What is known about effective teaching?

摘要

Engaging all learners in learning is our primary mission as educators. All stakeholders - teachers, colleagues, parents, and the larger community - are needed to reach this goal. In the United States, research on teaching has produced vast amounts of information. The majority of this research has been conducted using causative factors, such as classroom activities, curriculum initiatives, or methods of instruction. Since the 1970s, teacher behaviors have been researched as they relate to learner achievement. What is still missing is research on how teacher behaviors affect and effect the curriculum, the school environment, and their learners. In spite of all the research efforts in education, agricultural education included, the most frequently asked question continues to be: What makes for effective teaching? While there are many characteristics to describe effective teaching, there is no single definitive quality that can be attributed to the success of teaching. Current research studies reveala strong association between specific instructional behaviors and learner performance. Further, there is a wealth of research manuscripts on specific teacher behaviors and gender/ethnic expectations. In all that has been written, researchers have attempted to identify specific managerial, instructional, and personal attributes of teachers to distinguish the effective teachers from the more ineffective teachers. McDonald (1977) stated that it was a combination of knowledge of subject matter (content), knowledge of teaching and learning theory, and the utilization of various teaching methods that produced effective teachers.