How Teaching Learning Process can be Made More Beneficial to Students? Discover Strategies to Make Learning More Interesting!

Abstract

The teaching-learning process, or the education process, has been defined as a systematic, sequential, planned course of action on the part of both the teacher and learner to achieve the outcomes of teaching and learning. Education in values is an issue of great relevance in today's society.

10 Strategies to Enhance Teaching in The Classroom

1. Use Digital Game-based Learning. ...
2. Distinguish Between Students. ...
3. Make Use of Flipped Classroom Model. ...
4. Promote Collaborative Learning. ...
5. Communicate with Coworkers. ...
6. Promote The Experience-based Learning. ...
7. Use Technology in The Classroom. ...
8. Focus on Behaviour Modification.
9. Contact with Parents
10. Make Your Environment Inviting

Keywords

Classroom, Lesson Delivery, Relationship, Modern Tools, Learning, Teacher, Teaching Approaches

Learning Outcomes 

1. 6E+S Model of Instruction

2. Delivery Modes for teaching

3. Teaching Approaches

Introduction 

6E+S Model of Instruction

The 6 E's and S (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate, Extend, and Standards) lesson plan format was developed by teachers in consultation with faculty from schools of education and is based on a constructivist model of teaching. The lesson plans are based on constructivist instructional models with activities and sections of the plan designed to have the students continually add (or construct) new knowledge on top of existing knowledge.

Each of the 6 E's describes a phase of learning, and each phase begins with the letter ‘E’: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate and Extend. The 6 E's allows students and teachers to experience common activities, to use and build on prior knowledge and experience, to construct meaning, and to continually assess their understanding of a concept.

Engage: An ‘engage’ activity should make connections between past and present learning experiences, Anticipate activities and focus students' thinking on the learning outcomes of current activities. Students should become mentally engaged in the concept, process, or skill to be learned. Each lesson plan has an 'essential question' that is the basis for their inquiry. Normally the section will include a few key questions to help direct some of the research in the Explore section.

Explore: Here the student investigates the topic more thoroughly. What is important is that the students are given the opportunity to ‘free wheel’ their way through the materials and not be over directed. They will need some direction and the teacher can circulate, asking important questions, listening to their interactions and ensuring that they remain on task.

Explain: This phase helps students explain the concepts they have been exploring. They have opportunities to verbalise their conceptual understanding or to demonstrate new skills or behaviours. This phase also provides opportunities for teachers to introduce formal terms, definitions, and explanations for concepts, processes, skills, or behaviours.

Elaborate: Here the students are expected to work directly on the given assignment. It is their opportunity to demonstrate their application of new information and to present their findings or conclusions to others. It is a good time for submitting materials for evaluation, doing presentations and completing the project or assignment.

Evaluate: While it is expected that evaluation will continue throughout the process, this is the section where the teacher evaluates the learning that has occurred. Students normally submit their work or assignments at this point. It is very important at this stage that the students be encouraged to engage in self-evaluation, group evaluation and develop their own tools to do so.

Extend: This section contains some suggestions for taking the students beyond the lesson. The purpose is to examine ways in which they can bring their findings to others or apply their understanding to new and unfamiliar circumstances. Normally, this type of activity will grow out of their excitement for what they have accomplished. This section is highly student driven, though teachers may want to gently suggest that the students enter their work in a competition or take their displays to other locations outside of their own school.

Standards: Standards are currently in the process of being integrated, lesson plan by lesson plan. In this section, the lessons are matched with state, provincial and/or national standards. It is primarily for the information of the teacher and should provide the information necessary to incorporate the lesson into the local board, district or school curriculum.

The first two factors that will affect course design are:

Delivery Modes for teaching: 

The formats in which the course is delivered.

Teaching Approaches: The strategies used to deliver instruction and facilitate learning.

Choosing a teaching approach, or a combination of approaches, is directed by one's beliefs about learning. Further, whether you plan to teach online, in person or through another mode, this will influence your teaching approach and affect the experiences you provide to your students. Because these factors impact each other as well as the broad scope of your course, we must first explore these options and their potential tradeoffs.

Delivery Modes

There are several modes or ways that instruction can be delivered. Each provide different opportunities for learning.

Teaching Mode In Person Online Real Time

Face-to-face Y N Y

Online - Synchronous

N Y Y

Online - Asynchronous

N Y N

Hybrid

Y Y (Majority) Y (In Person)

N (Online)

Blended Synchronous

Y Y Y (Simultaneous)

Hybrid Flexible (HyFlex)

Y Y Y (In Person)

Y and N, can choose (Online)

Further examples and explanations 

Considerations

Situational Factors: The context of your teaching situation, as well as the learning situation of your students, will also help identify the appropriate instructional mode. While your instructional mode may be pre-determined, several factors may be within your control. For example, while teaching a face-to-face course, you may build in asynchronous online learning.

Learning Outcomes: The mode of learning can also be differentiated by the complexity of learning outcomes. For example, in a hybrid course, learning outcomes related to understanding new information can be completed by students in an online asynchronous module. During the next in person class session, students could then work in groups to apply these concepts to more complex learning.

Keep in mind possible teaching modes as we next consider how you will teach your students.

Teaching Approaches

There are two main approaches to instruction in higher education: teacher-centered and student-centered. Your approaches will significantly impact your students’ learning experiences as well as their ability to understand new concepts and transfer knowledge.

Teacher-centered Student-centered

Definition

Instructor provides information to student

Student builds understanding with guidance of instructor

Theoretical Support

Behaviorism: Learning consists of inputs (information) delivered to students and outputs (student behavior) such as performances on exams, essays, or presentations Constructivism: Students build understanding using prior knowledge and new experiences

Focus

Singular: Teacher actions and content coverage

Shared: Student action and teacher facilitation

Teacher Role

Deliver information, measure outcomes, reinforce behavior through process and rules

Provide experiences and guide meaning making

Student Role

Passive learning, take in information

Active learning, construct understanding

Method

Direct Instruction:

Modeling

Explanation

Elaboration

Lecturing

Demonstration

Thinking aloud through processes

Recapping or summarizing information

Coaching and Facilitating:

Interactive lectures

Asking questions

Guiding student thinking

Prompting and cueing

Scaffolding learning and information

Thinking collaboratively with students

Incorporating formative assessment

Assessment Role Sort Learners Guide Learners

Choosing an Approach

Teacher-centered and student-centered approaches are neither good nor bad. Their use depends on your learning outcomes and context. For example, modeling a chemistry experiment may be the best way to demonstrate processes in the lab, while in other parts of your course, students use guided practice to complete lab experiments with a partner. Further, both approaches may be evident within a single lesson or module.

Keep the following considerations in mind when you choose an approach:

1. Tradeoffs: The following are pros and cons for each approach:

Teacher-centered Student-centered

Control and order

Coverage ensured

Efficient delivery: one-to-many

Noisy and chaotic

Coverage not ensured

Large numbers difficult

Exhaust attention

Less communication or collaboration

Less opportunity for self-direction and guidance

Engaging and interesting

Communication and collaboration skills

More self-directed learning

2. Learning Outcomes: Always consider your learning outcomes and how students will best achieve these.

3. Meaning Making and Prior Knowledge: Constructivism asserts that while instructors can deliver information, only students can make meaning of it. How difficult this meaning making may be will determines how much guidance, feedback, or support should be provided. This will be determined both by the complexity of the topic and students’ prior knowledge. A student-centered approach will allow you to determine prior knowledge and adjust guidance accordingly.

These considerations will be guided throughout the course design process. For now, remember that there are several approaches to teaching and that their use will depend on various factors. It is best to be open to diverse approaches, exploring their effectiveness in supporting student learning while building your teaching toolkit. As we continue through the course design process, it is important to keep in mind how your delivery mode can influence your teaching approaches and vice versa. Both aspects can create opportunities and limitations within your course and its design.

In-Classroom Suggestions for Teacher Improvement

1. Start small, think big

We know that there is much more material to get through with students than there is time in the day, which often drives teachers to try to cram in as much as possible. Unfortunately, this rarely works, as studies show that students struggle to pay attention and fall off task when instructions lasts longer than 10 minutes.

Therefore, it’s impractical to try and teach a large concept all at once – not only will your students never retain all that information, they’ll stop paying attention just minutes into the lesson. Instead, it is vital that teachers today break down large concepts into smaller, more digestible lessons. Essentially, focus on the granular first and build to large concepts.

One method that helps teachers take big-picture concepts and make them small is the ADEPT method. The ADEPT method breaks your potential lesson into five simple steps:

Analogy – Tell them something it’s like

Diagram – Help them visualize it

Example – Let them experience it

Plain English – Describe it in everyday words

Technical Definition – Discuss the formal, bigger-picture details

Once you have laid the foundation and slowly built up your students’ knowledge base about a concept or subject, you have increased the odds they are absorbing the lesson and will retain it. This not only helps them do well in class, it helps you get through more material and have a more successful semester.

2. Utilize the latest technologies

Technology is inevitably impacting your classroom one way or another, so why not leverage it to improve your teaching skills? Whether it be apps, games or tools, technology can and will change how teachers teach and students learn.

This report also outlines four guiding principles teachers should implement to help them best use technology in education:

#1: Technology — when used appropriately — can be a tool for learning.

#2: Technology should be used to increase access to learning opportunities for all children.

#3: Technology may be used to strengthen relationships among parents, families, early educators and young children.

#4: Technology is more effective for learning when adults and peers interact or co-view with young students.

Technology also helps teachers adapt lessons into a teaching style known as Universal Design for Learning (UDL). The National Center on Universal Design for Learning and education nonprofit CAST recommends implementing various technologies and flexible learning environments to help teachers accommodate and reach more diverse learning styles. One Indiana school implemented UDL using technology and, since implementation, their graduation rates have increased 8% while overall AP class enrollment has also substantially increased.

3. Prioritize student relationships

Depending on your grade level and subject area, you are teaching students of different ages, genders, personalities, learning styles, socioeconomic circumstances and more. Appreciating those differences will pay dividends in the long run and help nurture an environment conducive to learning.

Positive teacher-student relationships are shown to improve academic and social performance for students, according to the American Psychological Association (APA). To help nurture the teacher-student relationship in a safe, appropriate and effective manner while also improving your teaching skills, try these strategies from the APA:

Set clear expectations and rules

Make an effort to get to know and connect with each student

Spend time with them individually

Foster a positive social climate in the classroom

Give meaningful feedback

4. Empower parents to be your ally

Parents are more involved in their children’s education than ever before, so why not use this to your advantage? Parents can be a valuable tool to improve student and teacher successes in the classroom.

Building these relationships starts from the very first day of school. Send home a note or even an email and make it very clear what your expectations are for both student and parent. This can help to nurture an open, honest and trustworthy relationship with parents from the get-go.

Technology is also helping to remove any communication roadblocks – both good and bad – between teachers and parents. With student emails and learning portals, parents can get instantaneous feedback on their child’s performance, and you as a teacher can communicate where and how a parent could support their child’s learning. The parents are a great resource to help reinforce classroom objectives, both content-wise and behaviorally.

Finally, parents can also be involved in the classroom beyond just monitoring their child’s grades and behavior. Many classrooms, usually in the elementary grade levels, have classroom moms, dads and volunteers for special occasions or celebrations. Parents are also an invaluable asset when it comes time to get chaperones for field trips, and if you already have a relationship, getting volunteers is a much smoother process.

5. Ensure your curriculum knowledge

You are a well-educated professional with extensive knowledge of your subject matter, and likely many disciplines beyond that. But just because you know the biggest concepts by heart doesn’t mean you couldn’t use a refresher on your material.

To keep lessons engaging and as current as possible, teachers should employ various tools to ensure that their knowledge of the curriculum is as up to date as possible. Teachers must always make sure their understanding of subject matter is current. Some popular strategies to keep your knowledge levels current include:

Enroll in a continuing education course – Going back to school, whether it’s just for one course or a new certification, will definitely ensure that you have a firm grasp on their material.

Join a professional organization in your subject – There are many wonderful options, but some of the most popular include National Education Association (NEA), Kappa Delta Pi (KDP), Phi Delta Kappa (PDK) and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Refresh your lesson plans – We know you’ve worked hard to craft your lesson plans around the standards already, but just revisiting your work can help remind you of important concepts and talking points. When you put yourself in the student’s shoes for a moment, you can see what works and what needs a little help.

Conclusions

Learning and education are not just about the grades on the mark sheet or the numbers on the attendance table. It is much more than that. It goes beyond the curriculum and the syllabus.

When the teacher and the student share a good bond and the teacher understands the essence of education, the teaching learning process becomes more efficient and effective. We will be looking at the major aspects of the teaching learning process and how, if handled properly, it can improve the effectiveness of the students.

Five Aspects of the Teaching-Learning Process are the following

1. Design

2. Identifying Topics

3. Presentation

4. Assessment

5. Reflection

In conclusion, there are several innovative ideas that you can use to make your teaching methods more effective. By incorporating technology into your lessons and utilizing different teaching styles, you can help to create an engaging learning environment that is enjoyable for both teachers and students. Additionally, hands-on activities, creative writing activities, and multimedia tools into your lessons can help to make the learning process more engaging and can help to ensure that all students are actively involved in the lesson.

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