Teaching Strategies Analysis Teaching Methods in the Classroom

Teaching Strategies Analysis Teaching Methods in the Classroom Peoples attitude as a result of learning might not show itself as the effect of the learning till they engage in some sort of academic activities later. Learning is considered to be something that is capable of bringing a perpetual change eventually in the entire set up of an individual with regards to physical activities that they are involved in and in their general mind set (Burn, 1995). The ability to learn is one of the successes achieved in the world of knowledge. Teachers adopt a lot of teaching strategies in order to ensure effective learning by their students. There is a relationship between applying a wide range of teaching strategies and effective learning in the classroom. Apart from having different teaching strategies, there are also different learning styles which include Accomodators, Assimilators, Convergers and Divergers. Most students learn by adopting a mixture of these learning styles. As part of their responsibility to incorporate different teaching methods which is expected to bring about effective learning, teachers also identify a range of learning styles that their lessons will address as well as the teaching strategies that will engage their pupils the most. Again teachers try to match their pupils preference for learning to their own preferred range of teaching strategies. The way and manner in which a teacher guides, instructs and imparts knowledge to students is known as the teaching style. Teachers have their own teaching style but may also adopt a range of teaching methods depending on the individual needs and abilities of the pupils. Some teachers prefer lecturing, demonstrating or having a discussing with the pupils. Some pay attention to rules and examples while others emphasises on memorising and understanding. Other methods include active learning, case method, cooperative learning, integrating technology and distance learning. In the same way an individuals learning style is seen as the ways in which he or she characteristically acquires, retains and retrieves information. Collectively, again pupils learn in different ways which includes by seeing and learning; reflecting and acting; reasoning logically and intuitively; memorising and visualization. The teaching styles of teachers may not always match the students learning styles in which case can result in adverse effects on the quality of the students learning and the class as a whole (Felder and Silverman 1988; Lawrence 1993; Oxford et al. 1991; Schmeck 1988). It is known that how much knowledge a student acquires depends partly on the students natural ability and how much preparation has been made before the lesson and also partly on how compatible is the students and teachers approach to learning and teaching respectively. Students involved in cooperative tasks try to find solutions to problems that will help team mates in their small group and not only for themselves. In our world today there is an ever increasing need for one person to depend on another in almost everything we do. By working as a team students learn to mutually depend on each other. It is thus vital that teachers try to equip students with the necessary tools that are efficient to an effective team work in a collaborative learning. One way in which students effectively learn from one another is through cooperative learning. One teaching strategy among a wide range of others that has been identified as an effective method of teaching is cooperative learning involving students in small groups with different levels of ability. This teaching style adopts a range of learning activities to make understanding of the subject easier. Each member in a group apart from learning also has the responsibility of helping teammates to learn. Also each group member has a specific task and everyone must be involved in the learning because the success of the group usually depends on the successful work of every individual member. Again group members continue to practice concepts until the whole group are able to understand and can complete the task that is given. Mediation is an essential part of cooperative learning. Conflicts sometimes occur when students learn in groups. Mediation in cooperative learning is where students facilitate resolving disputes between groups. Peer mediation has been proven effective because it is believed that it changes the way students understands and resolve conflicts in their lives is modelling, facilitating and coaching. Coaching involves giving hints or clues, providing feedback, redirecting students efforts and helping their use of a strategy. That is to provide them with right amount of help when they need it. Cooperation is about depending and interacting with one another, being responsible for whatever you do and the ability to display interpersonal skills. Incorporating these in cooperating learning will make cooperative learning a success (Johnson et al., 1993). The success of cooperative learning brings about: Providing opportunities for greater understanding of underlying concepts through practice and discussions among team members Promoting learning actively and the ability to remember what you have learnt Developing students social and communication skills Promoting self esteem/concept Enhancing students motivation and understanding Learning and benefiting from each other For cooperative learning methods to work effectively in class, the teacher has to employ well structured and tried and tested tasks using the standard rules and aims of cooperative learning. There are different cooperative learning activities that can be done in class. This includes round robin brainstorming, jigsaw, three-minute review, number headed together, team pair solo, circle the stage, think-pair-share and partners (Kagan, 1986). Ray (2008) in his article mentioned some examples of cooperative learning strategies which included group investigation, group success and cooperative joint reading structure. To enhance students motivation and enable them to work well as students teams are rewarded in cooperative learning activities. This will make students responsible for their part of the work and work hard to achieve success for the entire group which normally comprise of between 4 to 6 students. It should also be established that individuals in a cooperative learning team are responsible for their actions whiles the group is accorded the due recognition. This study focuses on cooperative learning as a teaching strategy for learning effectively. Cooperative learning is an orderly form of learning that requires students to work in small groups towards a set goal. The effort put together by each member enables the group to successfully acquire the set goal. Collaborative learning is similar to cooperative learning in that both emphasises a learning method where students are actively involved but collaborative has a wider spectrum of interactions among learning groups on community basis (Bruffee, 1993). It is important to plan and prepare carefully when integrating cooperative learning strategies into a course. When cooperative groups are formed well, students will: depend on each other, solve any problem that arises within the group, be responsible to each other, find ways to assess the task set for them and make sure proper learning environment is maintained. All these make cooperative learning an effective teaching and learning strategy. There have been a number of researches on teaching strategies that impact on students learning effectively with different opinions in several quarters. Lots of debates have also taken place about effective teaching which has to a large extent been based on the efficiency of providing a number of ways of teaching styles and strategies due to the strong recognition that pupils learn in different ways. Cooperative learning has in recent times been criticised largely as a result of its use inappropriately. One school of thought argues that teachers sometimes give much attention to the best students by making them heads of a learning group. This study thus seeks to analyse cooperative learning as a teaching strategy for effective learning. In this study we will explore the following questions: Does cooperative learning bring about effective learning? Does cooperative learning benefit the whole group of students? What can be done to address the needs of all members in the learning groups? LITERATURE REVIEW Cooperative learning has been one of the best researched of all teaching strategies. Results of studies indicate that students who are given opportunity to work together in groups not only learn faster and more efficiently but also have greater retention and feel more positive about the learning experience. The term cooperation is seen as a joint operation or action with a common purpose. It is working in a team where the success of the team entirely rest on the skills of each member of the team. Most researchers and practitioners of cooperative learning stress that it is a formal instructional model in which teachers carefully design lessons and activities that are suitable for use by teams. Team work, under proper conditions encourages peer learning. Teambuilding exercises are very important in the development of teams that will work together for an extended period of time on a complex project or a series of activities. Teambuilding may be defined as the process needed to create, maintain, and enrich the development of a group of people into a cohesive unit (Solomon et al., 1993). Kagan (1986) in his definition of cooperative learning in an Educational Leadership magazine emphasised on the need to establish a well organised interaction socially between students in small groups where general materials can be employed irrespective of the environment or the occasion so far as it is based on a sound creation and a good form of assessment. Cooperative learning among a wide range of teaching strategies has been identified as a successful teaching strategy in which small groups each normally consisting of students having different levels of ability work together to achieve a common goal. Mixed abilities among students are caused by their motivations, interests, and needs; linguistic ability; general educational background; learning styles; age; external pressures and time available to study; and student anxiety (Ainslie, 1994). Motivation is promoted among students through cooperative learning due to the support from each other. Students are told to study material much more than they would otherwise have and to use creativity as a way of proving to their teachers how they have gained control over the study. Students encouragement to do their work in school as noted by Glasser (1986) is somehow based on how satisfied they are psychologically. The students form part of a learning team and can be successful through the group work. To be successful as a group in cooperative learning, members must be on top of the skills required to do a particular task in order to achieve its goal as a team. Cooperative learning activities should be organised in such a way that student in a team are dependent on each other in a more positive way as well as being accountable to themselves. The objectives of a childs education during the early stages are complimented by elements involved in cooperative learning (Johnson and Johnson, 1974). A lot of research on cooperative learning found out that children build up good relations with each other in the team most importantly those from different background. In the early stages of a childs education, the teachers priority is for the children to engage in activities by taking turns and to practice how to share with each other as well as care for one another. Teachers thus plan and organise activities such as cooperative learning which are geared towards bringing out such desirable traits. Teachers also create classroom environment that helps children not only be aware of themselves but also of other children around them. The processes involve in cooperative learning according to Salvin (1984) comprise of all the needs of a cooperative and fair interaction among pupils from all kinds of backgrounds. Again he noted that cooperative learning apart from being comparatively easy and cheaper to undertake also help to attain academic success among members in the team. It has also been proven to establish and make relationship better between students irrespective of their individual differences. Group creativity technique and intensive learning is achieved through cooperative learning. This enables students to think out of the box and generate ideas for the solution of a problem. By so doing, they gain good skills and attitudes towards their learning. Proper assessment is done either by their teacher or their peers during cooperative learning. According to Featherstone (1986), when students are given cooperative task, although the group is remunerated as a whole the assessment of their learning is done discretely. Feedback from such assessment gives students clearer guidance on how to improve their learning and also maximise their potential. Renowned researchers have found out that teaching strategies such as cooperative learning greatly influences students academic achievements. Many research work done on cooperative learning has been proven to be efficient than the traditional way in bringing about effective learning in students. Nor is it all for, it also improves motivation and the level of attainment by students which brings about a positive and a long lasting impact on their social life. Again a childs ability to acquire and put together new ideas is greatly improved through cooperative learning. Students develop and sharpen their skills in finding solution to given tasks due to the fact that they are able to interact freely with team mates having different abilities and from different backgrounds. Cooperative learning again increases the self-esteem of students which more than encourages them to learn and develop an attitude where they become focussed on the task at hand in order to attain high marks. In his assessment in 1998 of certain schools which incorporated cooperative learning as a teaching strategy, Prof. Hopkins of the University of Nottingham noted that, students learnt how to find solution to problems by working as a group whiles employing their individual skills and had also generally improved on their behaviour towards learning. Again it was found that students were able to make use of their acquired skills in different subject areas and that the notion that boys always make less progress in their learning as compared to girls from historical trends were also disapproved. The possibility for achievement by a team can be high when all team members take part in the group activities. Being committed to group discussions makes a lot of information available to the group members, which in turn helps students to take a lot of information on board hence improving their thinking and decision making. When students learn in small teams they mentally analyse what they know, put their view across and expand on it and feel free to ask questions for clarification. Effective and task oriented teams usually have a positive outcome (Soller et al., 1996).

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The cations (Na+, K+ and Mg++) were estimated in the gut contents, fresh tissue of midgut epithelia and heamolymph of uninfected and Bacillus inoculated silkworm. The sodium level was declined from gut contents to heamolymph. The level of sodium content further showed a gradual decrease from the midgut tissue to the heamolymph in the infected silkworm as compared to the uninfected silkworm. The potassium content initially decreased from the gut contents to the midgut tissues in both the uninfected and infected silkworm (Table-1, Fig. 2). Later on, a slow gradient in the potassium content was observed from the midgut tissue towards the heamolymph in the infected larvae. But incase of the uninfected larvae the potassium content gradually declined from the midgut tissue to the heamolymph. In the present study the levels in sodium content was high and potassium concentration was low in tissue than reported earlier. The adult larvae of silkworm, showed a steep gradient for magnesium betwe en lumen and heamolymph, with higher concentration in the heamolymph (Table-1, Fig. 3). Table - 1. Ionic concentration in lumen content, fresh tissue and heamolymph of silkworm Bombyx mori V instar (meq/L). The ionic concentrations were changed in the Bacillus infected larvae. Flacherie resulted in the non-significant decrease of intracellular sodium in midgut cells. Potassium being the major cation in the silkworm diet showed a significant decrease in midgut cells in diseased larvae (p ...f silkworm Bombyx mori Electron micrographs illustrate the midgut of silkworm B. mori. The globlet cell (Plate - 1) wherein the multiplication of pathogen occurs and these cells are slightly elongated with a centrally located cavity. Their ill defined microvillae project into this cavity and these cells are placed in between columnar cells. Dominant cell in midgut epithelium is the columnar cell. The apical surface of the columnar cell is thrown into numerous folds and often appears as finger like projections (microvillae). A cross section of the microvillae, are presented (Plate - 2). The microvillae are located with mitochondria (Plate - 3), vacuoles at the base of microvillae are prominent. Excess of plasma membrane folds at the tip of the microvillae were observed in all the sections scanned. The midgut epithelium is richly supplied with trachea (Plate - 4).

A Comment on the Road from Colonus Essay

Edward Morgan Forster was an English novelist, short story writer, essayist and librettist. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society. Forster’s humanistic impulse toward understanding and sympathy may be aptly summed up in the epigraph to his 1910 novel Howards End: â€Å"Only connect†. In part one of The Road from Colonus, Mr. Lucas and her daughter travelled to Greece, to fulfill his dream which has lasted for 40 years. When they were in a Khan in a small town of Greece, Mr. Lucas discovered a very strange tree which has a stream flow from it. He was very excited and felt that he had found his â€Å"habitant for heart†, so Mr. Lucas wanted to stay there for more time, but his daughter frustrated him and finally they left Greece. In part two, Ethel, Mr. Lucas’s daughter, was about to get married, and she got a parcel from a friend who has been with her during the trip, her friend told Ethel that the tree beside the khan was blow down and all the people there were dead, when Ethel told Mr. Lucas about the tragedy, he seemed totally indifferent to it, and just complained about his house and neighbors. In these two parts, water acted as a very important role. In first part, water stands for passion, energy and it can fresh Mr. Lucas’s old spirits and create a new value for him. So in this situation, water symbolized the reborn of him, but in the second part, fresh water became into dead water, and Mr. Lucas was totally dead in his mind, and what he can do is to complain the reality. There are three groups of people in this novel, one group is Ethel and her friends, they are the representatives of young people in Britain of that period of time, and they have received good education, fostered a strict and strong priority of their country and culture, so when they felt that the common value of their society was being offended, the first reaction is to extinguish the possibility of expansion, that is the reason for their objection of Mr. Lucas’s stay in Greece. In their mind, old people can’t be isolated from the youth and they are supposed to rely on the support of their children and also, their life was being projected by their children. For Mr. Lucas, he is among the old class or weak group of society, on one hand they pursued for independence, and searched for a habitant of heart, so that they could get through the rest days in a very peaceful and independent way, they didn’t want to be interfered by other factors such as children, work, and so on, but on the other hand, the society forbade them to do what they like to, Mr.

Free Essays on Feudalism

The feudal system was a way of government based on obligations between the lord or king and vassal. The king gave large estates to his friends and relatives. These estates known as the fief included houses, barns, tools, animals, and serfs or peasants. The king also promised to protect the vassal on the field or in the courts. In return the nobles who were granted the fiefs swore an oath of loyalty to the king. The nobles promised never to fight against the king. They also had to give the king whatever he asked for. The king may ask for men to fight a war, money, or advice. The nobles also gave the king a place to stay when he traveled. Each of the king's vassals was also a lord or tenant in chief with vassals of his own. Each vassal would be an overlord to those he granted fiefs while remaining a vassal of the king. The subtenants in turn subdivided the land. Sometimes there were many levels of lords who had vassals under them. The most important promise of the vassal to the lord was the military. The vassal usually served as a knight. This service lasted about 40 to 60 days a year. If they actually had to fight in a war they usually did so for two months. If there was no war the knights did 40 days of training at the castle. There were only a few nobles. Most people, approximately nine-tenths, were serfs who worked the land for a noble. The serf was bound to the land. If the noble sold the land the serf went with it. This was not much better than being a slave. A peasant village had between ten to sixty families. Each family lived in a hut made out of wood or straw. The floor was covered with straw or reeds. Beds were made from a pile of dried leaves or straw. Animal skins were used as blankets. A cooking fire burned in the middle of the hut with the smoke escaping through a hole in the roof. Furnishings included a plank table, a few stools, and a chest. Each hut had its own vegetable garden. About half the serfs... Free Essays on Feudalism Free Essays on Feudalism The feudal system was a way of government based on obligations between the lord or king and vassal. The king gave large estates to his friends and relatives. These estates known as the fief included houses, barns, tools, animals, and serfs or peasants. The king also promised to protect the vassal on the field or in the courts. In return the nobles who were granted the fiefs swore an oath of loyalty to the king. The nobles promised never to fight against the king. They also had to give the king whatever he asked for. The king may ask for men to fight a war, money, or advice. The nobles also gave the king a place to stay when he traveled. Each of the king's vassals was also a lord or tenant in chief with vassals of his own. Each vassal would be an overlord to those he granted fiefs while remaining a vassal of the king. The subtenants in turn subdivided the land. Sometimes there were many levels of lords who had vassals under them. The most important promise of the vassal to the lord was the military. The vassal usually served as a knight. This service lasted about 40 to 60 days a year. If they actually had to fight in a war they usually did so for two months. If there was no war the knights did 40 days of training at the castle. There were only a few nobles. Most people, approximately nine-tenths, were serfs who worked the land for a noble. The serf was bound to the land. If the noble sold the land the serf went with it. This was not much better than being a slave. A peasant village had between ten to sixty families. Each family lived in a hut made out of wood or straw. The floor was covered with straw or reeds. Beds were made from a pile of dried leaves or straw. Animal skins were used as blankets. A cooking fire burned in the middle of the hut with the smoke escaping through a hole in the roof. Furnishings included a plank table, a few stools, and a chest. Each hut had its own vegetable garden. About half the serfs...

Fate in The Natural by Bernard Malamud

Fate in The Natural by Bernard Malamud I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they act;but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they actG.K. Chesterton, Generaly SpeakingSome people think that fate is something you are born with, something that follows you around for the rest of your life until the day you die. I think that fate is something that exists in your sub-conscience, therefore making it nothing more than your conscience.In the book The Natural by Bernard Malamud the main character Roy Hobbs had a very distinct flaw, a flaw that millions of American men and women both have...... an obsession with sex which affected his charecter and which made him a very unsuccessful man. From the very beginning of the book when he went to that woman Harriet's room for a quick thrill I had an idea of what kind of person Roy was, I mean even I would have though that he learned his lesson about messing around with people he just met after she shot him.1898 photograph of G.K. Chesterton.Well, that's all rig ht, its only fifteen years off his career and the end of his pitching. Strike one!I guess that he didn't learn his lesson because one night while Roy's new so-called friend Bump leads him to a hotel room knowing that his girlfriend Memo is lying buck-naked on the bed. When Roy notices her there he doesn't stop and think,"Hold on a second their is a naked woman in my bed mabey I should turn on the light and ask her what she's doing here" No, he just jumps into bed and runs the bases. So one day Bump dies and Roy thinks that Memo's all his, boy is he wrong. This new found passion totally messes up his train...

Thomas Jefferson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Thomas Jefferson - Essay Example The purpose of education is to enlighten and promote inquiry. Religion has an antithetical purpose. It closes the mind, discourages inquiry and promotes dogmatism. As Jefferson writes, the churchmen who taught him betrayed a deeper interest in "how many angels could dance on the head of a pin" while they should have taught their students "how to make that pin work better for mankind." The implication here is that religion in the classroom and churchmen as teachers will not promote investigative inquiry and may stifle students' natural curiosity. Jefferson advocates a practical approach to education, one which will teach students that which they need for their own intellectual maturation and that which the nation itself requires for its development and advancement. With that objective in mind, Jefferson first proposes "general diffusion of knowledge," as in the provision of public education to all citizens. Within the context of public education, the subjects which should be taught are reading, writing, arithmetic and history. Beyond the parameters of a curriculum whose goal is the promotion of numerical and linguistic literacy, Jefferson proposes that the more advanced, the more talented of the students receive a higher education at the expense of the taxpayers. The subjects which should be taught should be reflective of enlightenment and reason. These subjects are "anatomy, medicine, modern languages, and science." The selection of these subjects is predicated on Jefferson's belief that they promote practical and useful kn owledge. Opposed to the "tyranny of the traditional curriculum," Jefferson's education plan revolves around three core objectives. The first is the propagation of knowledge for the purposes of developing a literate, knowledgeable populace who is capable of constructively contributing to the nation's growth and advancement. The second is a more intensive and focused period of higher education, provided at the taxpayers' expense, to those who have displayed intellectual talent and who have the potential to constructively contribute to national advancement. The subjects that these students will be taught are practical, useful and determined by their inclinations. The third core principle upon which Jefferson's education plan is founded is the exclusion of religion from educational system in response to the "tyranny of religious dogma" and the extent to which it functions as an obstacle to the promotion of investigative inquiry, knowledge and critical thinking. It need be noted that despite the fact that Jefferson's own educational experience left much to be desired, his education was typical of his peers. At first, he was educated by his father and taught basic literacy and survival skills. Following that, he was educated in a family schoolhouse by both secular and teachers and churchmen. At this point, his education was traditional and focused on the classics. As he explains, fear was the primary motivator in his education; fear of being beaten by his teacher. Added to that, from Jefferson's perspective, his education, while typical of that of his contemporaries, was impractical. In commentary upon the stated, one may affirm the validity of Jefferson's evaluation of the educational system of his time. Besides diffusing knowledge, education is supposed to broaden the mind and contribute to the development

Law of the European Union Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Law of the European Union - Essay Example Competition law promotes and enhances competition in a given nation. This is because once they exist, different entrepreneurs have an equal chance to set up businesses that can compete with existing businesses. This is because in a nation with a jurisdiction that preserves competition laws, there is a good chance that more and more businesses can be opened up and this will provoke innovation and help businesses to seek the best results. Richard Whish stated that "As a general proposition competition law consists of rules that are intended to protect the process of competition in order to maximise consumer welfare"3. This statement suggests that competition law ultimately seeks to protect the best interests of consumers. This paper examines the validity of this assertion through the examination of European Union Law. As a background to the examination of consumer interests, the research will examine the key component of market structures. The paper then goes on to explore European Union law to identify how competition law attains the end of protecting consumers. Market structures examines some key components of competition from the point of view of economics. The basic assumption of market structures is that in every market, there are two dominant groups: buyers and sellers. Sellers are the entrepreneurs who produce goods and services for buyers. Sellers have a strong relationship with buyers because buyers provide revenue for sellers to remain productive and in business. So a basic assumption of this branch of economics is that the higher the price the higher the quantity produced4. Buyers on the other hand seek to spend the lowest amounts of money on goods and services. So there is a kind of conflict between buyers and sellers. Whereas buyers seek the lowest prices, sellers seek to get the highest amount of revenue from buyers. This is the basis of