call attention to the most important ideas in each lecture.
Tip 42 Explain or demonstrate why a particular point is important
Motivate students to learn
Explaining or demonstrating to students why a particular point is important.
Just saying that it is important is not enough. You need to put the concept in some perspective, to show why it is important. Explaining why an idea is important not only gets the students’ attention, it gives them a framework on which to hang the idea.
Tip 43 Indicate the relative importance of ideas
Identify what you consider is most important
Indicate the relative importance of ideas presented in your lecture.
Tip 44 Use dramatic pauses and repetition
Vary the speed and tone of your voice
Have a more interesting style of presentation
Use dramatic pauses and repetition to draw students’ attention to the main ideas. Dramatic pauses are another way to highlight important ideas.
Section 4 Get Students Involved
Tip 45 Divide your lecture into blocks of time
Have an interesting style of presentation
Divide the class period into blocks of time, one of which is a discussion segment. Try to vary the class activities by dividing the class period into three segments. For the first 20 minutes of class time, you can build up to a discussion question by presenting evidence, facts or issues. The next 30-40 minutes is devoted to student discussion. The last 20-30 minutes of class is spent analyzing the discussion and bringing the topic to a conclusion. Finally you can end the period by posing a question which students are to think about before the next class meeting. Nevertheless, this approach is very effective for engaging students’ interest and encouraging analytical thinking.
Tip 46 Move around the room to promote discussion
Encourage class discussion
Decrease comments directed solely to you as the teacher
Moving around the room in a way which will promote discussion and alters the kinds of interaction you are able to generate among the students.
Tip 47 Redirect student questions
Invite students to share their knowledge
Have students apply concepts to demonstrate understanding
Respond to student questions
Whenever you have reason to believe that there are students in the class who know the answer to a student’s question, it is useful to redirect the question to one of those students or to the class as a whole. It tends to involve the other students more with the question and it illustrates how fellow students can be a resource for learning.”
Tip 48 Postpone student questions
Handle lengthy, tangential or irrelevant questions
Sometimes students ask questions which go beyond the topic of discussion. These are questions which anticipate an upcoming topic, take a topic to a deeper level than expected, or raise a new issue. The question may be important to the student, but irrelevant for the current discussion. The teacher must decide either to put the question aside for after class or to deal with it at the moment.
Tip 49 Admit when you don’t know the answer
Encourage class discussion
Respond to student questions
Students don’t expect you to know everything. They admire your candour when you tell them you don’t know, and they appreciate your interest when you find out the answer and tell them later. It’s far worse to fake it than to say `I don’t know that, but it’s a good question and I’ll try to find out the answer for you.
Tip 50 Understand why students repeat the same questions
Respond to student questions
Try to keep this in mind and patiently answer all relevant questions. Try to use different language or different examples, hoping that this will make it clear without boring those who grasped the idea a day or two earlier.
Tip 51 Explain the purpose of discussion
Encourage class discussion
Help students prepare for discussion
To get students involved in class discussion, it is helpful to explain the value of their participation and what they can expect to get out of the experience.
Tip 52 Identify discussion questions/issues in advance
Encourage class discussion
Provide a stimulus for discussion
Students are more inclined to participate when they know the focus or intent of the discussion. A preview of the discussion topics can help students organise their thinking and prepare to express their views.
Tip 53 Have students read different books and journal articles
Motivate students to do their best work
Discuss recent developments in the field
Allow students to select different books and journal articles as a basis for discussion. Tell the students to read until they feel that they are familiar enough with the basic concepts, research methods and findings, to take a quiz and participate in a discussion of the topic.
Tip 54 Use an opinion questionnaire as a basis for discussion
Get the discussion started
Having students complete a brief opinion questionnaire and using the results as a basis for discussion.
Tip 55 Begin with common experiences
Encourage class discussion
Beginning the discussion with questions based on common experiences. Students often feel more comfortable talking about an experience they have in common: a field trip, a slide show, a demonstration, a film, a book, an exhibit, etc. A shared experience can stimulate good discussion because, as they exchange their observations, students frequently discover that they have different perceptions and reactions to the same event.
Tip 56 Divide the class into smaller groups
Prepare students for effective discussion
Give students experience in conducting and evaluating discussion
Divide the class into smaller groups. Each group is assigned a specific question or topic to discuss, selected from a list of questions prepared in advance. But, because students do not know beforehand which questions their group will be assigned, they must be prepared to discuss all of them. After the groups have discussed their respective topics, they are called back together and each group summariser presents the results of that group’s discussion, highlighting key terms or other information felt to be important.
Tip 57 Try brainstorming techniques
Help students prepare for an analytical or critical discussion
Brainstorming is a method which can be particularly effective in getting students to consider all of the possible causes, consequences, solutions, reasons or contributing factor to some phenomenon. Students are encouraged to contribute ideas rapidly and each idea is written down on the whiteboard. During the formation of the list no idea is to be questioned or criticised by any member of the class. Spontaneity and inventiveness are to be encouraged. Only after a set period of time (ten minutes, for example) or when the group has pretty well exhausted its ideas is an analytical or critical discussion of the ideas permitted.
Tip 58 Assign students responsibility for summarising major points
Encourage class discussion
Summarise major points
Teach students to become active listeners
This strategy is designed not only to encourage students to participate more actively in the discussion but to listen more carefully for the main ideas, since they may be called upon to give the summary.
Tip 59 Introduce students to the good work done by their peers
Invite students to share their knowledge and experiences
Encourage class discussion
Promote exchange of information
There are several techniques that can be used by you to share the ideas and the special knowledge of individual students to the class as a whole.
Tip 59 Require students to bring examples of previous work to class
Invite students to share their knowledge and experiences
Know what knowledge and skills students bring to your course
Build on previous student performance levels
Requiring students in the first week of class to bring examples of work done in previous classes (term papers, blue books, designs, lab reports, etc.). In this way students can share their work and ideas and get to know each other a little better
Tip 60 Encourage students to apply their backgrounds
Motivate students by relating assignments to their interests
Stress interdisciplinary topics and approaches
Foster students’ ability to synthesise materials
Encouraging students to write papers related to their backgrounds. If you can get students to realise that they each bring different kinds of talent and expertise to the course and encourage them to apply these, that goes a long way toward motivating them to do their best work.
Tip 61 Encourage students to make presentations to the class
Encourage student participation
Draw upon the ideas of students
Tip 62 Have students solve problems at the board
Have students apply concepts to demonstrate understanding
This method increases student discussion and interaction and encourages students to pay close attention in class.
Tip 63 Pose a question and call on a student to answer
Have students apply concepts to demonstrate understanding
Question effectively
Posing a question and calling on a student by name to answer. Students often can provide valuable responses to questions that are put to them directly, responses which they might not otherwise volunteer. If students can’t respond because they have not done the assigned reading, they will feel badly. But they will usually make a greater effort to be prepared to participate in subsequent class meetings.
Tip 64 Answer a question with a question
Respond to student questions
Encourage students to think for themselves
Students sometimes ask questions about term projects, experiments, or papers out of insecurity or because they want the teacher to tell them what to do. In many cases there is no one “right” answer; students are asking questions of judgment. Although a teacher’s reasoned judgment can be helpful to student learning, often it is better for students to arrive at their own conclusions.
Section 5 Is the Class is Understanding you
Tip 65 Increase your eye contact with students
Know if the class is understanding you or not
Know if the students are bored or confused
Have a more interesting style of presentation
Increase the amount of eye-contact you have with the students during your lectures.
Tip 66 Ask students if they understand what you are saying
Clear up any confusion students may be having
Identify what is most important or most difficult for students
Tip 67 Call on students to paraphrase or to summarise
Summarise major points before moving on to another topic
Emphasise conceptual understanding
Teach students to be active listeners
Asking questions of specific students has other benefits too. For example, because students know that they may be called upon, they listen more attentively for the main ideas and that in turn helps them to organise their notes better.
Tip 68 Ask questions during lecture
Have students apply concepts to demonstrate understanding
Introduce variety into your lecture
It’s important to ask questions of students as you are lecturing. First, it makes students active learners so that they must think about the material, rather than just passively absorb it. Second, it helps you to know if they understand what you are saying.
Tip 69 Give students problems to solve during class time
Have students apply concepts to demonstrate understanding
Give help to students who are having difficulty
Giving students problems to solve during class time so that you can observe any difficulties they are having. Having the students try an immediate application of a new concept greatly reinforces their learning.
Tip 70 Reserve the last 10 minutes of class for questions
Give students an opportunity to ask questions or make comments
You will feel better knowing that you will have the time to present the material, and students feel better knowing they have an opportunity to clarify points they may not have understood.
Tip 71 Give frequent assignments
Have students apply concepts to demonstrate understanding
Identify problems individual students may be having
Most excellent teachers give students frequent assignments which allow them to apply course concepts and improve communication and problem-solving skills.
Tip 72 Give frequent quizzes
Identify and help students who are having difficulty
Know the kinds of difficulties students are having
Tip 73 Schedule individual appointments with students
Get to know your students
Give help to students who are having difficulty
Encourage students to come see you during office hours
You will find that this is a real ice-breaker. Even though most of your discussions are mainly chit-chat, some students will use the opportunity to indicate problems they are having in the course or to make suggestions about course improvements.
Tip 74 Encourage students to form study groups
Help students get to know one another
Encouraging students to form small study groups and to send representatives to see you about any difficulties their groups are having. Also, it seems to be easier for some students to come to you for assistance if they ‘represent’ a group, because the problems are then seen as common to many students, not just the group’s representative.
Tip 75 Hand out short questionnaires to get feedback
Clarify reasons for students’ confusion or boredom
Get specific feedback and suggestions during the term
This is a form of what professional evaluators call “formative evaluation” (as differentiated from a “summative” or end-of-course evaluation). It is designed solely to give you very specific, concrete information on where you can make improvements in course content or organization, assignments, or aspects of your own teaching effectiveness during the same term rather than next time you teach the course.
Tip 76 Respond visibly to student suggestions and criticisms
Know if the class is understanding you or not
Know if the students are bored or confused
Conducting and responding to a mid-term evaluation by students. A critical aspect of conducting a mid-semester evaluation is to let students know that their comments have been thoughtfully considered. At the very next class meeting, thank the students for their comments and their suggestions and give a brief, non-defensive account of those suggestions you can use this term.
Section 6 Giving Task & Assignment
Tip 77 Give a brief early assignment
Give interesting and stimulating assignments
Help students improve their performance levels
Help students to develop self-confidence
Giving a brief early assignment that allows students to build on knowledge and skills acquired in previous courses.
Tip 78 Require frequent short assignments
Motivate students to do their best work
Develop students analytic and communication skills
Frequent short assignments give students a chance to demonstrate what they know and to develop and show improvement in their writing and thinking.
Tip 79 Replicate assignments covering basic concepts
Have students apply concepts to demonstrate understanding
Emphasise conceptual understanding
Tip 80 Schedule individual appointments with students
Improve students’ writing
Get to know students
Schedule individual appointments with students to discuss their major assignments both before and after they are due. These appointments are valuable in several respects: the tutor gets an opportunity to know students personally; students get individual attention regarding their work; appointments at the beginning of the term seem to break the ice and students are more inclined to attend office hours on their own to discuss the work.
Tip 81 Use classroom debates
Encourage class discussion
One way to introduce discussion into the class is through an interesting assignment. An example is to ask students to prepare brief remarks or short talks taking a pro or con position on a particular issue.
Tip 82 Ask students to give oral presentations
Help students develop oral communication skills
Tip 83 Use test questions similar to those used in homework
Give exams permitting students to show understanding
Prepare test questions which are similar to those used in quizzes, homework, or discussion. Questions on midterms and final exams should not take a form radically different from those which you use in quizzes, homework assignments, lecture or discussion.
Tip 84 Ask specific questions
Be very specific in the questions you ask.
Problem oriented exams can elicit more meaningful responses than broad, vaguely worded questions.
Tip 85 Hand out study and review questions before the exam
Give exams requiring synthesis of parts of the course
Motivate students to do their best work
Help relieve student anxiety about tests
This helps relieve test anxiety, especially in a lower division course where students are less sure what to expect. This greatly aids the students’ review of the course. If they prepare to answer each question, they will have done a major review and there is no reason they should not do exceptionally well in the exam.
Tip 86 Hold review sessions before the exam
Help relieve student anxiety about tests
Help prepare students for your kind of examination
Tip 87 Give two or more midterms and have the first one early
Identify students having difficulties in the course
Give students with problems an opportunity to seek help or drop the class
Give two or more midterms and schedule the first one at the end of the first three or four weeks of class. It is better to make the first midterm rather difficult, so that students get a realistic picture of the course and their performance.
Tip 88 Distribute sample answers to past exams
Give exams permitting students to show understanding
Make your own grading standards more explicit
As a result of this process, student improvement of the second midterm is often quite remarkable.
Section 7 Invite Criticism of your Own Idea
Tip 89 Encourage students to take a different approach from yours
Invite criticism of your own ideas
Discuss points of view other than your own
Encouraging students to take an approach different from the one you have adopted.
Section 8 Giving Personal Help
Tip 90 Schedule specific topics for office hours
Give personal help to students having difficulty
Get to know students better
Offer extra review sessions
This way, if a student misses a class or doesn’t fully understand the topic, he or she has another chance at the material during office hours. As an added bonus, students and the tutor get to know one another in a small informal setting
Tip 91 Give a diagnostic test at the beginning of the semester
Give personal help to students having difficulty
Relate to students as individuals
Know what knowledge and skills students bring into your course
Its sole purpose is to help you identify those students who need extra help so you can begin working with them early in the course. The results are shared with the individual students. Students need to recognise their weaknesses and begin to correct them if they are to succeed in the course.
Tip 92 Provide self-instructional materials
Help students early in the course
Help develop “prerequisite” skills in students who do not have them
Providing self-instructional materials or “modules” which include basic principles and skills needed to succeed in your course.
Tip 93 Require below PASS level students to see you
Give personal help to students having difficulty
Know if the class is understanding you or not
Motivate students to do their best work
Require all students who are doing below PASS level work on assignments or quizzes to see you. It’s important to find out why students score low. If they are having difficulty understanding the material, you can offer to help them. Showing concern is also a powerful motivator for some students: they automatically begin to do better.
Tip 94 Meet regularly with each student who does poorly on exams
Give personal help to students having difficulty
Motivate students to do their best work
Meet regularly with each student who does poorly on the midterm. In these meetings you can try to discover each individual student’s problem.
Tip 95 Integrate weaker students into the class through group work
Give personal help to students who are having difficulty
Use peer teaching methods
Make special efforts to integrate the weaker students into the class through small group work. You can ask a better student to help out if a weaker student is having difficulty in responding. Then you will have the second student repeat the question to the first student to give him another shot at it. Peer teaching can be extremely effective.
Tip 96 Keep some time free after class to talk with students
Be accessible to students out of class
Manifest a genuine interest in students
Get to know your students
Keeping the hour or two following a class open to talk with students. Make a habit of staying after class to talk with students. The biggest turn-off for students is for a faculty member to immediately to gather up his notes and his briefcase and virtually beat the students to the door after class.
Tip 97 Go to class before it begins
Check out the room and equipment in advance
Get to know your students
Tip 98 Give out your contact details
Be accessible to students out of class
Manifest a genuine interest in students
Section 9 Monitoring & Reporting Progress
Tip 99 Return tests and assignments at the next class meeting
– Keep students informed of their progress
– Emphasise the learning experience of exams and assignments
This is important for two reasons. First, the quick turnaround time ensures that students are still thinking about the assignment. Thus any criticism or feedback is likely to have a stronger impact than if it were delayed a week or more. Second, prompt feedback indicates to the students the importance of what they are doing and your interest and concern for their learning the material.
Tip 100 Discuss solutions or answers to tests and assignments
Try to discuss the solutions or answers to exams, quizzes, or homework assignments at the next class meeting.
Tip 101 Hand out or post solutions as soon as work is turned in
Keep students informed of their progress by handing out or posting solutions to exams, quizzes, and assignments as soon as students turn in their work.
Note that this method gives the students immediate feedback even though it may be a week or more before the assignments can be returned with comments or grades.
Tip 102 Make extensive constructive comments on student work
Keep students informed of their progress
Motivate students to do their best work