ALLAMA IQBAL OPEN UNIVERSITY,
ISLAMABAD
(Department of Special Education)
Course: General Methods of Teaching (8601) Semester:
Spring, 2022
Level: B.Ed (1.5 Year/ 2.5 Year)
Assignment No. 1
Note: Attempt all questions.
Please avoid reproducing form books, your own analysis and synthesis will be
welcome.
Q. 1 Specify the personal and
professional characteristics of good teachers.
Ans: Knowledge and skills
are taught and learned at school. School is a little community in itself where
teachers and students interact with each other. During this interaction
teachers influence their learner’s behavior and learners influence their
teacher’s behavior. The nature of this interaction is an important factor in
determining the learner's perceptions of school and his/her attitudes toward
school-related persons and activities. This factor involves the relationship
between the personality of the teacher and that of the learner. A teacher’s
personality traits are important as Callahan, (1966) says that the teacher
whose personality helps create and maintain a classroom or learning environment
in which students feel comfortable and in which they are motivated to learn is
said to have a desirable teaching personality. Research says that teachers are
cognitively oriented toward pupils while pupils are affectively oriented toward
teachers. Teacher’s personality is, therefore, directly and indirectly related
to learning and teaching in the affective domain as well as to that in
cognitive and psychomotor domains, (LEW, 1977).
Personal qualities
Elementary school teachers need the following
characteristics:
• strong interpersonal and communication
skills
• a genuine interest in children
and respect for their individuality
• the ability to sense children's individual
needs
• the ability to be creative, imaginative,
patient, energetic, organized and resourceful
• the ability to establish
rapport children and parents
• strong leadership and teamwork
skills and a good sense of humour
• a high level of dedication to
work which often impacts personal lifestyle choices
• a clear, pleasant speaking
voice and the ability to convey confidence
• positive conflict resolution skills and the
ability to handle stress well.
1)
Fairness
Fairness is one
of the characteristics of the students’ favorite teachers. All humans possess
an inbuilt sense of fair play. Whenever a person violates, the other person in
this situation is prone to react negatively.
Any impression of favoritism, or lack of
fairness, leaves scars on the life of persons that lasts forever. The students
report in great detail, the unfair actions of their teachers when they had
negative experience of competition between classmates, even after many years
have passed.
2)
Positive Attitude
Another
characteristic that students’ like most is the positive attitude and approach
of their teachers they use into the classroom. Scholars suggest that effective
teachers are those who use meaningful verbal praise to get and keep students
actively participating in the learning process. The effective teachers are
generally positive minded individuals who believe in the success of their
students as well as their own ability to help student’s achievements.
3)
Preparedness
Competence and
knowledge of the content area being taught is something that our college
students have always mentioned about their favorite teachers. In a research the
students pointed out that in classrooms where teachers were well prepared,
behavior problems were less prevalent.
4)
Personal Touch
Teachers who
are connected personally with their students; call them by name, smile often,
ask about students’ feelings and opinions, and accept students for who they
are. As well as the teachers who tell stories of their own lives events which
relate to subject matter currently being taught, motivate student’s interest
and endorse bonding with the students. Teachers who show interest in their
students have interested students.
Professional Qualities
The teacher’s professional
characteristics are following:
Collaboration The teacher works
with others to achieve a common goal.
i)
Interacts constructively
with peers/colleagues, administrators, supervisors, staff, mentor teachers, and
parents
• Shows
consideration and respect for thoughts and feelings of others
• Demonstrates
effective verbal and non-verbal communication skills
• Demonstrates flexibility with others
• Solicits suggestions and feedback from others
Leadership and Responsibility
The teacher acts independently
and demonstrates accountability, reliability, and sound judgment.
i)
Is aware of and acts
according to school policies and practices
• Has obtained
and read school policy manual
• Adheres to class, school, and district rules and
policies.
ii)
Advises students in formal
and informal settings
• Shows concern for all aspects of a student’s
well-being, is alert to signs of academic and behavioral difficulty, and
responds appropriately
• Actively listens to and advises students, making
referrals as appropriate
Q.2 Define effective teaching.
Discuss the factors contributing towards effective teaching.
THE CONCEPT OF EFFECTIVE TEACHING
It is universally recognized that
the teacher is the key person in an education system and whole system of
education revolves around him/her.
Educational practice and researches are
continuously working in the area of “improvement of learning”. The concept of
effective teaching has emerged out as one of the component that contributes a
large in improving learning. Interaction in classroom is often dominated by the
teacher. According to Ilukena, A. (1998) teachers are the persons who can bring
a difference in educational practices. Quality of their teaching is an
important factor in promoting effective learning in schools.
Effective teaching involves
talking to the learners about their learning and listening to them. St.
Augustine quoted in Fisher, (1992) says I learned not from those who taught me
but from those who talked with me. Being important persons of the teaching and
learning process, the effective teachers must be highly competent in planning
and organizing instruction as well as in managing in classroom environment, if
they want their students to be academically successful (Dilworth, 1991).
Cruickshank, Jenkins & Metcalf (2003) define effective teaching: Most
people would agree that good teachers are caring, supportive, concerned about
the welfare of students, knowledgeable about their subject matter, able to get
along with parents…and genuinely excited about the work that they do….Effective
teachers are able to help students learn (p. 329).
Effective Teaching Measures
Effective teaching involves
effectively managing a classroom, starting each class with a clear objective,
engaging students with questioning strategies, strengthening the lesson at the
end of a period, and diagnosing common student errors and correcting them. MET
project (2010) enlisted the following seven measures:
1 multiple measures of
effectiveness
2 accurate teacher evaluation
3 more meaningful tenure
4 differentiated pay based on
effectiveness
5 strategic placement of teachers
6 more effective teachers
7 better student outcomes
The aims and desired learning
outcomes of effective teaching bring positive changes in the following areas:
i)
Knowledge
§
Discipline/profession-specific knowledge.
§
General knowledge: fundamental concepts that an educated person/university
graduate should have, regardless of area of specialisation.
§
Awareness/familiarity across knowledge domains (i.e. ‘rounded’ education).
ii)
Abilities
§
Ability to identify what information is needed and where to find it.
§
Evaluation of information and discrimination of what is valid and useful from
what is not.
§
Application/adaptation of knowledge to problem solving and making of informed
judgements.
§
Self-directedness in learning and the ability to sustain lifelong learning.
§
Capacity for independent research and knowledge.
iii)
Mindset
§
Questioning habit of mind with readiness to seek evidence/support for
ideas/concepts presented, and to investigate/challenge established and
controversial views including those which are generally taken as ‘knowledge’.
§
Awareness of the complexity and dynamic nature of human knowledge and the need
for evaluation and re-evaluation of knowledge.
§
Enjoyment of learning.
§
Learning as a lifelong habit
The Four Aces of Effective
Teaching
According to Walls (1999) student learning is
better, faster, and/or more long-lasting when teachers play the following four
principles:
1: Outcomes
The outcomes enable students to
focus their attention on clear learning goals. These outcomes inform students
of where they are going and how they will get there. Outcomes also provide the
teacher a framework for designing and delivering the course content. Outcomes
enable teachers to assess student learning as a measure of their own
instructional effectiveness.
2: Clarity
The effective teachers provide
explanations and give details of the course concepts and content. If students
DO NOT LEARN, it means the methods of delivery may lack the required degree of
clarity. So the teacher should make the message clear from alternate
perspectives to alternate senses, the effective instructional practice of the
teacher should afford students the opportunity to make connections between the
new material and the concepts that they have already been learned.
3: Engagement
This principle suggests that students learn by
doing. Teachers must create an educational environment that offers students the
opportunity to practice every concept that they are learning. The effective
teachers use those instructional strategies that engage students throughout the
lesson.
Approaches to teaching
effectiveness
Tharp, and Gallimore, (1991)
viewed teaching effectiveness from three perspectives; the ‘style’ view (how
teachers teach), The ‘outcomes’ approach (student result), and The ‘inquiry’
approach (style and outcomes within a framework).
Q.3 Highlight the steps of
planning "development of instruction".
Planning Backwards Begin with the
end in mind - Steven Covey When planning a course, the best place to start is
at the end. Determine what students might reasonably be expected to achieve
from a course and then plan how material can be organised and delivered to
reach this end. Overarching Goals Overarching goals describe the most important
understandings that students should develop during an entire course. Ask
yourself: When my students leave my class at the end of this course, what are
the essential understandings that I want them to take away? Where possible,
students should have a role in determining the goals of a programme. However,
in instances where goals are determined by an outside body, e.g. stage agency
or funding body, it is important to ensure consultation and collaboration
between all the stakeholders. Learning Outcomes Once the overarching goal is
determined, the next step is to break this into identifiable and manageable
units of achievement, i.e. learning outcomes. Statements of what a learner is
expected to know, understand and/or be able to demonstrate after completion of
a process of learning. Students may ask, what will I learn from this course?
What will I be able to do when the course is over? Sometimes the course
description alone does not provide sufficient detail.
The 5 E's Lesson Planning Model
is most often associated with constructivist learning design. It involves
following 5 E’s:
• Engage - students come across
the material, define their questions, do the basic work for their class work,
make connections between new and known ideas, identify the relevant practices
from their daily life.
• Explore - students directly
involved with material, go through the learning process to solve the problems.
They work in a team to share the knowledge.
• Explain – the student gets an
opportunity to explain the learned concepts such as discoveries, processes, and
ideas by written/ verbal assignments or through creative writing/ projects. The
teacher supplies material, books/ resources, gives feedback, enhances
vocabulary, and clarifies misconceptions/wrong points if any.
• Elaborate – the teachers can enhance
students’ knowledge with the help of other examples and expand their knowledge
by explaining similar concepts, and asking them to apply it to other
situations. The learning of the new concepts also raises questions relating to
other concepts (lead to new inquiry).
• Evaluate – evaluation of learning
is an on-going (continuous) process. Both teacher and learner check the
understanding of the concepts. Different evaluation techniques can be used such
as rubrics, checklists, teacher interviews, portfolios, problem-based learning
outputs, and assessments results. Results are used to evaluate the students’
progress and to modify instructional needs in future.
Q.4 a) Describe difference
between instrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
Different psychological
perspectives explain motivation in four different ways. Let us explore four of
these perspectives; behavioural, humanistic, cognitive and social.
The Behavioural
Perspective According to the
behaviourist view of learning, when children are rewarded with praise and a
gold star for doing their job correctly, they will look forward to the next
mathematics lesson, anticipating another rewards. At some time in the past,
they must have been rewarded for similar achievements and this experience acts
as a motivator for future learning of a similar type.
For behaviourists, motivation is simply a
product of effective contingent reinforcement. So, they emphasize the use of
extrinsic reinforcement to stimulate students’ task engagement. The
reinforcement can take the form of praise, a smile, an early mark or loss of
privileges such as missing out on sport. “Almost all teachers use extrinsic
reinforcement in some form to motivate students, although they may not realize
they are doing so and may not always use such reinforcement effectively.”
(Brody, 1992 in Krause, et. al, 2003) The Humanistic Perspective
The humanist theory of motivation
is interesting because it is not only linked to achievement and education, but
also has implications for students’ welfare and wellbeing through its concern
with basic needs. It stresses on students’ capacity for personal growth,
freedom to choose their destiny and positive qualities. There are two theories
of motivation from humanistic perspective:
(a) Maslow’s Hierarchy of
Needs Maslow (1954) perceived motivation in terms of a hierarchy of needs
that can also conceiveas ‘motives’. According to Maslow’s model, once basic
physiological needs have been satisfied, efforts are directed toward achieving
needs associated with safety, love and belonging, and self-esteem.
b) Roger’s motivation theory
Carl Roger’s ideas are also influential in discussing the nature of
motivation and its impact to human lives. Rogers argued that:
Behaviour was influenced by the
individual’s perception of both personal and environmental factors. People
should listen to their ‘inner voices’ or innate capacity to judge what was good
for themselves, rather than relying on feedback from external sources. The
Cognitive Perspective “According to Santrock (2006) the cognitive perspective
on motivation focuses on students’ thought guide their motivation. It focuses
on students’ internal motivation to achieve, their attribution (perception
about the causes of success or failure) and their beliefs that they can
effectively control their environment. It also stresses on the importance of
goal setting, planning and monitoring progress toward a goal.”
b) Define the term inquiry approach and enlist
the methods that come under the umbrella of this approach.
There is a certain consensus and
also some evidence that inquiry as a pedagogical approach is a motivating,
meaningful and pedagogically rich scenario for the learning. It brings
authenticity to the traditional classroom by involving students in reasoning
and investigative tasks. In addition, inquiry as a teaching and learning
approach is related often with constructivist ideas, thus involving
student-centered learning, students’ active involvement and crucial teacher
guidance. The following are the major advantages of the inquiry approach.
• Be interested and enthusiastic
• Get students talking to each
other and learning from the peers
• Promote the use of accurate
current information resources as students research their learning issues
• Establish a good learning
environment for the group Students develop skills in:
• Critical and creative thinking
• Communication
• Self-directed learning
• Team-work
• Project management
• Problem-solving and
• Students get to know one
another better and make friends
The problem lies with the assessment of
inquiry instruction and major problem with inquiry programs is that valid
acceptable measures of the outcomes of inquiry based learning are hard to find
or difficult to interpret. Inquiry learning is also difficult to quickly access
and analyze through testing. Multiple-choice questions, the preferred mode for
standardized testing, are not readily adapted to measuring the process skills
needed for critical thinking. Structured short-answer questions have the
ability to measure problem-solving abilities as well as knowledge recall, but
are more time consuming to develop and score. Time spent in study outside of
class is a factor of concern to both instructors and students alike, it is too
much time consuming. The scope of the inquiry method is limited in terms of
contents also the effective applications of this approach requires motivated
and mature students. The teachers also need to be well competent in planning,
designing, conducting and monitoring the inquiry based learning.
Q.5 What is an activity?
Discuss the importance of activity method. Name the different types of
activities you would use in English.
It is said that children learn
best when they are allowed to construct a personal understanding based on
experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences. According to
Confucius:
– What I hear, I forget
– What I see, I remember
– What I do, I know
This saying advocates the
activity based learning of the students. Through which schools have to reshape
as activity schools which emphasize the creative aspect of experience. Now a
days it is considered that directed activities focus on reality of learning.
For this purpose all available resources are being used for making the teaching
effective. Activates are meant to provide varied experience to the student to
facilitate the acquisition of knowledge, experience, skills and attitudes.
Through these activities, students are prepared to know well, to do well and to
behave well. Overall this method allows the student working individually or in
small groups and develop real-life problem, simply in this method student’ work
independently and with the division of tasks clearly defined.
What is Activity Method?
Before explaining the activity method, it seems better to answer this question,
what is an activity? Anything which is carried out with a purpose in a social
environment involving physical and mental action. Such activities help in the
establishment of stimulating environment for creative expression.
Types of Activities:
Activities can be of three types:
1. Exploratory – Knowledge
getting
2. Constructive – Experience
getting
3. Expressional – Presentation
Activities will vary according to the age group of the students. At elementary
level of education pupils may involve in different activities such as listening
observing, planning, collecting, talking, singing, dramatizing, experimenting
and constructing. The variety of activities grows as children progress in
elementary programme. This may include, painting, drawing, designing, wood
carving, writing, composing, interviewing, acting, reading, map-making and
graph making, field trips, gardening and camping. It is not always necessary
that activity should only be motor or manipulative. It can also be mental.
Knowledge-getting activities occupy a prominent place. a) Knowledge – Getting
Activities.
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