Research on Effective Teaching Practices
Much research has been conducted in the last 30 years about effective teaching practices. Below is a curated list of readings and peer reviewed articles about different teaching practices that are supported by the New School’s Guide to Teaching and Learning.
Methodologies
Think-Pair-Share method is a teaching technique where students are posed a question, given ‘think time’, are encouraged to write their thoughts, partner with another student to solve the problem or discuss the issue, and then share their ideas with the rest of the class. Think-Pair-Share has a significant impact on student reading comprehension, and is thus effective. Learn more from Eucharia Okwudilichuwku Ugwu’s paper, “Effect of Student Teams-Achievement Divisions and Think-Pair-Share on Students’ Interest in Reading Comprehension” in the Journal of Educational Research and Practice.
In the Sage and Scribe methodology, one student is the sage (teacher) and the other takes notes by hand to encourage deep listening. Having to teach something to someone else is a great way to reinforce learning, and rework lines of responsibility within and around classrooms such that student agency is cultivated.More on this in Storey et. al.’s paper, “Cultivating Student Agency and Responsibility Through Peer-to-Peer Teaching”, from the International Journal for Students as Partners.
Problem Based Learning is focused at the outset on giving students a complex multi-nodal problem to address, rather than introducing content. Learn more in Understanding by Design, Expanded 2nd Edition – ASCD, which addresses the rationale behind backwards design and offers teacher-designers a clear path to the creation of curriculum that ensures better learning and a more stimulating experience for students and teachers alike.
Students can be taught how to read, at any stage in life. Most don’t do it effectively! In Teach Students How to Learn, simple and straightforward strategies are shared that enable faculty to facilitate dramatic improvements in student learning and success.
Scholarly Resources
- Contemplative Practices in Higher Education is a book all about how students can integrate their own experience into the theoretical concepts they are learning in class.
- Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses is another great resource for designing course content.
- Designing for How People Learn offers principles of learning, memory, and attention to utilize when creating teaching materials.
- How Humans Learn: The Science and Stories Behind Effective College Teaching surveys research in fields as diverse as developmental psychology, anthropology, and cognitive neuroscience for insight into the science behind learning.
- In the book, How People Learn, theory and insight can be translated into actions and practice, making a real connection between classroom activities, and learning behavior.
- Metacognition: The Neglected Skill Set for Empowering Students is a book that offers metacognition exercises that can be applied in the classroom.
- The book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success delves deep into the positive impact that a growth mindset has upon performance.
- The Problem of Assessment in Art and Design examines the subjectivity of evaluating creative work.
- The Science of Learning is a book that summarizes existing cognitive science research on how students learn, and connects it to practical implications for teaching.
- Understanding by Design is a book that provides a framework for designing courses and content called “backwards design”.
For more discipline specific research, visit this page.