Need for the improved teaching methodology in the present day scenario

NEED FOR THE IMPROVED TEACHING METHODOLOGY IN THE PRESENT DAY SCENARIO M. Venu Gopala Rao* Babita Jain Associate professor, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering Electrical & Electronics Engineering G. V. P. COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING MADHURAWADA, VISAKHAPATNAM — 530 041 ABSTRACT Nowadays communication and teaching are being used synonymously. Communication includes programmed computer-based learning, the internet and distance education. On the other hand, the objective of teaching is to train and condition the mind so that an individual can function effectively in a contemporary context. Communication can be only one of the teaching aids and not teaching itself. The present paper aims at exploring the inner landscape of a teacher and identifying the wide spectrum of behavioral pattern combination suggested to be implemented consistently over a period of time to produce the synergistic effects necessary for rapport in order to improve the teaching methodology. While doing so the authors strongly felt the necessity to organize the strategic points in a systematic manner to create positive, emotional contexts for enhancing the teaching and learning. They are Value education, Principles of Learning, Student motivation, Objective of Instruction, Instruction planning, Student evaluation, Self-appraisal, Design of achievement tests and importantly character building. Value education teaches harmony, independence and leadership. A person, who succeeds in the right way, is the one who inspires other to succeed. He appreciates others problems too and tells them how to solve them. It should be remembered that today’s students are future generation, start from only where we end. Learning implies managing and using past experiences and acquiring knowledge from new experiences. Factors which have a bearing on learning are motivation, reinforcement, feedback, participation and practice applicability, individual differences perception and sequencing of materials. Motivation, the key for learning, refers to factors which increase/or decrease the vigor of activity. It is the process of arousing action, sustaining activities in progress, regulating and directing pattern of activity. The methods of instruction detailed in this paper would help the teacher to realize that the teacher has to start where the students are actually are; not where the teachers think they ought to be. Student evaluation is a systematic process of determining the extent to which instruction goals are achieved by students. This evaluation is carried out during the lesson that is when the teaching — learning process is on. A teacher prepares a test to determine how well his students have learnt what has been taught and how well they have acquired the abilities he intended them to achieve. To design a test with high validity, a design technique must be evolved to properly sample the abilities and content matter. Finally to cope up with the anticipated scenario by the turn of the century, with specific reference to the likely changes in the economy, social environment, production and management processes, the rapid expansion of knowledge and the great advances in science and technology, the reorganization of Technical Education should induct improved technologies and methodologies. * – Author for the correspondence, e-mail venumoida@yahoo. co. in. Phones 0891 2782 807 (Residence) 0891 2739 311 (Office) 94403 56205 (Cell) FAX (0891) 2739 605 1. INTRODUCTION Excellence lies in understanding one’s limitations and converting them into strengths. This is what Mahatma Gandhi did and it is quite simple. His greatness lay in doing what everybody could but does not. In present day situation of growing number of engineering colleges, the role of a teacher has become complex and task difficult to cope up with enormous cross-sectional changes in the status level of the students. Few decades earlier the situation was different where relatively smaller group with self-motivation only were able to get into the stream of technical education and the teachers responsibilities were cut out greatly. Unfortunately, today’s teacher faces up-hill task of understanding the limitations of the students and converting them into strengths rather than identifying their strengths and further strengthening them. Psychology, which is seldom used as a branch of science in understanding emotional tides of a student and rapport bridge between student and a teacher, is a forgotten art. It is not to establish that psychology is never used in principles of teaching but to establish the fact that there is no framework as such which incorporates psychology as a effective carrier of teaching methodology. The technical institutions are rapidly increasing in number and in turn voluminous increase of the size of the faculty fraternity. At this juncture it is felt that there is a need to organize all strategic points in a systematic manner for effective teaching. 2. 0. STRATEGIC POINTS 2. 1 Value Education: Value education teaches the youth that knowledge and skill are not the only requisite to succeed in life, but a positive attitude and a human way of action. Values teach the youth to laugh at their miseries and be sympathetic towards other’s miseries. Men with values and independent thinking do not succumb to pressures from time and their completions. They take their competitors as a group of which they are good members or good leaders. Men of values and independent thinking do not consider themselves above the competitors. They do not think themselves to be leaders with special gifts. “ According to the social psychologists, leadership is a special phenomenon arising from some people appear to possess more of the characteristics conductive to it than others, leadership occurs in group situations. ” Analyzing the characteristics of students, Understanding curriculum design process, Using techniques to enhance student motivation to learn, Using interactive teaching techniques to promote learning, adopting suitable strategies and tools to evaluate learning, developing desirable attitude towards teaching profession and finally to provide guidance and counseling to students are few of the key actions suggested for promoting improved methodologies in the direction of value education. 2. 2. Rapport-Building measures Since rapport is more of a contextual variable that sets the stage for effective teaching, it has been avoided in favor of other variables, such as methods of teaching, modes of testing and techniques of assessing teaching effectiveness, which can be more readily conceptualized and manipulated. Nonetheless, it is prudent to consider the role of rapport in our work if for no other reason than to explore its possible contributions to effective teaching. As the surveys indicate on (i) the extent to which the students have experienced rapport in their classes, (ii) the things that teachers do to develop rapport with them; and (iii) how rapport affects their academic behavior, the students reported that the most common teacher behaviors contributing to the development of rapport were, in the order: showing a sense of humor, availability before, after, or outside the class; encouraging class discussion; showing interest in them; knowing students names; sharing personal insights and experiences with the class; relating course material in everyday terms and examples; and understanding that students occasionally have problems that hinder their progress in their courses. Finally, the students also told that the most common positive effects of rapport on their academic behavior were, in order: to increase their enjoyment of the teacher and subject matter; to motivate them to come to class more often, and to pay more attention in class. Thus, rapport seems to facilitate both student motivation for learning and their enjoyment of the course, and enhances student receptivity to what is being taught. It is suggested that teachers must minimize the extent to which students experience negative emotions, such as anxiety and anger, and must attempt to create positive emotions in students such as self-efficacy and positive self-worth. This approach will help students feel that their teacher cares about them, encourage them to become motivated to do their best work and think of their teacher in highly positive ways. The positive effects of rapport do not stop with students-they affect teachers as well. “ Most college teachers enjoy classes more when they have good personal relationships with their students, and this satisfaction has a beneficial effect on the quality of their instruction” Calling students by name, knowing something about your student’s interests, hobbies and aspirations, creating and using personally relevant class examples, chatting with the students, explaining the course policies, getting on line-using e-mail to increase accessibility to our students, interacting more, lecturing less and emphasizing active learning, rewarding student comments an questions with verbal praise, being enthusiastic about teaching and passionate about our subject matter, lightening them up by cracking a joke now and then are few of the key actions suggested to develop good rapport with the students. 2. 3 Motivation strategies “ The mediocre teacher tells, the good teacher explains, the superior demonstrates and the great teacher inspires”. As we deal with considerably big group, identifying the bench mark student as the target student is a complex situation and no expert system or optimization technique comes to our rescue. Moreover, average class status concept fails to deliver the goods either for ‘ very good student’ or for ‘ very bad student’. Nevertheless an attempt has been made to summarize few of the strategies to cater to the needs in general. Encouraging students to set personal goal, helping students explore “ what they want to become”, being a role model and mentor to your students, discussing employment prospects to eradicate insecurity feeling, creating friendly environment in the class room, discussing future scope of the subject in professional careers, improving teacher-student relationship, clarifying objective of the lesson, giving appropriate feedback and reward, conducting seminar for the students by the students, acknowledging the contribution and participation of student, clarifying doubts raised by students, delivering instructions to suit the level of students, using audio-visual aids including multi-media, allowing students for group discussion, asking questions to encourage student participation, relating personal experience in teaching learning process, organizing industrial visits/educational visits, making them participate co-curricular activities, developing positive expectancies, organizing individual counseling and group counseling sessions are suggested key actions to motivate the students. 2. 4 Methods of teaching The responsibility of a teacher is to help, guide and assist the students for learning. In order to discharge this role effectively teachers may use appropriate instructional techniques, understand the students needs, provide support and encouragement. Teaching is not mere telling; it is that which promotes learning and which guides, corrects, reinforces and evaluates learning. Willing to be flexible, capable of perceiving learning situation from learner’s point of view, ability to personalize teaching, willing to experiment and try out new and innovative approaches, possessing competence in the skill of questioning and willing to provide guidance to students are a few of the qualities expected of a teacher. One of the oldest, common methods of instruction is the lecture. The lecture relies for its effect upon voice and illustration, hence particular attention is to be given to the power and quality of delivery and use of visual aids such as diagrams, filmstrips, photographs and equipment. The demonstration technique is a means of presenting material, visually and audibly to a selected group of people. A learner is much more impressed by “ Seeing” than by “ Hearing”, but if these two are interestingly combined the presentation makes a more lasting impression, and creates a desire to know further. Demonstration focuses attention and dramatizes important basic steps and procedures. They may be needed as convenient, effective means of explaining, telling or providing information about a process a procedure, an event a person or a thing. This may be intended to produce an emotionalized feeling or attitude response of wanting to know more about. Besides using this method in classroom situation, field trips may also be arranged where this method can be easily employed. A discussion indicates an exchange of ideas accompanied by active learning with all members participating in it. Discussion is an element common to many of the instructional methods. Much of its success depends on the leader who initiates, guides and controls the discussion. A leader skilled in the art of conducting discussion session is distinguished if he has the enough material to evoke good discussion and not trying to dominate or impress, raises questions but obtains answers through the group and having objectives to enable him to exercise guidance. Brain storming technique consists of free discussion of a problem by small groups (Buzz groups) with the objective of generating original ideas and novel solutions. In each group a leader-less situation exists, and the full dynamic of the unstructured conference situation comes into play. The brain storming exercise is divided into three stages: ‘ ideas generation’, ‘ ideas organization’ and ‘ ideas evaluation’. When the technique is used for real problem solving, the discussion would proceed to a final stage of ‘ solution selection and formulation’. Apart from the principal use for exploring,, analyzing and solving real problems, the brain storming technique has several other positive benefits: the promotion of initiative, the breakdown of traditional linear patterns of thought, the development of lateral thinking approaches to problems, the development of group cooperation in problem solving and the mastery of a general purpose technique for the generation of creative ideas. The different group instructional methods meet the varying instructional needs. It should be remembered that the instruction can be given to a group, but only individuals learn. It is better to use those methods which encourage student’s participation. However because of time consideration or group size; it is not always possible to use a participative technique. In fact there are no bad methods of instruction. Selecting the appropriate method and preparing for its use are paramount in successful instruction. A good instructional plan is imperative for effective teaching. Successful teachers are invariably good planners. There is no such thing as the best format of lesson plan. There are different ways in which a lesson plan may be prepared. The best format is the one that works. There is no universally acceptable list of components for a lesson plan. The components to be included must be such that they help the teacher to systematize instruction and provide a basis for assessing learning. A lecture lesson must have these four components namely introduction, development, consolidation and follow up. 2. 5 Design of tests. Designing a test and evaluating is a key process which gives directly the index of our adherence and confirmation to the objective. In these two phases phase one requires the teacher to prepare a test to determine how well his students have learnt what has been taught and how well they have acquired into abilities he intended them to achieve. The test designed must be valid and reliable. To ensure high reliability, the test must contain both objective items and structured essay questions. To design a test with high validity, a design technique must be evolved to properly sample the abilities and content matter. Weightages of the content can be determined by knowing to what extent is that topic necessary for understanding other topics of this subject, how far the student make use of this material in his day-to-day life and in his job, how much time the teacher devoted to this topic during the class and does this topic help in understanding various areas in other subjects of this course. 3. CONCLUSIONS At attempt has been made to throw light upon various concepts of teaching methodologies with an objective of refreshing and consolidating known facts of teaching. The list is exhaustive but not complete. To conclude, the proposed methodology ought to be more scientific to reach out to every teacher alike ( by reducing/eliminating invariably inherent art in teaching). Scientific evolving of teaching methodology does not mean that one has to shed away the very art in it. The blend of these two aspects would help us in meeting the growing challenges. 4. REFERENCES 1. Brookfield, S. D. (1990). The skillful teacher. San Franciso: Jossey-Bass 2. Gaston, L(1990)The concept of alliance and its role in psychotherapy: Theoretical and empirical considerations, Psychotherapy 3. Lowman, J.(1995)Mastering the techniques of teaching (2nd ed.) San Francisco: Jossey-Bass 4. Palmer, P. J. (1998) The courage to teach: Excploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s life. San Franciso: Jossey-Bass 5. Perlman, B., McCann, L. I., and McFadden, S. H. (Eds) (1999) Lessons learned: Practical advice for the teaching of psychology. Washington, DC: The American Psychological Society 6. 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