Effective Educational Practices

✤ for quality teaching and learning

*Five National Benchmarks of Effective Educational Practice

Level of Academic ChallengeChallenging intellectual and creative work is central to student learning and collegiate quality. Colleges and universities promote high levels of student achievement by setting high expectations for student performance.

Student Interactions with Faculty MembersStudents learn firsthand how experts think about and solve practical problems by interacting with faculty members inside and outside the classroom. As a result, their teachers become role models, mentors, and guides for continuous, life-long learning.

Active and Collaborative LearningStudents learn more when they are intensively involved in their education and are asked to think about and apply what they are learning in different settings. Collaborating with others in solving problems or mastering difficult material prepares student to deal with the messy, unscripted problems they will encounter daily, both during and after college.

*Adapted from the 2004 Annual NSSE Survey Report

Five Benchmarks Continued...

Enriching Educational ExperiencesComplementary learning opportunities inside and outside the classroom augment the academic program. Experiencing diversity teaches students valuable things about themselves and other cultures. Used appropriately, technology facilitates learning and promotes collaboration between peers and instructors. Internships, community service, and senior capstone courses provide students with opportunities to synthesize, integrate, and apply their knowledge. Such experiences make learning more meaningful and, ultimately, more useful because what students know becomes a part of who they are.

Supportive Campus EnvironmentStudents perform better and are more satisfied at colleges that are committed to their success and cultivate positive working and social relations among different groups on campus.

*Adapted from the 2004 Annual NSSE Survey Report

Putting the benchmarks into practice

✤ What are the principles for great teaching and learning

The 7 Principles for Good Practice

encourage contact between students and faculty,

develop reciprocity and cooperation among students,

encourage active learning,

give prompt feedback,

emphasize time on task,

communicate high expectations, and

respect diverse talents and ways of learning.

Chickering, A. W., & Gamson, Z. F. (1987, March). Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. AAHEBulletin 39: 3-7, March 1987

Two thoughts....

1.While these 7 principles can stand on their own, if we put them together we arrive at some very powerful forces for effective teaching and learning....just think about the following words...activity, expectations, cooperation, interaction, diversity, and Responsibility.

2.Think of effective teaching and learning like the mechanics of a clock. We can picture in our minds the gears, cogs and wheels, and how these move together so that time can be represented on the outward part of the machine - the clock face. This is a universal image, represented and replicated throughout our world...but the capturing of time is a profound concept...Just as the mechanics of teaching and learning, nebulous and profound requiring symbiotic movement, just as in the workings of a clock!

The 7 principles explained...

Encourage contact between faculty and student

Frequent student-faculty contact in and out of classes is the most important factor in student motivation and involvement.

Faculty concern helps students get through rough times and keep on working.

Knowing a few faculty members well enhances students' intellectual commitment and encourages them to think about their own values and future plans.

Provide multiple ways for students to contact you

Hold Office Hours and Virtual Office Hours (and encourage appointments)

Provide guidelines for communication – i.e. how and when to best reach you, when to reasonably expect a response from you

Send class emails regularly (whole class, individuals)

Assign Reflective journals

Provide feedback quickly – tell them what your turnaround will be.

Encourage them to follow-up with you

Encourages Contact Between Students and Faculty

Learning is enhanced when it is within the context of a team.

Good learning, like good work, is collaborative and social, not competitive and isolated.

Working with others often increases involvement in learning.

Sharing one's own ideas and responding to others' reactions sharpens thinking and deepens understanding.

Develops Reciprocity and Cooperation Among Students

Model expectations

Form small learning teams

Problem based learning

Book discussion groups

Collaborative (team) learning and assignments

Wikis (Google Docs)

Presentations

Case Studies

Note sharing

Peer editing/reviewing

Team Discussion facilitation

Debate

Collective resources and bookmarks

Develops Reciprocity and Cooperation Among Students

Learning is not for spectators.

Students do not learn much just by sitting in classes listening to teachers, memorizing pre-packaged assignments, and spitting out answers.

They must talk about what they are learning, write about it, relate it to past experiences and apply it to their daily lives.

They must make what they learn part of themselves.

Encourages Active Learning

Clickers (polls, surveys)

Case Studies, Critical Incidents, Problem Based Learning

Model critical questioning

Then “assign” them to challenge each other during class discussion

Ask “Why is this relevant to you?”

Stump your classmate exercise

Concept mapping

Notes/Resource Sharing

Metacognitive journal

What? So what? Now what?

Encourages Active Learning

Gives Prompt Feedback

Knowing what you know and don't know focuses learning. Students need appropriate feedback on performance to benefit from courses.

When getting started, students need help in assessing existing knowledge and competence.

In classes, students need frequent opportunities to perform and receive suggestions for improvement.

At various points during college, and at the end, students need chances to reflect on what they have learned, what they still need to know, and how to assess themselves.

Gives Prompt Feedback

Regular formative assessment (in and out of class)

Information and acknowledgement feedback

Comment:

During and end of discussion

On reflective journals

On assignments

KWL exercise to open and

close new content

Check for understanding quizzes

With permission, use student samples

Provide detailed rubrics for assignments

Use them also for self and peer assessment

Emphasizes Time on Task

Time plus energy equals learning. There is no substitute for time on task.

Learning to use one's time well is critical for students and professionals alike. Students need help in learning effective time management.

Allocating realistic amounts of time means effective learning for students and effective teaching for faculty. How an institution defines time expectations for students, faculty, administrators, and other professional staff can establish the basis of high performance for all.

Emphasizes Time on Task

Be organized and prepared for class

Include objectives throughout the course

Require groups to submit a task analysis with timelines and responsibilities (Learning Contracts)

Estimate for students how much time they should spend on things

Focus learners attention on provided resources, reading assignments, etc.

Communicates High Expectations

Expect more and you will get more. High expectations are important for everyone -- for the poorly prepared, for those unwilling to exert themselves, and for the bright and well motivated.

Expecting students to perform well becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when teachers and institutions hold high expectations for themselves and make extra efforts.

Communicates High Expectations

Clearly defined syllabus and

assignments

Include learning objectives with

units and assignments (know

your taxonomy!) Link feedback

to objectives.

Post samples of assignments

Provide detailed rubrics

Give challenging assignments

(and avoid "busy work")

Authentic and problem based

learning

Publicly praise quality and

insight

Learners publish their work

Invite the library in (to work

with you in setting up scholarly

assignments, and into your

class session for your students.)

Require scholarly resources

and references

Respects Diverse Talents and Ways of Learning

There are many roads to learning. People bring different talents and styles of learning to college. Brilliant students in the seminar room may be all thumbs in the lab or art studio. Students rich in hands-on experience may not do so well with theory.

Students need the opportunity to show their talents and learn in ways that work for them. Then they can be pushed to learn in new ways that do not come so easily.

Respects Diverse Talents and Ways of Learning

Vary your content delivery

(imagery, illustration, audio, video,

reading, writing, websites)

Choices of assignments and

delivery

Vary your assessments (and more

subjective than objective)

Provide materials to provide

background and "for further study"

Show value and relevance for

learner contributions

Invite the learner's experience

Take the VARK inventory and ask

your learners to. Post results.

Create a chart.

Pursue own area of interest within

content

Frequent Formative assessment

Integrate new knowledge about

under-represented populations into

your content

A few resources

Chickering, A., Gamson, Z. (1987) Seven Principles For Good Practice In Undergraduate Education. The American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, March 1987. Accessed online: http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/7princip.htm 

VARK: http://www.vark-learn.com/

Problem Based Learning Clearinghouse: https://primus.nss.udel.edu/Pbl/

Second Story productions (interactive websites): http://secondstory.com/portfolio