There are numerous guidelines, but here are six simple guidelines to improve classroom teaching quality and effectiveness:
1. Teachers should have instructional objectives
A teacher should always have instructional objectives for each lesson and chapter. These instructional objectives lead to children’s effective learning. Instructional objectives are statements of observable and measurable actions that students should be able to perform after learning the content.
As an example,
- At the end of this chapter, the student should be able to solve two digit multiplications
- From the given content or skills, students should be able to solve, estimate, evaluate, interpret, and predict
The instructor should be able to measure student learning outcomes by observing or testing students. Teachers can also follow the six stages of Bloom’s taxonomy to learn how to write instructional objectives (Bloom, et al., 1956).
Well-crafted instructional objectives will assist teachers in planning lessons, scheduling assignments, and facilitating classroom activities, resulting in effective learning outcomes for students.
2. Use active learning in class
“A classroom research study showed that immediately after a lecture students recalled 70 percent of the information presented in the first 10 minutes of the lecture and only 20 percent from the last 10 minutes”(McKeachie 1999).
Teachers should plan different activities based on the lesson to keep students attentive throughout the class. For example, in small group exercises, the instructor at some point during a class tells the students to make groups of two or three and complete and solve the given task or problem. Once the students have finished their tasks, the teacher can call them one by one or in small groups to present what they have learnt.
Students can learn analytical, critical, and creative thinking skills through active learning exercises.
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3. Use cooperative learning
Cooperative learning is a type of classroom instruction model. Students in this model collaborate to achieve their learning objectives. This is a 21st-century skill where students work together to achieve their learning objectives.
Cooperative learning in the classroom entails students working together to complete a given learning task; cooperative learning entails planning with clear guidelines and teamwork rules for students with measurable learning goals.
There are numerous advantages to implementing cooperative learning in the classroom. Students who participated in the cooperative learning model were encouraged and assisted in developing and exercising leadership skills, communication skills, conflict resolution skills, social interaction skills, self-confidence, collaborative skills, and decision-making skills.
4. Use of technology in the classroom
In modern teaching, technology plays a significant role in teaching and student learning outcomes. After the pandemic, most teachers used technology in their classrooms. That doesn’t mean it requires high investment. The teacher can use free online resources, digital tools, videos, audio and online games that can be implemented in their classrooms. Young Students are tech savvy and they learn better and faster through integrated technology in the classroom.
5. Involve parents
The best teachers always keep parents involved and informed at all times. One of the best ways to involve parents is with the use of the School ERP system which shares updates on students and their performance with parents. The teachers and school leaders can also use school management apps to recruit parents to be part of the teaching system so that the parent’s involvement in schools and classrooms increase.
6. Assessment and evaluation of teaching quality
Most schools use only student surveys to evaluate teaching quality but meaningful evaluation of teaching must be based on the assessment of learning outcomes. Assessing and evaluating teaching quality should be based on student development, student content knowledge, skills performance, exhibition, project report, learning blogs, journals and so on.
There are a few other simple guidelines for improving teaching quality:
- Make it clear what you expect
- Make eye contact with students and address them by name
- Hands-on activities should be used to supplement lectures
- Recognize students’ accomplishments and respond to their concerns appropriately
- Make links between the course content and its real-world applications