EMU Graduate Assistant Orientation ProgrammeEMU Graduate Assistant Orientation ProgrammeSeptember 30th, 2005September 30th, 2005

Effectiveness in TeachingProf. Dr. Ahmet Konrot Dip Ed, Dip ALPTE, PhD, LCST

EMU Education Faculty, Dept. of Education

Introduction Introduction

I have a difficult task to achieve today…– Lecturing about how to lecture

effectively and present myself as a case…

If you enjoy it, try to do what I have done

If not, then try not to do what I have done today…

How did I prepare for this lecture?How did I prepare for this lecture?

I started by asking several

questions

Question 1Question 1

What were/are my objectives in general?

–To be effective and affective in life….

Question 2Question 2

Who am I ? –How much do I know about myself?

Question 3Question 3Does my audience know

who I am ? How much do they know about me?

– What are my limitations? I can not possibly know about evertyhing!Neither can you!

– What are my strenghts?– Which personality traits can

define me the best?

Question 4Question 4Who are my listeners ? How much do I know about them?

–What are their limitations?–What are their strenghts?–Which personality traits can define them individually the best?

Question 5Question 5

What are my resources?

What are their resources?

Question 6Question 6What are my responsibilities as a professor/teacher?–Recorded (contract, by-laws etc.)

–Unrecorded (social factors, personal choices etc.) …

Question 7Question 7

What am I going to do on stage?–What shall/must I talk about?

Question 8Question 8

What are my objectives for this session?– ‘All sessions’ planner- a routine practitioner

– ‘This session’ planner- a possible routine breaker

Mid-session advice from an old Mid-session advice from an old man…man…

BREAK YOUR ROUTINE

Question 9Question 9

What will be my performance like?

What will be the reaction of the audience?

On stage fright and

reading the minds of the audiencebefore the performance starts !…

Encounters of the Encounters of the first kind !first kind !

Who am I?What am I

doing here?What am I suppose to

do?

Who is this guy?

What is he trying to do?

What am I suppose to

do?

Who are they?

Why are they here?What do

they expect me to do?What if I won’t be able to

staisfy their expectations

?????

The hell with this TA

Orientation Programme!

I’ve got better things

to do!

How long will this torture

last? I’ve got an

appointment with my girl-

friend!

It is certain that I can’t meet the

expectations of the guy who is thinking

about something more interesting! But what can I do

to attract his attention?

And the next stepAnd the next step

P REPARA tION

Searched for general objectivesSearched for relevant materialConstructed a synopsisPrepared a draft presentationReviewed the ppt presentationRehearsed the ppt presentationMade changes and

amendmentsRehearsed again

P RE PARA tION

Prepared an alternative presentation Rehearsed the alternative ppt Compared the presentations Decided on the final draft Rehearsed the final draft Made changes and amendments Decided on the presentation to be used Pleased with the final version and went

to bed for a good night’s sleep at dawn still knowing that it is not the final version yet!

Woke up and came here!

P RE PARA tION

How long did it take to How long did it take to prepare for an hours’ prepare for an hours’ lecture?lecture?

Face value..Seven days & at least 21 hours!

Real value..

34 years

How much will I earn for How much will I earn for this lecture?this lecture?

Face value..NONE

Real value..Experience, academic fulfilment

& professional achievement

My objectives for this sessionMy objectives for this session

To help you understand what I & some other colleagues think about effective teaching.

Explore this topic by focusing on classroom teaching, mainly lecturing, because:– We do it most of the time– We were taught that way– Seems an easy way to teach

BUT is it easy as it seems?BUT is it easy as it seems?Were you happy to be taught that

way?

– I give you three minutes… Go back to

your school / university days and

write down your good and bad

experiences…Try to remember your ‘good’ and ‘bad’

teachers and/or lecturers…Try to recall the subjects you enjoyed and

learned the most and the ones you hated and did not learn as much..

Today, I will be talking about lecturing in teching.

BUT please be aware that I do not intend to give the impression that effective teaching means effective lecturing.

Today, I will be talking about lecturing because,

Lecturing is widely used especially at the university level.

Effective teaching should include other teaching tecniques and means besides lecturing to enhance learning.

BUT today, I shall leave other aspects and focus on lecturing styles only in the hope that we may improve classroom teaching at least in cases where one needs to employ lecturing as a tool to convey information on a given subject or a topic.

OverviewOverview

Pitfalls associated

with lecturing!

Why do we lecture?

Patricia Hayes Andrews, Department of Speech Communication, Indiana University, Bloomington http://www.indiana.edu/~teaching/lectskills.htmlPublished by the University Office for Learning Resources, February 1989

Why do we lecture?Why do we lecture?

Exercising/gaining control of the class

Highlighting major ideas Setting the stage for

forthcoming activities Showing one's own interest and

enthusiasm for the subject Providing a role model of good

public communication skills.

Pitfalls associated with lecturingPitfalls associated with lecturing(Patricia Hayes Andrews, 1989)(Patricia Hayes Andrews, 1989)

Trying to cover too much material Failing to prepare adequately Being perceived as disorganized or

unclear Inadvertently encouraging student

passivity Ignoring student feedback Failing to formulate good examples Displaying distracting or poor delivery

Lecturing- Direct instructionLecturing- Direct instruction

Main advantage

Logarithmic/Geometricly increased– Saves time for the students. Lecturer provides

listeners with concise and organised information which he/she has collated over a long period of time (may be over the years). Students need not have to wait that long and live the same experiences the lecturer had in the past in order to acquire that piece of information.

A. Konrot

BUT BE SURE TO USE IT

selectively, sparingly and cleverly!

Prepare before you start teachingPrepare before you start teaching

Know your objectives

Know yourself

Know your students

Know your campus resourses

Define your responsibilities

When I was just a young TAI asked my mentors how I shall be…Will I be bright will I be dull???Here’s what they said to me:

Don’t you worry much!What ever will be, will be!

The future is yours to see!

You just don’t worry…

What will be, will be!Lyrics by A. Konrot

Words & Music by Jay Livingston & Ray EvansRecorded by Doris Day, 1956

The original lyrics of the song is rather deterministic!

Que sera sera…What ever will be, will be!

The future is not ours to see!Que sera sera …

What will be, will be!

If you prepare ‘adequately’, you may see the future!

What will be, will be!

Of course,

but

I wish you all the bestwith your new venture,

which

I hope to see will be

your career in the future...

Thank you...

Where to Get More InformationWhere to Get More Information

http://www.indiana.edu/~teaching/lectskills.html

IU Teaching Handbook: Section 2 — Teaching

MethodsConsulting services, other sources

www.indiana.edu/~teaching

Handbook For Teaching and Laboratory Assistants, The

Graduate School And The Office of Instructional

Support and Development

www.umass.edu/cft

http://www.uregina.ca/tdc/difficult%20students.htm

OROR

Search for

“TA Handbook”

on a seach engine such as Goooooogggle!