Faculty
members at LCOOCC need to direct their teaching processes and programs with the
statement of the college’s mission and purpose continually as vital aspect of
the course presentation. Some of
the most obvious considerations must include the following:
What do the students need to know?
Why do they need this information?
How
does the instructor know that the students have learned what they need to know?
How
do we evaluate the effectiveness of the presentation of the subject matter to
the students?
First
of all, do not assume that there is one hard and fast, well-researched, totally
dependable answer to these questions of evaluation of teaching.
Methods are varied, and indeed, so are results.
Do not underestimate the power of personality in the teaching and
learning processes. Your ability and desire to relate to your student positively
is as important as having your student relate to you positively.
The major factor separating you from your students is the obvious power
that resides in the final grade for the course.
At the outset of the teaching process the instructor must get the
attention of the student. In every
teaching situation there must be a clearly defined focus on the basic concepts
of the learning that is expected of the student.
The syllabus must be clear in its stated purposes.
It must be specific in order of presentation of subject matter.
It needs to contain sufficient flexibility to allow recap of information
when it becomes obvious that some of the students are not grasping the important
issues essential to the learning process.
Every student must know what each lesson is about.
It is the obligation of the instructor to be sure that each student,
daily, is in touch with the material that is being presented.
Also, the instructor needs to build on the previous material and
constantly be pulling all aspects of the subject together into an understandable
whole. If a student gets mentally
lost in the verbiage of presentation and is unable to relate one day’s lesson
to another, there will be no effective learning-taking place.
In the development of a teaching situation students expect to receive new
material, but they also expect to be able to relate the new material to that
which they have already covered. Every
teaching/learning experience should be directly related to the student as the
development of new skills or acquisition of new knowledge.
It is the responsibility of the instructor to know whether or not the
students have learned that which they are supposed to have learned.
If the evaluation procedure being implemented by the instructor does not
clearly indicate the learning effectiveness of the student in relation to a
particular course the instructor must utilize testing procedures that will give
an accurate indication of learning. If,
in the preliminary teaching process, it is apparent that the students are not
learning, TEACH THEM AGAIN!
An
important consideration in the matter and manner of teaching is the fact of the
various learning styles of your students. It
has been adequately researched that there are at least three different styles of
learning that the average instructor can expect in most classes, they are:
1.
auditory learners, those who learn by listening
2.
visual learners, those who most easily learn with visual concepts
3.
kinesthetic learners, those who learn by use of the hands on technique
The
major difficulty in evaluation processes is that knowledge is expanding so
rapidly. Differing
institutions emphasize so many different major areas of study that the
amalgamation process necessary in college classes often puts great stress on the
instructor who may be trying to keep the students moving through subject matter
at a predetermined speed. The
instructor has the responsibility of teaching each student enrolled in a class
in the manner and at a pace of presentation that allows the student to be able
to follow and function in the learning situation.
If
any assessment program is to be successful it must be made clear what the
purposes are. Likewise to make an
assessment of learning there first must be a determination of what it is that is
to be learned. The purpose for
teaching the subject matter must be clearly defined and a process for evaluating
the effectiveness of the learning process must also be in place.
A pre-test/post-test program can be used if it is not contaminated by
preset conditions.