A tutor's guide to teaching and learning at UQ - TEDI - University of ...

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20 A Tutor’s Guide to Teaching and Learning at UQ♦Making studying at university more enjoyable and more rewarding (althoughnot for some such as introverts, who may never prefer smaller classes) –providing an environment in which students can establish friendships and peergroups that can then be extended outside the classroom.Socially – effective learning is collaborative and social, rather than competitive andisolated and as such learning is essentially an interactive, interpersonal, and emotionalactivity. Therefore tutorials can:♦♦Provide an opportunity for teaching staff to get to know students – frequentstudent-teacher contact in and out of classes is perhaps the most important factorin student motivation and involvement. The concern that teachers show forstudents helps them to keep working and get through rough times. Knowing afew teachers well enhances students’ intellectual and emotional commitment tolearning.Learning is enhanced when it is more like a team effort than a solo race – likethe old saying, “two heads are better than one”. Working with otherssignificantly extends the potential for learning. Articulating and sharing ideasand responding to others’ reactions improves students thinking and deepens theirunderstanding – not only of the course content, but of the process of learningitself! A supportive learning environment where learners feel empowered tonegotiate tasks, take risks and be part of a shared context are necessary todevelop cooperation among students.Educationally – working in small groups not only improves the quality of learning,enhancing students’ personal understanding and learning, but also increases the scope oflearning from the course content to higher order reasoning and thinking skills, and othersuch skills and abilities that are often called “generic skills”. These include;♦♦♦♦♦♦♦Problem Solving skillsReasoning skillsDevelopment of relevant or appropriateattitudes (e.g. professionalism)Speaking skillsListening skillsLeadershipCooperation
Section 3: Effective Small Group Teaching and Learning 21Essential elements of small classesAccording to Newble and Cannon (2000) there are three elements necessary forsuccessful small group teaching:Active participation♦ Participation by all the students – requires keeping numbers as low as 5-8, butyou can break up “small groups” of 20-30 in to smaller groups for at least someof the time.♦♦Getting everyone involved in a way that is productive and inclusive – this is oneof the major skill areas for you to develop as a small class teacher.Creating the right atmosphere from the beginning is important, and it isimportant to recognise and respect students’ personal comfort zones – the use ofice breaker activities, getting to know names, etc can help in the early stages tomake the context non-threatening – so students feel comfortable discussing theirideas with the group.Face-to-face contact♦ It is important to ensure that your physical environment (i.e., classroom) allowsfor face-to-face contact between you and the students and among the studentsthemselves – having students sit in rows will not help to generate effectivecommunication and discussion in the tutorial. Non-verbals (gestures, facialexpressions, etc) are often just as important as the spoken voice in the deliveryand comprehension of people’s ideas.♦This is also an important aspect in the development of good interpersonal skills,verbal communication and listening skills (see above).Purposeful activity♦ Learners must recognise that information is important if it is to be learned –knowing why you have to know something, enables students to ‘fit’ this intotheir developing knowledge, connecting new information with their existingknowledge. It is much easier to learn subsets of knowledge when you have anidea of the big picture, can see its relevance, see how it is connected to practiceand how it builds on what you already know.♦♦Therefore, each session should have a purpose (that is clearly explained tostudents) and develop in an orderly way – this requires you to plan tasks that aregoing to bring about the learning you want students to achieve.Remember all the while that there are many skills students may be learning(such as the social and personal skills) while they are working through tasks thatseem on the face of it to be concerned with content. So, staying mindful of whatyour students can, and are, learning because they are doing small class activitiesis very important because it allows you to self-consciously build into yourplanning both the specialist disciplinary content and the small group skills youwant them to learn.
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The University of QueenslandBuildin
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