Effective Teaching Techniques
The most consistently identified teacher effectiveness variable is time on task. That is, the more time that students spend learning specific academic content, the better they will learn it. Distinction is made between allocated time on task (the time that teachers allocate to particular instructional activities) and engaged time on task (the time that students actually spend engaged in instruction). Although no consistent relation has been seen between allocated time on task and academic achievement, research has demonstrated that engaged time on task is positively related to academic achievement.
Strategies for maximizing engaged time on task have been identified and include effectively managing transitions, avoiding digressions and other irrelevant verbalizations, and managing classroom behavior. Sometimes, teachers can improve student-engaged time on task by examining the amount of allocated time for class and monitoring their own teacher behaviors more closely. For example, teachers may find that they start classes 5 minutes late, end classes 5 minutes early, stop during the middle of class to search for relevant instructional materials, and stop to manage inappropriate classroom behaviors. Once such target areas are identified, teachers can design strategies to improve each area that will result in increasing the amount of student-engaged time on task during classes.
Effective teacher presentations have also been identified. Teachers maximize achievement when their presentations contain elements such as structure of lesson, clarity of teacher presentation, redundancy in emphasizing important concepts, and enthusiasm. Structure includes enlisting students’ attention, providing a lesson overview that includes lesson objectives, providing outlines of the lesson and indicating when transitional points occur, and summarizing and reviewing key points as the lesson proceeds. It is important that students be made aware of the structure and objectives of the lesson so that they will know what is to be accomplished and how it will be accomplished. For example, teachers who begin with statements indicating the order of the learning activities (e.g., ‘‘First,we will . . .,’’ ‘‘Second, we will be . . .,’’ ‘‘Finally, we will . . .’’) provide the structure for the lesson for all students. Clarity includes presenting clearly and directly to the point of the lesson, avoiding vague or unfamiliar terminology, and providing concrete understandable examples. All teacher dialogue should be directly pertinent to the objective of the lesson.
Redundancy does not refer to unnecessary repetition; rather, it refers to reemphasis and restating of the key elements of a lesson, particularly significant concepts and rules. Redundancy refers to the provision of multiple opportunities to practice learning newly presented content. Additional practice opportunities can vary in format and length given that the goal is to provide students with many chances to practice learning new information. Many students not only benefit from redundancy but also require redundancy prior to mastering new content. Teacher enthusiasm helps to maintain students’ attention and helps to model a positive attitude toward learning. Components of teacher enthusiasm include appropriate body movements and gestures, animated facial expressions, vocal inflections, positive acceptance of relevant student contributions, and a high overall display of positive energy. Teachers also can increase achievement when they teach at an appropriate rate of presentation and when they maximize active student engagement with instruction or instructional materials. Selecting an appropriate rate of instruction not only is very important but also can be very challenging for teachers during the current era of statewide high-stakes testing. For example, if it is apparent that students have not learned a concept, it becomes necessary to back up and reteach that concept. This may require taking an additional class period or more depending on the students and the knowledge level required. The challenge for teachers is to ensure that all necessary content is covered before the end of the school year.
During teacher presentations, appropriate use of feedback and verbal praise is also associated with higher achievement. For example, praise that acknowledges student effort, specifies what the student did to merit praise, and demonstrates the association between effort and achievement is positively related to student achievement. Another important characteristic of praise is that it be genuine. Following teacher presentation, guided and independent practice activities are associated with longterm learning and academic achievement. Guided practice activities are conducted under teacher supervision until it is certain that students are able to proceed independently. Students undertake independent practice activities when the students have demonstrated acquisition of skills or concepts being taught and need independent practice to further reinforce learning. With both guided and independent practice, instructional tasks and materials must be directly relevant to instructional objectives. Overall, a model of effective instruction for an individual lesson includes daily review, statement of objective, teacher presentation, guided practice, independent practice, and evaluation of learning objectives. Weekly and monthly review activities are also related to long-term learning and retention of important concepts.