“Best Practice” Teaching Ideas IU Professors Have Shared with Us
For several years, we have been collecting ideas from IU professors about what works in their classrooms. The following is a list of those ideas for good teaching. We are continuing to collect “best practice” ideas from professors, and are always pleased to learn about new ones. So send us yours and we will post them here. You might have new (or old!) ideas that worked especially well for you in class—we invite you to email them to us so that we can share them with your colleagues.
Course Structure/Organization
“For organization give them an outline of the day’s topics at the start of the class. Tell them where you are going. At the end of class, a recap will solidify what you covered.”
“ For those who like to concentrate on one thing at a time like I do, I suggest separating teaching days from other days. I tend to have all my classes on the same days. Other days are set aside as research days. Having specific days set aside for specific activities helps me better focus on the work at hand.”
“ One can only be friendly and relaxed in class if one is ‘on top of the material.’ One must prepare, and adequate preparation takes a lot of time. By preparation, I mean not just learning the material, but figuring out how to say things, and in what order. One must strip out the ‘chaff,’ and generate good examples. I think the remark that I am ‘knowledgeable’ is really a reflection of my level of preparation—most faculty are knowledgeable. I generally allocate one hour to prepare each lecture in courses I’ve taught previously, and allocate 2–3 hours for new course lecture.”
“Doing the following helps keep the class organized:
- Develop a class syllabus to outline topics to be covered.
- Preview the next class session at the end of each class by mentioning the reading, outlining major points to think about and discuss in class.
- Give an overview of what to accomplish during the class period.
- Give a brief summary at end of period and preview of next class.”
“I tend to carefully repeat and make connections between topics covered in class. I often summarize and point out main ideas. I make sure every topic is summed up and leads into the next topic.”
Clarity and Communication
For clarity—use analogies to teach obscure or difficult ideas. Ask yourself—What is this like? Ask the students to explain it back to you, briefly in writing to check that they got it.
“ At the intro course level, few faculty are not knowledgeable—it goes beyond that. Real understanding involves being able to explain so that anyone can get it. I synthesize the topic and make it accessible to the student. The hard part is coming up with ways of explaining so they can understand a deep level—an intuitive understanding that won’t leave them.”
“ I believe in ‘the few things’ approach. Rather than going through a lot of different topics, I cover a few in great depth. Having students stay with a few topics and figure out everything about those provides a longer lasting learning experience than jumping through a lot of different things. Jumping from one thing to another gives students a taste, but no retention at all.”
“ I use multiple examples if I do not think that I am making my point clear. I simplify rather than complicate knowledge for comprehension.”
“I use contemporary analogies that the students are familiar with. Using comparisons from the students’ world gives the students a ‘peg’ on which they can hang a point or concept.”
Teacher Availability/Rapport
“Before I enter a class of freshman, I psyche myself up—I take the attitude that these are lovable students who need me to help them better understand a world they’ve only begun to explore. I look at teaching undergraduates as a wonderful chance to unlock the world to them. This can be more challenging and rewarding than teaching more sophisticated students.”
“I learn the names of students to facilitate better communication between the students as well as student and teacher.”
“I try to remember the students’ names as quickly as possible. I have designed some group activities or simulation experiences to get everybody involved. I also allow students to interview me. I try to make them feel comfortable enough to criticize me.”
“ I consciously try to be warm and supportive. I want my students to know that I really do appreciate their ideas. To avoid intimidating students into silence, I do not rule out what a student says. I am gentle with criticism. I listen carefully to a student response and try to find some redeemable quality to build upon that will make the student feel good about his/her contribution and make the class appreciate it. The whole point is that I try to be a role model for the class. If I take the students seriously and show concern, the students will do the same thing with each other.”
Stimulation of Student Interest
“It is important to use many examples from the technical as well as the popular science magazines, sometimes even relevant TV commercials, to illustrate a point. These are better than dry textbook examples.”
“ To ensure that the material is relevant and related to students’ other courses, I often read textbooks assigned in other classes. I also prepare content carefully—steps are never omitted.”
“I relate material to everyday things. Students sometimes think that their professors do not know what is going on in the world. Bringing up things that are going on outside the classroom and relating them to the material in class humanizes the instructor and the material.”
“I try to pull information from areas the students are familiar with. For example, I have used a chemistry–oriented cookbook to get some ideas for presenting information that is traditionally not very interesting to students. I have had very good results. Using examples such as these links the subject matter to the students’ life.”
“ I present the course as an essential one to build on. The frontiers of the field are just one step beyond the freshman course. I try to make students feel they are part of the field, and even from the bottom of the pyramid, they can still see the top. I keep them current on new ides, Nobel prizes, etc. It is important to convey a feel for the course as growing and dynamic, leading to new things.”
“ At the beginning of the semester, I have an A+ student from a previous class come in to give a 5–minute talk on what it takes to get an A in the class.”
Classroom Interaction
“I use discussion to make points and to get students involved. I also use short lectures which are usually five to ten minutes. I make a point, then amplify it through the discussion.”
“ I tend to use group work where people can show and discuss their projects and check out what others are doing. I create exercises in the beginning of the course so people can do exercises in groups. I want to simulate professional situations, so students are more careful in their presentations; they dress up for their presentation, an use media more carefully…It is the simulation of a professional situation that makes the class interesting.”
“ At the end of each class, I distribute a handout containing 30–40 multiple choice problems. Problems include some theory and some computations.“
“ At the end of the class, I often give students questions to ponder. These are what I call ‘What if…?’ questions.”
“I try to come up with lessons that get students involved. I don’t lecture very often and I use a lot of different room arrangement and teaching techniques; mini–lecture with media, circle–chair discussion, the fish–bowl approach (students observe and critique each other in the inner circle), videotaping student teaching and critique (a powerful technique), etc.”
“I have the students prepare for the discussion by having them fill out worksheets in advance. This way the students are thinking about the topic for at least the second time when they discuss it in class. Realize that students learn from each other. Hearing a peer discuss a viewpoint contrary to their own has a more powerful impact on students than having the teachers present the same contrary viewpoint.”
Helpful Feedback To Students
“Exams should be returned very quickly, one or two class meetings afterwards. In addition to providing the students with an answer key immediately after they finish writing the exam, I distribute in the form of a handout, exam feedback which reflects the class grade distribution, mean, and letter grade equivalents.”
“ I use exams to develop skills rather than test knowledge. I return tests with a handout containing the best answers that this particular group gave on the tests. It pleases students whose answers are selected, and gives good examples to others. I find that students’ standards increase as a result.”
“ I maintain a file for each student’s work. In that file, I have a cover sheet that lists all the projects for the semester. That file with the cover sheet, moves back and forth between me and the student so the students always know where they stand in relation to the objectives of the class.”
“ I believe in the value of peer criticism so I strive to create an open environment where people are free to say things. At the beginning of the semester, I give a talk on criticism including how to critique and what is good criticism. In criticizing a performance, I start out on a positive note: what is right or effective in the performance? Then, instead of asking what is ‘bad’ in the performance, I ask where this student can improve. As time goes on, I may have the actor start the evaluation of his/her own performance. This works fairly well. The actor usually brings up the main points before someone else does.”
Getting Feedback From Students
“Periodically, I try to stop and audit where the class is. I try to get the students to say when they do not understand something. If no one wants to raise his/her hand or respond with a question, I pose an impromptu exam question. I may say something like“ ‘Suppose I gave you this question, could you all get it right?’ The students respond with ‘Well, no, we couldn’t get that right’ and the discussion begins.”
“I try to find out who my students are by having them fill out a card on the first day with information about them on who they are, what their majors are, what other interests they have. In large classes, I put these cards in a small card file, and when a students comes to my office, I reread his or her card before s/he arrives. In this way I can treat each student as an individual and they appreciate that.”
For more about getting feedback from students, see this article:
