NUTSHELL NOTES "Teaching tips in a nutshell" - The University of Colorado at Denver's One-page Newsletter for Teaching Excellence

This study comes from our northern neighbors at the Department of Psychology of the University of Western Ontario, Canada. The relationships between the practices of 124 professors and overall teaching effectiveness, as perceived by students, formed the basis for the table presented here.

In the table below, correlation coefficients larger than 0.3 are significant at the 95% confidence level. Although students of humanities, social science and science have different priorities, conclusions about useful practice are generally applicable across disciplines. It is important to establish rapport with students in any field, and developing clear communication skills should be a priority for teaching of any discipline.

In the sciences, important communication skills include clear speech, a friendly, interesting Correlations between certain classroom behaviors and overall teaching effectiveness (after Erdle, S., and Murray, H. G., 1986, Interfaculty differences in classroom teaching behaviors and their relationship to student instructional ratings: Research in Higher Educ., v. 24, n. 2, pp. 115 - 127.) presentation style (expressiveness), providing examples to explain concepts and principles (emphasis), and making good use of class time to stay on track and cover reasonable amounts of material without digressing (pacing).

Abstract concepts in the humanities can appear especially elusive to students, thus strong communication skills are essential. Conveying the logic behind the structure (organization) of abstract material, using analogies and examples (emphasis), and establishing interest through relating subject matter to current issues and/or tackling of controversial issues in class are all good practices.

Correlations between certain classroom behaviors and overall teching effectiveness (after Erdle, S., and Murray, H. G., 1986, Interfaculty differences in classroom teaching behaviors and their relationship to student instructional ratings: Research in Higer Educ., v. 24, n.2, pp. 115-127.)

Social scientists will most likely get positive responses from students by establishing interest (in ways just discussed), and by strengthening communication practices that promote involving students in active discussions. Clearly conveyed organization, which includes a preliminary overview of the lecture at the start of class, and deliberate preperation of students for what to expect on tests (disclosure) appear to be helpful practices to the successful teaching of social sciences.

The research shows that students don't assign great importance to audiovisual media use, and that specialty jargon (vocabulary) should be used sparingly in lectures. Annoying mannerisms such as "ums" and "uhs" harm lectures but can be caught in videotape analysis, and eliminated through practice.