The Effect of Effective Teaching Strategies to Classroom Behavior

 

Introduction

            Education plays a very important role in the learning process of every individual in the society. It is the foundation of understanding and knowledge, and serves as a basis for the success of each individual. In relation to this is the contribution of teachers in the building blocks of education. Teachers, alongside academic institutions are responsible for the effective education. With this, teachers must be equipped with a variety of effective teaching strategies or techniques to encourage many students to listen and become involved in the lessons, for effective teaching serves as the basis for effective learning, contributes to the efficient gathering of knowledge, and develops understanding. This paper aims to discuss the effective teaching strategies and their effects to classroom behavior.

 

Teaching Strategies and Its Effects

            A number of teaching strategies are present to help students take more responsibility for their own learning and enhance the process of teaching for learning. Some of these strategies include lecture, active learning, critical thinking, discussion, cooperative learning, and writing (2006).

Lecture – This method is effective when used with active learning and other teaching strategies. It has many advantages, particularly in large classrooms and can be effective in meeting instructional goals (2006). Its effects to classroom behavior are varied, depending on the response of students to the lecture of the instructor. For this strategy to become effective, the instructor must make sure to use stimulating visual aids, with or without the use of advanced technology. As an effect, many students would become more interested in listening to the discussion and become more participative. Another way is to make the discussion more interactive.

 

Active Learning – It has been reported that it is defined as learning environments that allow students to talk, listen, read, write, and reflect as they approach course content through problem solving exercises, informal small groups, simulations, case studies, role playing, and other activities (2006). As an effect, the students can be more involved with their lessons, for hands on activities are helpful in the retention of lessons in the memory. With the help of small group discussions, the students can also interact with their peers, which foster a good learning environment.

 

Critical Thinking – This skillful, responsible thinking facilitates good judgment because it relies upon criteria, is self-correcting, and is sensitive to context ( 2006). When implemented, the students would develop their focusing skills, information gathering, referencing, organizing, analyzing, integrating and evaluation (2006).  

 

Discussion – It is good to create a non-threatening, interactive learning environment that allows for the free exchange of ideas (2006). An important factor is raising stimulating questions, such as higher cognitive ones (2001). They are defined as those which the student to mentally manipulate bits of information previously learned to create an answer or to support an answer with logically reasoned evidence (2001). Asking cognitive types of questions stimulate the thinking abilities of the students, and make the discussion livelier. The students become exposed and open to new ideas from the instructor and their peers, and even gather information regarding the topic to be discussed. This does not only motivate the students to participate in class, but also fosters a creative and innovative learning experience.

 

Cooperative Learning – This is a systematic pedagogical strategy that encourages small groups of students to work together for the achievement of a common goal, stressing the importance of faculty and student involvement in the learning process (2006). Working together involves differences in many aspects. From these differences, the idea of differentiated instruction applies. Differentiated instruction is an approach to teaching and learning so that students have multiple options for taking in information and making sense of ideas (Hall 1999). With this strategy, the students can be more receptive to ideas, despite their differences with one another, such as their diversity in culture, race, religion, age and gender.

 

Writing – This strategy includes writing across the curriculum, critical thinking, technology and computers, note taking, and personal expression (2006). Through writing, the students can express themselves, express their ideas regarding certain topics and improve their vocabulary and grammar skills. With the use of this technique, the students and the instructor can be open to one another through paper, which is helpful for the institution itself in developing their writing capabilities. This would not only enhance the students, but also give them the chance to display their talents. The effect of writing to classroom behavior is varied, however, through writing, the instructor can assess the skill of his or her students and with this assessment, the instructor can make necessary actions to contribute to their improvement.

 

Conclusion

            Effective teaching strategies are the foundation of effective learning in a classroom environment. However, one teaching strategy is not enough to achieve great learning. In addition, differences in learning must also be taken into consideration to make sure that all of the students get the equal opportunity for obtaining knowledge. (1996) emphasizes that a method appropriate for most students may be ineffective for other students who could learn more easily with a different approach. This makes methods of teaching, ways of representing information, and personality characteristics of teachers affecting learning and affect different learners differently (1996). Learning goes hand in hand with teaching, so strategies are important in the learning process.


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