Teaching Methods

Internet Sites:

• Teaching FAQs
Many teachers find themselves seeking advice when they want to make changes to improve their classes. The Teaching Effectiveness Program at the University of Oregon has compiled a list of the questions these teachers frequently ask.
http://tep.uoregon.edu/resources/faqs/index.html

• The Eye of the Storm: Promising Practices for Improving Instruction
“Eye of the Storm includes research on why teaching matters, professional development, lesson study, the use of student work, and how assessment practices can change teaching practices. It also provides useful profiles of the teaching practices.” This report is available as a pdf document.
http://www.c-b-e.org/PDF/EyeoftheStorm.pdf

• What Happens in Classrooms? Instructional Practices in Elementary and Secondary Schools, 1994-95
This report presents data on how teachers in the classroom teach students. Teachers’ practices in four areas of instruction are covered here: the roles that teachers and students play in learning activities, the materials and technology used in the classroom, the kind of learning tasks that students do both in the classroom and at home, and how teachers assess and evaluate student learning. Published by NCES. The full report is available as a pdf document.
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=1999348

• Five Standards for Effective Pedagogy
These standards were established through Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence research and through an extensive analysis of the research and development literature in education and diversity.
http://www.crede.ucsc.edu/tools/research/standards/standards.html

• What Works in Classroom Instruction
“The purpose of this publication is to provide educators with instructional strategies that research shows have the greatest likelihood of positively affecting student learning.” The full report is available as a pdf document.
http://www.mcrel.org/topics/productDetail.asp?productID=110

• NEA Works4Me Tips Library
A forum for classroom teachers to offer advice and ideas to their peers. Contains the following areas: Teaching Techniques, Content, Getting Organized, Managing your Classroom, Relationships, and Using Technology.
http://www.nea.org/helpfrom/growing/works4me/library.html

• A Berkeley Compendium of Suggestions for Teaching with  Excellence
Presented as a series of suggestions for improving teaching, this compendium describes more than 200 teaching techniques that faculty members have found to be effective in their courses at the University of California, Berkeley. Taken together, these suggestions cover the major aspects of college and university teaching from planning and preparing courses to presenting material and motivating students to giving and getting feedback on learning.
http://teaching.berkeley.edu/compendium/

• Tools for Teaching
A compendium of classroom-tested strategies and suggestions designed to improve the teaching practices of all college instructors, including beginning, mid-career, and senior faculty members. This site provides excerpts of many of the 49 teaching tips covered in the book.
http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/teaching.html

• Teaching Tips Index
Provided for faculty development at Honolulu Community College, this index provides tips on a variety of teaching issues, including assessment, student motivation, and difficult behaviors.
http://www.hcc.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/teachtip.htm