TLC's Selection of Instructional Topics:
Teaching -- Goals and Strategies

Teaching Goals

 It has been said that if you don't know where you are going, you'll probably end up somewhere else. Teaching is no exception. Having explicit goals is important. Goals are not just end points, but are navigation beacons that allow the instructor to assess if the course is on track (Angelo, 1994). While the instructional process may end with the assessment of learning, it begins with the setting of goals. Goals need to be clear to both the instructor and student for teaching and learning to be most effective and satisfying.

As Angelo points out in his article, the teaching goals that affect our choices of content and teaching methods are often implicit and go beyond simply wanting to "cover the book." To assist in making teaching goals more explicit, Angelo and Cross developed a "Teaching Goals Inventory" (1993, available through the Teaching and Learning Center). See the abstract of their Classroom Assessment Techniques handbook, available in the TLC, 7 Gillis Building.

Determining one's goals in some generic sense (i.e., wanting to foster critical thinking) is only the first step in a process. This process involves deciding how the chosen goals can best be reached through specific teaching strategies and learning exercises, actually incorporating these strategies into one's course, and then assessing throughout the semester whether the goals are being met. Angelo points out that there are frequently gaps between "espoused goals" and "goals in action." A gap-detection routine he recommends involves 1) listing the most important espoused teaching goals for a course, 2) finding all the places on the syllabus where these goals are explicitly promoted, and 3) determining when these goals are assessed or evaluated in terms of student attainment. Only those goals that are actually addressed through teaching, assessed, and evaluated are goals in action.

One way to think about teaching and learning goals is suggested by the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS, 1993). This study conceptualizes learning as the knowledge, skills, and values students should attain. Thus, an instructor asks: What should students understand, be able to do, and value? In the broad context of a biology curriculum, learning biology would include:

For a particular course, these same broad goals would be made specific. Once goals are established, content areas to be covered (e.g., biological content knowledge or the impact of technology), learning and teaching strategies (e.g., cooperative field research or debates), and assessments (e.g., oral reports or portfolios) can be created. See also "Organizing the large lecture class" by Jonathan Golding (Psychology, UK) in Teaching at UK, Vol 2, No. 1, to learn about his experiences with PSY101.

Teaching Strategies

This section has four parts:
First Day/Establishing RapportEffective Lectures
Enhancing Student InvolvementEnhancing Written Communication

 

 

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Posted July 1, 1997
http://www.uky.edu/UndergraduateStudies/tlc/topic/teaching.html