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Effects of Different Teaching Styles in Students’ Learning
Submitted to: Dr. Merlyn Lee
By: Aguda, Kimberly Marie S. Almario, Alexandra D. Babasa, Cherry Mae I. Banayos, Juan Carlo V.
March 4, 2009
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Table of Contents
Page Chapter 1 Introduction Background of the Study
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Statement of the Problem
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Significance of the Study
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Scope and Delimitations
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Materials and Methods
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Definition of Terms
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Chapter 2 Discussion
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Chapter 3 Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation Summary
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Conclusion
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Recommendation
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Bibliography
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Appendix Survey Form
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Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Biological and environmental factors affect the intelligence of a person. Teh (2007) states that, “the biological factors are those that which occur naturally to a person influenced by the characteristics encoded to one’s genes, while the environmental factors are those surrounding a person and influence their learning“. One example of the latter factor is by going to school and acquiring knowledge and skills which are taught by teachers, professors and other members of the educating team. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (1990) emphasizes that, “although some information are emphasized what a learner should acquire, it also acknowledges how these information are taught is correspondingly essential”. This shows that the students’ learning depends not only on their proficiency, but also on how their educators deliver the material. The environmental factors and the approach on how students are being taught are influences behind students’ grasp to knowledge. Certain teaching techniques would be a great benefit to enhance a learner’s comprehension and appreciation to a particular theme or subject matter. Information given by an educator could be perceived by different learners in distinct ways. Different teaching styles and strategies can affect a person’s learning and comprehension towards a certain subject.
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Different teaching styles and its effects on students’ learning are the prime emphasis of this research paper. The paper aims to acknowledge educators how to impart facts to learners in a way that they would easily and clearly understand. And also, this might be a help to learners on how to establish a rapport to educators and the information to be easily implied.
B.
Statement of the Problem
The study aims to answer the following questions: 1. What teaching styles are commonly used in teaching content-based subjects? 2. What are the different approaches used by first year level nursing professors to their students? 3. What are the effects of these strategies to the academic learning of the students? 4. Of the different approaches, what might be the most effective strategy for better comprehension as perceived by students?
C. Significance of the Study
This research could possibly help the following:
College of Nursing students. This research paper could be able to help students in the nursing course to identify what teaching strategies could be the most effective for their easy comprehension of content – based subjects. Also, this could help
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them understand certain subjects which could be a precursor for other subjects in the later years.
College professors. This term paper could be a help for professors who teach content – based subjects in a way that they would know a suitable way of teaching such subject matters which could let students understand. From this, they could formulate another teaching strategy that s/he thinks a more efficient way to educate students.
Future researches. This could serve as a reference guide for future researchers who would explore more on the same or related topic. There is a need for conducting more studies and researches since professors and other members of the teaching body handle different students with distinct levels of intelligence and understanding in a particular subject. From this, researchers would be able to devise other teaching techniques that would help not only the professors, but also students as well.
D.
Scope and Delimitations
The study is focused on determining the different teaching strategies of first year nursing professors, its effects and which strategy is most effective to students’ learning. This will be particular to the different teaching techniques of content-based subjects taught by the professors. The target population of the study is first year college students taking B. S. Nursing course of De La Salle University – Health Sciences Institute of the school year 2008 – 2009.
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Due to time constraints, content – based subjects taught by professors in the main campus will no longer be tackled and interviews to the professors about the different teaching strategies will not be done. Instead, the points of view of students regarding how the teaching strategies affect their learning will be taken into concentration.
E.
Materials and Methods
The information which is connected to the study will be collected from different regions of reference such as books and the media. Meanwhile, human resources will be used for the survey gathering only for students. Then, the sources of opinions will be attained from teachers who are highly specialized in the nursing courses as well as nursing students themselves. Hence, the type of method to be implied in this teaching strategy study will be the use of descriptive method. The researchers will prioritize the results obtained through survey and interview results.
F.
Definition of Terms
Teaching. The profession or practice of being a teacher .
Expert teaching. A form of teaching strategy that transmits information from an expert status. It challenges students to enhance competence.
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Formal authority teaching. This is concerned with acceptable ways to do things and provide structures students need to learn.
Personal model teaching. This overlooks and guides students to emulate by using personal experiences as examples.
Facilitative teaching. This emphasizes personal nature of teacher – student interactions. It also guides towards the development of capacity for independent actions.
Delegate teaching.
This style develops students’ capacity to function
autonomously. This also encourages independent projects.
Style. A way of doing something, especially a way regarded as expressing a particular attitude or typifying a particular period.
Strategy. A carefully devised plan of action to achieve a goal, or the art of developing or carrying out such a plan.
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Chapter 2 DISCUSSION
What teaching styles are used in teaching content-based subjects?
Everyday, different educators encounter different students, each with their distinct comprehension and perception of lessons and approaches. With this in mind, educators have formulated different strategies to be able to cope with these kinds of situations. These strategies, involving a variety of modes of instructions, include lectures, laboratories and activities, and mentoring. According to Clark (1995), “these would stimulate the students’ interests, cognitive and critical thinking. These various strategies would help students to better understand the knowledge based on how they perceive the topic”. Many people believe that good teaching is hard to define in a general way. However, a large body of research suggests that certain characteristics may be a key factor in giving good quality education to students. According to a study about winners of the Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award at Ohio State shows the following teaching strategies to their students: •
The teachers got right into business. They start classes in a well organized manner.
•
The educators teaches in a fast pace but stops regularly to confirm that the students learn from the lecture.
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•
They use different instructional strategies like practical interactions rather than lectures alone.
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They focus on the topic itself and explain the lesson in a clear manner.
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They use humor to incorporate with their style of teaching.
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They respond immediately to the questions of their students and in doing so exercises rapport.
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They praise their students to give them a sense of well-being.
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They use gestures, walks around the classroom and promotes eye contact for better visualization of the students about the topic.
“A number of writers,” Lowman (1996) stresses, “had spotted some differences in the teaching styles used by educators. They classify them on the dimensions that represent on how teachers approach their students, the ways in which they think learning takes place and their strengths and inclinations”. Grasha (1996) presented five common teaching styles: •
EXPERT –
this kind of strategy transmits information from an expert status. This
also challenges students to enhance their competence. •
FORMAL AUTHORITY –
this is concerned with the suitable ways to do things
and provide configurations students need to comprehend a certain topic. •
PERSONAL MODEL –
this believes in teaching in the use of self as example.
This supervises and guides students to emulate. •
FACILITATOR –
this emphasizes the person nature of the teacher – student
interactions. This also guides them towards the development of the capacity to perform independent actions.
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•
DELEGATOR –
this develops the students’ level to function autonomously. This
also emboldens independent schemes.
According to the survey that was conducted about the effects of these teaching strategies and teaching styles on the nursing students of De La Salle University-Health Sciences Institute, nursing students prefer the facilitator type of teaching style. Out of the 30 respondents, 34.15% of the students are in favor of this type of teaching style. The next preferred teaching style is the formal authority type which gathered 26.83% of votes followed by the expert type of teaching style and then the personal model type. The least preferred teaching style was the delegator type which gathered 2.44% votes. The result of the survey is presented in the graph below:
Figure 1: Teaching Styles Used in Teaching Content-based Subjects
Teaching Strategies Used in Teaching Contentbased Subjects 2.44% 19.51%
34.15%
Expert Formal Authority Personal Model Facilitator 26.83% 17.07%
Delegator
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The survey also shows the strategies of teaching favored by students when executing the style of teaching by their professors. The graph below exhibits that students prefer professors who uses humor and provides warm classroom environment by having attempts to relate to students as people. 43.33% of the respondents’ population is in favor of being able to laugh while having discussions in the classroom and be treated by their professors as people. On the other hand, 40% of the students want their professors to use variety of instructural strategies rather than lecture alone. For example, aside from the discussion held inside the classroom, students want to have an exercise which is monitored by their professors to further develop their comprehension of the lesson or to have ice breakers to keep them attentive. 10% of the students prefer professors who uses non-verbal gesture while the remaining 6.67 like professors who teaches in fast pace and is focused on the topic. The graph below illustrates the results of the survey.
Figure 2: Teaching Strategies Done to Show the Teaching Styles
Teaching Strategies Done to Show Teaching Styles Teaches in fast pace and is focused on the topic
6.67%
40.00%
43.33%
10.00%
Uses humor and provides w arm classroom environment by having attempts to relate to students as people Uses non-verbal behavior such as gestures to reinforc e comments Uses a variety of instructural strategies rather than lecture alone
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How do the teaching styles affect the students’ academic learning?
Figure 3: Effects of the Teaching Strategies to Students' Academic Learning
Effects of the Teaching Styles to Students' Academic Learning
45.45% Learn/Understand faster
3.33%
Entertainment Attentive Saves time Improvement of self
3.03%
9.09%
9.09%
Based from the conducted survey, the result is represented on the graph above. The graph shows that through the different teaching styles, 45.45% of the students learn and understand the lessons taught by their professors faster. Other than faster absorption of the information, 38.33% of the students improve themselves. Students were also entertained and kept attentive during class discussion through the teaching styles facilitated by their professors. While, 3.03% of the students noted that through their professors’ teaching strategy, they were able to save time.
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Chapter 3 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Summary
This research paper tackles the different teaching strategies used by contentbased subject professors and how do these teaching styles affect the academic learning of the first year nursing students of De La Salle University – Health Sciences Institute. Aside from the natural intelligence that people have ever since they were born, this intelligence is further developed by nurturing factors in the process called learning. An example of these factors is by attending the school and acquiring knowledge through instructions of the professors. A student’s learning is greatly affected by the way or style through which a lesson is delivered. Therefore, the researchers wanted to determine the different teaching styles used by the professors particularly those who teach contentbased subjects and how do these teaching styles affect the students’ learning. This paper aims to determine the different teaching styles used by the content-based subject professors, how do these affect their students’ learning and which is the most effective of all the teaching strategies utilized. This research paper focuses on the first year nursing students of De La Salle – Health Science Institute of the school year 2008-2009 as their respondents and the utilization of descriptive method in collecting data and results for the study. Based from the conducted research and survey among the first year nursing students, the facilitator type of teaching style wherein the professor uses humor during
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class discussions and relates to their students as people are preferred by the students because it enables them to learn and understand the lessons faster.
Conclusion
Based on the conducted research and survey, the researchers came up with the following conclusions: 1.
Students prefer interactive and fun teaching styles which also have a balance between competence and challenges.
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The commonly used teaching strategy in teaching content based subjects of DLSU-HSI is the facilitator type which emphasizes the personal nature of teachers as well student interactions toward the development of capacity toward the development of independent actions.
3.
With the use of the different teaching strategies, students learn faster and achieve greater understanding of the lessons.
Recommendation
After the study has been conducted, the researchers gave the following recommendations:
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1.
Content based subject teachers may explore and try different teaching styles to deliver and discuss the lesson in a way that the students will improve their learning.
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Different activities and teaching strategies can be used to facilitate class discussion depending on what is suitable to the lesson which will be discussed.
3.
The facilitator teaching style preferred by the students is highly recommend since results show that it increases the rate and quality of the understanding of students during the discussion of topics on content based subjects.
4.
Future researchers can widen the scope of their respondents to get a more general result which can be applied not only to first year Nursing students but to other students who have content based subjects as well.
5.
Future researchers can conduct an interview to an expert, for example, an education psychologist, to get views on student’s understanding and comprehension of the lessons as a result of the teaching style showed by teachers based on an expert’s observation in their field.
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Bibliography
American Association for the Advancement of Science. (1989). Effective learning and teaching. Science for All Americans Online. [online]. Available: http://www.project2061.org/publications/sfaa/online/Chap13.htm? txtRef=&txtURIOld=%2Ftools%2Fsfaaol%2FChap13.htm North Central Regional Educational Library. (2004). Effective teaching strategies. Learning Point Associates. [online]. Available: http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/envrnmnt/drugfree/sa3effec.htm Clark, J.M. (1995). Suggestions for effective university teaching. [online]. Available: http://io.uwinnipeg.ca/~clark/acad/teach/effteach.html Regents of the University of California, The. (2000). Teaching strategies. UCIrvine Extension. [online]. Available: http://unex.uci.edu/instructor/strategies/ Pennsylvania State University. (2003). Teaching styles. Penn State Teaching and Learning with Technology. [online]. Available: http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/research/teaching_styles.shtml Carbone, A., Conway, D. & Farr, G. (2000). Techniques or effective tertiary teaching. [online]. Available: http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~damian/papers/HTML/TeachingTechniques.ht ml
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Appendix
Survey Form
De la Salle University – Dasmariñas Dasmariñas, Cavite
January 26, 2009
Dear Student,
We are conducting a study on the “Effects of Different Teaching Strategies in Students’ Learning” as a requirement in ENGL102. Please help us by answering the survey form below. Thank you very much.
Truly yours, Aguda, Kimberly Marie S. Almario, Alexandra D. Babasa, Cherry Mae I. Banayos, Juan Carlo V. BSN 1-1
Directions: Answer the following questions.
1.) What teaching strategy of your Nursing professor do you prefer? Please encircle 1-2 letters of your choice. a. teaches in fast pace and is focused on the topic b. uses humor and provides warm classroom environment by having attempts to relate to students as people c. uses non-verbal behavior such as gestures to reinforce their comments d. uses a variety of instructional strategies rather than lecture alone
18 2.) Which of the following teaching styles do you prefer to be used by your professor/s? Encircle the letter of your choice. a. expert (transmits information from an expert status; challenges students to enhance competence) b. formal authority (concerned with the acceptable ways to do things and provide structures students need to learn) c. personal model (by personal example; overlooks and guides students to emulate) d. facilitator (emphasizes personal nature of teacher - student interactions; guides towards the development of capacity for independent actions) e. delegator (develops students’ capacity to function independently; encourages independent projects) 3.) From the teaching styles listed on #2, what do you think will help you in your academic learning?
4.) How will these affect you?
Thank you for your cooperation…
