Ten Ways to Make Your Teaching More Effective AUDIENCE ANALYSIS You're not the most important person

in the room. Remember that the members of the audience (your students) are supposed to be the beneficiaries of your communication. Don't some. ake too any assu !tions a"out your au#ience. But you do have to make

$igure out the "asics. Who are these !eo!%e&

demographics (age, ethnicity, gender mix, etc.). predispositions (hopes, fears, positives/negatives, level of interest). knowledge of/experience with sub ect/me.

In 'hat kin# of setting 'i%% they receive this infor ation&

large lecture hall orsmall seminar room or classroom. lighting and sound issues. time of day.

Take into account the ( e) here) no'*(

!icture yourself as a member of the audience and ask "#ow does this message affect me, here, now$" %e, here, now translates into what you as a sender have to offer your students/receivers&what they will be able to understand, accept, support, consider important&because it matters to them.

Esta"%ish cognitive + "ehaviora% o",ectives for your au#ience'

(hat do ) want my students to know$ (hat do ) want my students to do

T-E $I.ST DAY) /0ENIN1S) AND CL/SIN1S Don't waste key "windows" of time on housekeeping alone.

T-E $I.ST DAY. %ost teachers use the first day to get housekeeping out of the way** office hours, expectations, administrative details. )nstead, summari+e most of that need* to*have information on paper and distribute it. ,hen use the time to'

Intro#uce content**and relate why it-s important to you C%arify your o",ectives for students (cognitive and behavioral). Esta"%ish tone an# e2!ectations**yours of them, theirs of you.

/0ENIN1S* .tay away from the predictable (/ood morning. 0n %onday, we talked about . . ., ,oday, )-d like to move onto . . .). )nstead'

3egin 'ith a !rovocative 4uestion) anec#ote) or current event**and how it relates to the content. Ask so eone in the c%ass to su ari5e 'hat ha!!ene# in the %ast session. Use a 4uestion "o2**select the most interesting/difficult 1uestions and address those. Set u! a !ro"%e **and promise that they-ll have all the tools for a solution by the end of the class.

CL/SIN1S. %any teachers simply talk until the end of the class**and say, ".ee you next time." )nstead'

0%an a rhyth for your c%ass&plan to end with content 2 minutes early, so you can summari+e, raise 1uestions, preview the next topic. Set asi#e a ti e for 4uestions&and structure that time. $ra e+suggest an a!!roach for assigne# rea#ing) etc.**"3s you read the assigned text, please keep in mind these three key 1uestions we-ll be discussing next time. . . ."

0.E0A.ATI/N You probably can't cover everything you want to in a lecture. Deci#e 'hat is essentia%) 'hat is i !ortant) an# 'hat is he%!fu% 6'hat 'ou%# "e nice7.

4over the first5 try to cover the second5 forget about the third. Release a little control over the material and rely on the textbook or a list of supplementary readings for the nonessentials.

Set o",ectives.

(hat do you want to have accomplished at the end of the lecture$ (hat do you want the students to know at the end of the lecture$

0%an a %ecture to cover %ess than the entire !erio#.

)t takes some time to get going. 6uestions always take up more time than you expect.

Divi#e the %ecture into #iscrete seg ents an# fo%%o' the stan#ar# s!eech structure.

7ivide it both in terms of time and in terms of material. ,ry for ten or fifteen minute blocks, each one of a topic. Briefly summari+e the previous lecture5 introduce the topic(s) for the day5 present the material5 summari+e briefly5 preview any homework and the next lecture. notes or an out%ine) rather than a co !%ete te2t.

Lecture fro

)t-s too tempting to simply read, rather than lecture, from a complete text. Reading also creates a barrier between lecturer and audience. (riting up an entire lecture is very time consuming. 3 written lecture often becomes a fossil that never gets updated.

DELI8E.Y The "How do you get to Carnegie Hall " !ule. "ractice# "ractice# "ractice. 3e conversationa%9 s!eak natura%%y9 "e yourse%f 6or your "est se%f7.

,hat self may be formal, "laid back," understated, or hyper. 8se those traits5 don-t fight against them. ,alk about the material5 don-t lecture about it. (,alking is easier if you don-t read verbatim.)

8ary your !acing an# voice.

/auge audience reaction, and Repeat critical points immediately if you sense the necessity. 8se your voice to underline and italici+e the important points. !ause before new points. 8se transitional statements to move to the next idea.

Use gestures to e !hasi5e !oints.

4onsider gestures to be a mirror of your voice. 3d ust your gestures to the si+e of the room.

Look at the au#ience.

,ry to cover all parts of the room by dividing it into four 1uadrants. )f direct eye contact makes you forget your place, try looking ust over a student-s head, or between two students (,hey won-t see the difference).

Use %anguage to create !ictures.

8se metaphors, analogies, and similes.

/"serve the techni4ues of others.

,ry out in your own class techni1ues you admire in others. 9ike any skill, delivery is not innate, but must be learned.

C.EDI3ILITY : C/MMITMENT You are the most important person in the room. 3lthough teaching isn-t theater, we do know that students find concepts, knowledge, skills, and ideas most accessible and credible from someone they consider . . . well, not dull. Think a"out antece#ent i age**perception is often stronger than reality. Cre#i"i%ity is enhance# "y'

:our own sense of comfort and confidence presenting material. :our enthusiasm and interest in teaching. :our research and own ideas. it ent is enhance# "y'

Co

Relating your own experience, ideas, and feelings. ,aking the first person approach, not separating yourself from your sub ect. Relating your "passion" for your sub ect. it ent an# cre#i"i%ity'

De%ivery is tie# to "oth co

3n old 8493 study of effective presentations analy+ed ; elements (verbal, vocal, visual). #ere-s what it found was important in establishing credibility/believability'

<erbal (words you say)' =>.

<ocal (how you sound when you say them)' ;?>. <isual (how you look when you say them)' 22>. ove your au#ience;an# he%! you 6the 7 reach

Your energy an# intensity 'i%% your o",ectives.

3UILDIN1 INTE.ACTI/N $earning is not a spectator sport. Learning takes !%ace "est in an active) not a !assive environ ent. Interaction is a continuous 'ay to

3ssess the me# here# now. 7etermine whether or not your content is understood. .hare the responsibility of learning more e1uitably and appropriately.

-o' to "ui%# interaction&

#ave 1uestions prepared**begin with relatively easy, accessible ones. .et up hypotheticals, problem*solving exercises, brainstorming. (ork to get everyone involved, even in large classes.

3sk students to consider issues with the person sitting next to them/ ot down ideas, 1uestions, concerns. 7iscuss as a larger group. 3ssign teams to work together on presenting mini*lectures orcase studies. 4learly establish expectations about participation. @stablish a 1uestion box&and reward team and/or individual with best 1uestion of the week or month. Move yourse%f<

Begin class from somewhere besides the front5 invite students to consider the issue on board with you, so that you-re looking at the board with them. ,hat telegraphs your expectation that learning is a oint experience.

C-AL=3/A.DS (and other high tech media) %f your handwriting is really terrible# perhaps you should go to med school. Use the "oar# 6s%i#es+overhea#s7 to reinforce your !oints visua%%y.

.aying it and showing it can often forestall your having to repeat. 8se visuals to outline your lecture for the class.

If you have a great #ea% of "oar#'ork)

4onsider having most of it put on the board before class. %ake a copy of it as a handout. 4onsider using an overhead pro ector.

Don't ta%k 'hi%e you 'rite.

(8nless you can contort your body so that you-re more or less facing the class.) .tudents lose most of your words when they-re spoken to the board. ,his holds true for using a pointer. !oint, then speak, unless you are already facing the class. ateria% you !ut on a s%i#e or overhea#*

Li it the a ount of

,he page you are reading at this moment probably contains more than the maximum you should use.

-ave a !%an for your "oar#'ork.

Research has shown that the most prominent part of a chalkboard is the upper left* hand corner, so you might start there. Remember that some students might not be able to see materialwritten on the very bottom of the board.

A.e e "er> a%% visua%s are su!!%e ents or co !%e ents) not su"stitutes*

-ANDLIN1 ?UESTI/NS %t's hard to answer a good &uestion''and even harder to pose one. E2!%icit%y re4uest an# encourage 4uestions.

.tudents will see that you have a genuine interest in what they-re thinking. ents can set the tone for 4uestioning*

3e a'are of ho' your "ehavior an# co

3 negative response (e.g., "(e-ve already covered that") discourages further 1uestions and may make students think you don-t really want 1uestions.

Make sure everyone hears the 4uestion.

Repeat it if necessary. But don-t make a habit of simply repeating every 1uestion. )t beginsto sound like you, rather than the students. 3sk the class if they heard the 1uestion5 then ask the student to repeat.

C%arify 4uestions.

.ay, "7o you mean that . . . ," or ")-m sorry, ) don-t understand the 1uestion," rather than ":our 1uestion isn-t clear."

Ans'er 4uestions as #irect%y as !ossi"%e.

3ddress your answer to the whole class. 3sk whether you have answered the 1uestion.

3e #i!%o atic 'hen stu#ents raise tangentia%) over%y*co !%icate# 4uestions) or !ersistent%y ask 4uestions ,ust to "e asking.

3sk them to stop by after class or see you in office hours. )f a student is simply confused, say, "9et me go over this point a bit more slowly."

1ETTIN1 $EED3AC= (y the time you get end*of*term evaluations# it's too late. 1et regu%ar fee#"ack.

3sk students to spend the last five minutes of class writing down the most important thing they learned that day or one 1uestion they have as a result of the lecture. 3nswer the 1uestions at the beginning of the next class.

Use eye contact as a too% for continuous fee#"ack.

)f you notice students with 1uestioning looks, stop what you-re doing and ask if you need to clarify. )f you get no response, go ahead and clarify. i#ter course revie'.

Con#uct a

7evelop your own short 1uestionnaire, or #and out ;x2 cards. Be as general or specific as you need to be' "(hat is going well$" "(hat is the most important thing you have learned$" (hat would you like to see more of$" ".hould we spend more time on arachnids$" 7iscuss the results with your class. ti e to ti e.

3orro' stu#ents' c%assnotes fro

3lert them on the first day of class that you-ll be doing this and why. :ou-ll see how well students are understanding. 9ooking at several different students- notes will also tell you whether you are making a particular point clear. )t can also enables you to see who is having trouble.

Arrange to have your %ecture vi#eota!e#.

:ou can view it yourself or with a consultant who can discuss it with you.

TESTS an# 1.ADES "oor answers are often the result of poor &uestions# not poor minds. Deci#e 'hat your goa% in testing is.

7o you want students to regurgitate material$ to synthesi+e$ to be able to go beyond it$

Consi#er the for at of 4uestions.

)n short answer and essay 1uestions, separate out any background material or suggestions from the 1uestion itself by double spacing between them. ,ry to ask only one 1uestion at a time' not "#ow did people react to ,he 0rigin of .pecies$ (hy did they react the way they did$ #ow has that reaction changed over time$" !ick the one that is most important to you (e.g., "#ow has people-s reaction to . . . changed over time$" as a 'ho%e*

Consi#er the for at of the e2a

)f it gets progressively harder, do the students know that in advance$ %ake the first 1uestion one you expect everyone to be able to answer.

Take your o'n test) give it to your 1SIs to take) or sho' it to a co%%eague.

Bor essay and short answer tests, write out sample answers. ,hese samples will give you something against which to compare studentsanswers ,he samples will allow you to see if your 1uestions are answerable in the allotted time. Bor multiple choice, true/false, and problem set exams, ask your /.)s to take them as a check of their "do*ability."

Make your gra#ing an# testing !o%icies c%ear on the first #ay of c%ass.

TEAC-IN1 SCIENCE) MAT-EMATICS) AND TEC-N/L/1Y

Teaching Shou%# 3e Consistent With the Nature of Scientific In4uiry .cience, mathematics, and technology are defined as much by what they do and how they do it as they are by the results they achieve. ,o understand them as ways of thinking and doing, as well as bodies of knowledge, re1uires that students have some experience with the kinds of thought and action that are typical of those fields. ,eachers, therefore, should do the following' )tart *ith +uestions ,bout -ature .ound teaching usually begins with 1uestions and phenomena that are interesting and familiar to students, not with abstractions or phenomena outside their range of perception, understanding, or knowledge. .tudents need to get ac1uainted with the things around them&including devices, organisms, materials, shapes, and numbers&and to observe them, collect them, handle them, describe them, become pu++led by them, ask 1uestions about them, argue about them, and then to try to find answers to their 1uestions. .ngage )tudents ,ctively .tudents need to have many and varied opportunities for collecting, sorting and cataloging5 observing, note taking and sketching5 interviewing, polling, and surveying5 and using hand lenses, microscopes, thermometers, cameras, and other common instruments. ,hey should dissect5 measure, count, graph, and compute5 explore the chemical properties of common substances5 plant and cultivate5 and systematically observe the social behavior of humans and other animals. 3mong these activities, none is more important than measurement, in that figuring out what to measure, what instruments

to use, how to check the correctness of measurements, and how to configure and make sense out of the results are at the heart of much of science and engineering. Concentrate on the Collection and /se of .vidence .tudents should be given problems&at levels appropriate to their maturity&that re1uire them to decide what evidence is relevant and to offer their own interpretations of what the evidence means. ,his puts a premium, ust as science does, on careful observation and thoughtful analysis. .tudents need guidance, encouragement, and practice in collecting, sorting, and analy+ing evidence, and in building arguments based on it. #owever, if such activities are not to be destructively boring, they must lead to some intellectually satisfying payoff that students care about. "rovide Historical "erspectives 7uring their school years, students should encounter many scientific ideas presented in historical context. )t matters less which particular episodes teachers select (in addition to the few key episodes presented in 4hapter CD) than that the selection represent the scope and diversity of the scientific enterprise. .tudents can develop a sense of how science really happens by learning something of the growth of scientific ideas, of the twists and turns on the way to our current understanding of such ideas, of the roles played by different investigators and commentators, and of the interplay between evidence and theory over time. #istory is important for the effective teaching of science, mathematics, and technology also because it can lead to social perspectives&the influence of society on the development of science and technology, and the impact of science and technology on society. )t is important, for example, for students to become aware that women and minorities have made significant contributions in spite of the barriers put in their way by society5 that the roots of science, mathematics, and technology go back to the early @gyptian, /reek, 3rabic, and 4hinese cultures5 and that scientists bring to their work the values and pre udices of the cultures in which they live. %nsist on Clear .0pression @ffective oral and written communication is so important in every facet of life that teachers of every sub ect and at every level should place a high priority on it for all students. )n addition, science teachers should emphasi+e clear expression, because the role of evidence and the unambiguous replication of evidence cannot be understood without some struggle to express one-s own procedures, findings, and ideas rigorously, and to decode the accounts of others. /se a Team ,pproach ,he collaborative nature of scientific and technological work should be strongly reinforced by fre1uent group activity in the classroom. .cientists and engineers work

mostly in groups and less often as isolated investigators. .imilarly, students should gain experience sharing responsibility for learning with each other. )n the process of coming to common understandings, students in a group must fre1uently inform each other about procedures and meanings, argue over findings, and assess how the task is progressing. )n the context of team responsibility, feedback and communication become more realistic and of a character very different from the usual individualistic textbook*homework* recitation approach. Do -ot )eparate 1nowing 2rom 2inding 3ut )n science, conclusions and the methods that lead to them are tightly coupled. ,he nature of in1uiry depends on what is being investigated, and what is learned depends on the methods used. .cience teaching that attempts solely to impart to students the accumulated knowledge of a field leads to very little understanding and certainly not to the development of intellectual independence and facility. But then, to teach scientific reasoning as a set of procedures separate from any particular substance&"the scientific method," for instance&is e1ually futile. .cience teachers should help students to ac1uire both scientific knowledge of the world and scientific habits of mind at the same time. Deemphasi4e the 5emori4ation of Technical 6ocabulary 8nderstanding rather than vocabulary should be the main purpose of science teaching. #owever, unambiguous terminology is also important in scientific communication and& ultimately&for understanding. .ome technical terms are therefore helpful for everyone, but the number of essential ones is relatively small. )f teachers introduce technical terms only as needed to clarify thinking and promote effective communication, then students will gradually build a functional vocabulary that will survive beyond the next test. Bor teachers to concentrate on vocabulary, however, is to detract from science as a process, to put learning for understanding in eopardy, and to risk being misled about what students have learned. Science Teaching Shou%# .ef%ect Scientific 8a%ues .cience is more than a body of knowledge and a way of accumulating and validating that knowledge. )t is also a social activity that incorporates certain human values. #olding curiosity, creativity, imagination, and beauty in high esteem is certainly not confined to science, mathematics, and engineering&any more than skepticism and a distaste for dogmatism are. #owever, they are all highly characteristic of the scientific endeavor. )n learning science, students should encounter such values as part of their experience, not as empty claims. ,his suggests that teachers should strive to do the following' *elcome Curiosity .cience, mathematics, and technology do not create curiosity. ,hey accept it, foster it, incorporate it, reward it, and discipline it&and so does good science teaching. ,hus, science teachers should encourage students to raise 1uestions about the material being

studied, help them learn to frame their 1uestions clearly enough to begin to search for answers, suggest to them productive ways for finding answers, and reward those who raise and then pursue unusual but relevant 1uestions. )n the science classroom, wondering should be as highly valued as knowing. !eward Creativity .cientists, mathematicians, and engineers pri+e the creative use of imagination. ,he science classroom ought to be a place where creativity and invention&as 1ualities distinct from academic excellence&are recogni+ed and encouraged. )ndeed, teachers can express their own creativity by inventing activities in which students- creativity and imagination will pay off. .ncourage a )pirit of Healthy +uestioning .cience, mathematics, and engineering prosper because of the institutionali+ed skepticism of their practitioners. ,heir central tenet is that one-s evidence, logic, and claims will be 1uestioned, and one-s experiments will be sub ected to replication. )n science classrooms, it should be the normal practice for teachers to raise such 1uestions as' #ow do we know$ (hat is the evidence$ (hat is the argument that interprets the evidence$ 3re there alternative explanations or other ways of solving the problem that could be better$ ,he aim should be to get students into the habit of posing such 1uestions and framing answers. ,void Dogmatism .tudents should experience science as a process for extending understanding, not as unalterable truth. ,his means that teachers must take care not to convey the impression that they themselves or the textbooks are absolute authorities whose conclusions are always correct. By dealing with the credibility of scientific claims, the overturn of accepted scientific beliefs, and what to make out of disagreements among scientists, science teachers can help students to balance the necessity for accepting a great deal of science on faith against the importance of keeping an open mind. "romote ,esthetic !esponses %any people regard science as cold and uninteresting. #owever, a scientific understanding of, say, the formation of stars, the blue of the sky, or the construction of the human heart need not displace the romantic and spiritual meanings of such phenomena. %oreover, scientific knowledge makes additional aesthetic responses possible&such as to the diffracted pattern of street lights seen through a curtain, the pulse of life in a microscopic organism, the cantilevered sweep of a bridge, the efficiency of combustion in living cells, the history in a rock or a tree, an elegant mathematical proof. ,eachers of science, mathematics, and technology should establish a learning environment in which students are able to broaden and deepen their response to the beauty of ideas, methods, tools, structures, ob ects, and living organisms.

Science Teaching Shou%# Ai

to Counteract Learning An2ieties

,eachers should recogni+e that for many students, the learning of mathematics and science involves feelings of severe anxiety and fear of failure. Eo doubt this results partly from what is taught and the way it is taught, and partly from attitudes picked up incidentally very early in schooling from parents and teachers who are themselves ill at ease with science and mathematics. Bar from dismissing math and science anxiety as groundless, though, teachers should assure students that they understand the problem and will work with them to overcome it. ,eachers can take such measures as the following' (uild on )uccess ,eachers should make sure that students have some sense of success in learning science and mathematics, and they should deemphasi+e getting all the right answers as being the main criterion of success. 3fter all, science itself, as 3lfred Eorth (hitehead said, is never 1uite right. 8nderstanding anything is never absolute, and it takes many forms. 3ccordingly, teachers should strive to make all students&particularly the less*confident ones&aware of their progress and should encourage them to continue studying. "rovide ,bundant .0perience in /sing Tools %any students are fearful of using laboratory instruments and other tools. ,his fear may result primarily from the lack of opportunity many of them have to become familiar with tools in safe circumstances. /irls in particular suffer from the mistaken notion that boys are naturally more adept at using tools. .tarting in the earliest grades, all students should gradually gain familiarity with tools and the proper use of tools. By the time they finish school, all students should have had supervised experience with common hand tools, soldering irons, electrical meters, drafting tools, optical and sound e1uipment, calculators, and computers. )upport the !oles of 7irls and 5inorities in )cience Because the scientific and engineering professions have been predominantly male and white, female and minority students could easily get the impression that these fields are beyond them or are otherwise unsuited to them. ,his debilitating perception&all too often reinforced by the environment outside the school&will persist unless teachers actively work to turn it around. ,eachers should select learning materials that illustrate the contributions of women and minorities, bring in role models, and make it clear to female and minority students that they are expected to study the same sub ects at the same level as everyone else and to perform as well. .mphasi4e 7roup $earning 3 group approach has motivational value apart from the need to use team learning (as noted earlier) to promote an understanding of how science and engineering work. 0veremphasis on competition among students for high grades distorts what ought to be

the prime motive for studying science' to find things out. 4ompetition among students in the science classroom may also result in many of them developing a dislike of science and losing their confidence in their ability to learn science. /roup approaches, the norm in science, have many advantages in education5 for instance, they help youngsters see that everyone can contribute to the attainment of common goals and that progress does not depend on everyone-s having the same abilities. Science Teaching Shou%# E2ten# 3eyon# the Schoo% 4hildren learn from their parents, siblings, other relatives, peers, and adult authority figures, as well as from teachers. ,hey learn from movies, television, radio, records, trade books and maga+ines, and home computers, and from going to museums and +oos, parties, club meetings, rock concerts, and sports events, as well as from schoolbooks and the school environment in general. .cience teachers should exploit the rich resources of the larger community and involve parents and other concerned adults in useful ways. )t is also important for teachers to recogni+e that some of what their students learn informally is wrong, incomplete, poorly understood, or misunderstood, but that formal education can help students to restructure that knowledge and ac1uire new knowledge. Teaching Shou%# Take Its Ti e )n learning science, students need time for exploring, for making observations, for taking wrong turns, for testing ideas, for doing things over again5 time for building things, calibrating instruments, collecting things, constructing physical and mathematical models for testing ideas5 time for learning whatever mathematics, technology, and science they may need to deal with the 1uestions at hand5 time for asking around, reading, and arguing5 time for wrestling with unfamiliar and counterintuitive ideas and for coming to see the advantage in thinking in a different way. %oreover, any topic in science, mathematics, or technology that is taught only in a single lesson or unit is unlikely to leave a trace by the end of schooling. ,o take hold and mature, concepts must not ust be presented to students from time to time but must be offered to them periodically in different contexts and at increasing levels of sophistication