How can we Facilitate and Design Excellent Teaching and Learning?

 

What is Effective Teaching?

            According to the Oxford English Dictionary, effective is an adjective that denotes something or someone as being “successful in producing a desired or intended result.” With this, effective teaching can be defined as when a teacher can produce students who routinely meet desired learning objectives. Through meta-analysis research, Rosenshine and Furst have identified characteristics of effective teachers. The top five that contributed most to student learning were:

·         Clarity- “the ability to present information in a clear and understandable fashion.” Teachers who demonstrate clarity have clearly stated objectives and plan efficiently for their lessons.

·         Variability- adding variety to your teaching techniques. Teachers who use variability in the classroom look for new and innovative ways to present information to students.

·         Enthusiasm-  Teachers who love teaching and engaging with their subject matter are always more effective than those who aren’t. When you’re excited to teach, your students are more excited to learn.

·         Task-Oriented Behavior-Effective teachers take teaching seriously. They are responsible, steady, systematic and poised.

 

·         Effective teachers provide students with the opportunity to learn. They identify standards and objectives that need to be met and provide opportunity for students to meet them.

What is Learning?

            Learning is defined as “the acquisition of knowledge or skills through study, experience, or being taught.” For an agriculture teacher, these skills can encompass a wide array of topics in food, fiber and natural resources. Learning occurs when students can retain information presented to them and use that information in a purposeful and transformational way. Teachers teach far more than their subject matter. They change the behavior of students in a way that guides them into productive, self-aware citizenship. Teachers who understand how learning occurs are far more effective.

How do we Decide What and How to Teach?

            Having clearly defined objectives is always key in being both an effective teacher and learner. Effective teachers plan accordingly and know specifically what competencies they want students to reach. Knowing what to teach is often far easier than knowing how to teach. Variability is a key characteristic of an effective teacher, so making sure that a variety of methods are employed to engage students plays an important role in deciding how to teach.