Ten
Principles of Effective Teaching and Practical Examples
for the Classroom and Blackboard |
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Abstract
Bradley University has several immediate goals to improve
the university, the first of which is to improve academic
programs. Blackboard course management software is primarily
used to supplement traditional classroom teaching at Bradley
University. The actual use by individual faculty members varies
widely. The majority of students would like to see Blackboard
used more and used better, based on results of five years
of surveying students about Blackboard. Research was conducted
to identify effective teaching principles and how faculty
can effectively teach in the classroom and with the aid of
Blackboard. The purpose of this document is to outline effective
teaching principles, effective teaching practices, and examples
of how effective teaching can utilize Blackboard to supplement
traditional teaching. Ten principles of effective teaching
are covered with examples of how these principles can be applied
in the classroom, whether Blackboard is used or not. Further,
each principle includes examples of how Blackboard can be
used to enhance the teaching and learning process. The appendix
includes a quick reference chart of all the Blackboard examples.
Introduction
The Blackboard course management system has a significant
adoption rate on Bradley University's campus. Currently about
80% of courses use Blackboard to some degree. This course
management system is primarily used by the faculty to supplement
face-to-face teaching, however actual use by individual faculty
members varies widely. Some faculty members primarily use
Blackboard to post a syllabus. Others may use it to send email
to the class. While others post quizzes, grades, lectures,
and discussion boards. Approximately two-percent of the courses
at Bradley are offered in an exclusively online format. In
each of the past five years of surveying the student body,
students have indicated they would like to see Blackboard
used more, and used more effectively and consistently by the
faculty at Bradley. Couple the student responses with Bradley
University's "Five Immediate Goals for 2004-2005"
as outlined on the university web site and announced by University
President Dr. David Broski at the Bradley University Conference
2003 on improving Bradley. The number one goal of Bradley
University is to strengthen academics. In order to achieve
this goal, Broski (2004) challenged all to “identify
opportunities to improve Bradley’s undergraduate and
graduate programs.” One way to achieve this goal is
by helping faculty effectively teach in the classroom and
with the aid of Blackboard. This will in turn help students
improve their academic achievement.
From the research, some universities have model courses and
best practices for entirely online courses, however, there
are no models or best practices for courses that meet traditionally
and use Blackboard to supplement classroom teaching. The purpose
of this document is to outline effective teaching principles
for both inside and outside of the classroom and to expose
faculty members to a variety of ways to effectively teach
with Blackboard to enhance traditional classroom learning.
An interdisciplinary Bradley University faculty committee
and staff from the Instructional Technology Assistance Center
convened to research and examine effective teaching principles.
From its research, this team produced recommendations to help
other faculty at Bradley effectively teach with the aid of
Blackboard. The team met bi-weekly for the 2004-2005 academic
year researching published works on the subject of effective
teaching techniques and examining personal teaching experience.
With that, the team developed ten teaching principles they
believed best matched the goals of Bradley University. Specific
teaching methods utilizing Blackboard were then created to
support the teaching principles.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to identify best practices for
using Blackboard in teaching and learning. The goal of the
research was to develop recommendations for effective teaching
using Blackboard as a course supplement. The ultimate goal
was to increase student achievement and mastery of course
material.
Methodology
A combination of two methods was used in this study - limited
literature review and qualitative evaluation of teaching methods.
A committee comprised of faculty from various academic disciplines,
faculty from the Office of Teaching Excellence and Faculty
Development, and staff from the Instructional Technology Assistance
Center worked as a collaborative research team to create recommendations
on the effective use of Blackboard in teaching. The Office
of Teaching Excellence and Faculty Development recommended
nine articles on best teaching practices for the committee
to examine. The Instructional Technology Assistance Center
provided literature on recommendations for the exemplary use
of a course management system for online teaching. No known
documents were available at the start of the research regarding
the effective use of a course management system in support
of traditional classroom teaching. Principles were culled
from the research and tried in the classroom. The experience
of the teaching faculty in applying the various principles
led to the recommendation of the ten principles.
Review of Literature
The two largest competitors in the course management system
market, Blackboard ("Quality on the Line" was partially
sponsored by Blackboard) and WebCT, both created benchmarks
or standards for the design of effective online teaching.
Regardless of which course management system is used, courses
that are taught exclusively online have greater need to be
more comprehensive than a courses supplemented by Blackboard.
The purpose of this research was to promote good teaching,
whether it be face-to-face or online regardless of whether
Blackboard was used or not. Literature that discussed good
teaching was examined. Bruner (1987) and Bloom (1994) provided
insights into the learning process. McKeachie (1978) and Chickering
and Gamson (1987) provided a good background of best practices
in college teaching, while Chickering and Ehrmann (1996) applied
the practices to technology. Cross and Angelo (1993) Classroom
Assessment Techniques contained many tried-and-true practices
the faculty team members have been using successfully for
many years. Drummond (2002) provided several best practices
in teaching. Lubawy (2003) provided a very broad view of developing
best practices as well as several specific examples to apply
to teaching. Rolheiser and Fullan (2002) validated a few best
practices the Bradley research team was finding. Gardiner
(1998) gave a broad picture of the higher education process,
the shortcomings of student achievement outcomes, and what
research indicates should be done to help students achieve.
Angelo (1993) outlined several principles of effective teaching.
Findings
Based on the literature and the experience of the teaching
faculty, ten principles of effective teaching were recommended:
1) create an active learning environment, 2) focus attention,
3) connect knowledge, 4) help students organize their knowledge,
5) provide timely feedback, 6) demand quality, 7) balance
high expectations with student support, 8) enhance motivation
to learn, 9) communicate your message in a variety of ways,
and 10) help students to productively manage their time.
For example, an instructor can post problems or homework online
(create an active learning environment) to be submitted prior
to a traditional or online class session (help students manage
their time). The answers can be derived from reading course
materials and studying narrated PowerPoint slides (focus attention
and connect knowledge). During a virtual classroom session
an instructor can call on various students to give their answers(enhance
motivation to learn). Immediate feedback (provide timely feedback
and faculty-student interaction) can be given. If correction
is needed, a private message asking "are you in need
of additional help" can be sent to the student (balance
high expectations with necessary support). The instructor
could ask the student to explain how the answer was derived
(connect knowledge). Further the instructor could pose to
all "why is the information relevant" (help students
organize their knowledge).
The following links describe in detail each teaching principle
with examples of how the principle is applied in the classroom
and with Blackboard.
1. Create An Active
Learning Environment
2. Focus Attention
3. Connect Knowledge
4. Help Students Organize
Their Knowledge
5. Provide Timely Feedback
6. Demand Quality
7. Balance
High Expectations With Student Support
8. Enhance Motivation
to Learn
9. Encourage Faculty-student
& Student-student Interaction & Communication
10. Help
Students Productively Manage Their Time
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