Documentation:CTLT Resources/Selected TL Topics Effective Teaching Principles and Practices
Effective Teaching Principles and Practices
The University of British Columbia is committed to maintaining the highest standards of teaching…. (Trek 2000, p. 6)
The current Agreement on Conditions of Appointment for Faculty (Section 4.01) states:
Candidates for appointment, reappointment, tenure or promotion…are judged principally on performance in both teaching and in scholarly activity.
One crucial step in attaining “the highest standards of teaching” is the placement of a high value on the teaching role, including in the tenure and promotion process, or in rewarding teaching through salary increments and prizes. To value teaching appropriately we require a clear set of principles and practices with which to guide the assessment of teaching activities.
The Senate ad hoc Committee on Teaching Quality, Effectiveness and Evaluation (1998/99) has developed just such a set of principles and examples of practice. They are generic in nature, and can be modified to suit specific disciplinary approaches to teaching and learning. Examples of each practice can be defined on a departmental basis. For example, those teaching in co-op programs will immediately be able to provide examples for the practice that “helps students relate their learning experience to the world outside the classroom” (Principle 5, Practice [b]).
The following seven principles for effective teaching, taken together with the exemplary practices, reflect many aspects of “the highest standards of [classroom] teaching” at UBC. Those standards are seen within the context of a university education, which is to enable students to learn and to apply knowledge, skills and perspectives in the larger community.
They are designed with classroom teaching in mind, and can serve as a model for departments and faculties wishing to design parallel sets of principles and practices for broader aspects of instruction. This can include: designing courses and curriculum, advising and mentoring undergraduate students, and supervising graduate students.
Principle 1: Sets Clear Goals and Intellectual Challenges for Student Learning
Exemplary practices:
- demonstrates and shares a clear vision of intellectual goals and learning outcomes for the class
- identifies key concepts or ideas in the field and helps students to understand and apply them
- integrates current research and conceptual approaches into learning activities
- identifies key steps in achieving learning goals
- actively helps students to accomplish goals and meet challenges as defined in the course outline
- sets high, yet reasonable, expectations of students’ learning
Principle 2: Employs Appropriate Teaching Methods and Strategies that Actively Involve Learners
Exemplary practices:
- shows awareness in teaching activities, that learning is a process which transforms and changes learners
- encourages appropriate student participation and organizes effective learning experiences to meet intellectual goals and learning outcomes, both in the classroom and (as possible) beyond
- evaluates and assesses learning in a manner consistent with established goals and learning outcomes
- integrates appropriate teaching methods and technologies, tailored to course goals and learning outcomes, and facilitates student participation
- encourages and assists students to participate in self-directed learning activities
Principle 3: Communicates and Interacts Effectively with Students
Exemplary practices:
- expresses goals, intended outcomes, and expectations clearly and effectively and discusses these with students
- balances collaborative and individual student learning to reflect the course aims and outcomes
- attends to classroom dynamics that enhance or inhibit learning
- engenders enthusiasm and interest in subject matter
- uses fair and reasonable methods of evaluating learning
Principle 4: Attends to Intellectual Growth of Students
Exemplary practices:
- provides, and discusses with students, explicit criteria for assessing learning
- acquires regular and varied feedback on students’ intellectual accomplishments
- reviews students’ progress in achieving intellectual goals and learning outcomes
- provides advanced learning opportunities for those students who seek them
Principle 5: Respects Diverse Talents and Learning Styles of Students
Exemplary practices:
- promotes a stimulating learning environment
- recognizes and accommodates different learning styles
- demonstrates sensitivity to intellectual and cultural issues
Principle 6: Incorporates Learning Beyond the Classroom
Exemplary practices:
- encourages appropriate student-faculty interaction
- helps students connect their learning experience to the world outside the classroom (both within and outside of the University)
- helps students to apply their learning in a variety of ways
Principle 7: Reflects On, Monitors and Improves Teaching Practices
Exemplary practices:
- seeks regular student feedback on teaching effectiveness
- reflects on teaching practice through creation of a teaching dossier or other self-reflection activity
- seeks peer feedback to enhance teaching
- regularly revises and updates course content, format, teaching strategies, and assignments
- takes advantage of opportunities to enhance teaching by attending professional development activities
Taken together, intellectual goals and learning outcomes encompass, for our purposes, specific and concrete statements about what students can apply or use as a consequence of participating in a course. These goals and outcomes range from complex goals of understanding to specific abilities in using or applying knowledge.