1. Research on Effective Teaching
Jim Flowers
Department of Agricultural and Extension Education
North Carolina State University

2. Effective Teachers Over 1,200 studies on effective teaching
Five variables have been identified

3. Effective Teaching
Measurement of Effective Teachers: How much do students learn.
Studies have shown that teachers make a difference: good teachers can increase student learning and poor teachers can have a residual effect on overall student development.
Students can recover from the effects of a poor teacher, but their progress is slow

4. Being an Effective Teacher
Most Important Characteristics
Enthusiasm
Organized
Clarity
Business-like
Interaction

5. Enthusiasm Speaks expressively or emphatically
Moves about while speaking
Gestures with hands and arms
Shows facial expression
Uses humor
Reads verbatim from notes (negative!!!!)

6. Clarity Uses concrete examples of concepts Gives multiple examples
Use stories to illustrate a point.
May involve “drawing a picture”
Points out practical application
Stresses important points
Repeats difficult ideas

7. Organized Uses headings and subheadings Makes notetaking easy
Gives preliminary overview of presentation
Signals transition to new topic
Explains how each topic fits into the lesson or how a topic relates to previous instruction
Topics have logical order

8. Interaction Addresses members of class by name
Encourages questions & comments
Asks questions of students in class
Encourages students to express opinions or ideas
Use student experiences as examples

9. Business like Begins on time Proceeds at rapid rate
Stays on the topic – does not get distracted or sidetracked.
States objectives
Makes transitions quickly and easily
Essentially, this is tied to effective use of learning time.

10. Other Characteristics That May Contribute
Variability
Use of different teaching techniques (small groups, role play, brainstorm, etc.)
Appropriate Feedback
Quick feedback
Descriptive, explain what is good or not good
Use of Probing Questions
Ask for explanations from students
Ask the Why? Question – even when their answers are correct!

11. Summary
Most of this information should not be surprising. The research confirms what many have believed about good teaching for a long time.
But this also shows that some things are not as important as we may have thought.
Example: Teacher warmth is not related to student achievement
If we want to improve, the 5 major characteristics may be a good place to start.