Five Ways to Improve Your Teaching
by Linda von Hoene
Becoming an effective teacher involves seeking out multiple sites of input that can enable you to reflect on and improve the teaching and learning that takes place in your class. This section is designed to provide you with some suggestions about sources for dialogue and methods of feedback. All materials cited are available at the GSI Teaching & Resource Center, 301 Sproul Hall.
Dialogue with Yourself through a Teaching Log
Solicit Feedback from Your Students
Dialogue with Faculty
Dialogue with Peers
Seek Outside Consultation
Dialogue with Yourself through a Teaching Log
One very important, but often overlooked, source of input on teaching is you, the teacher. A first step that can form the foundation for other critical reflection is to keep a daily teaching log or journal on your teaching. Start by writing your lesson plan on the right-hand side of your teaching notebook and reserving the left-hand side for comments and reflection. Questions to ask yourself and reflect on in writing might include, What worked well in this class, and why? What didn’t, and why? Where did the students seem to have difficulties? Were there any noticeable points where the students seemed very engaged with the material? What types of things may need greater clarification the next time? Were there any particular pedagogical strategies that seemed to work well? What will I change the next time I teach this topic?
Solicit Feedback from Your Students
More often than not, we reflect on (or worry about!) our teaching in isolation, without realizing that our own students can be a great source of feedback on the teaching and learning that takes place in our classrooms on a day-to-day basis. While end-of-semester evaluations tend to summarize the students’ overall responses to the class, this type of input comes too late to be of use to you and your students during the current semester. There are several techniques you can use to solicit ongoing feedback from your students on the class in general or the learning that takes place around specific topics and activities.
