McKeachie's Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research, and Theory for College and University Teachers

by Wilbert J. McKeachie

backward. In courses like statistics and math, you should skip the prose and work the problems! Research today has demonstrated that working through the examples is one of the best strategies for this type of skill learning (Moreno, Reisslein, and Ozogul, 2009).

First, we want our students to learn the skills of reading like a professional in the field. Second, we want them to put those skills to use and actually read the text assignments we have so carefully selected.

With electronic access becoming more and more available for a variety of materials, I think that we should stop thinking about the textbook as the only real book and start thinking about the “text” as any printed materials we want the students to access. Reading text will always be an important part of the teacher’s compendium of tools, and the newer teaching methods and aids supplement rather than supplant reading.

professions. One of the best long-term outcomes of higher education could be the ability to read any kind o...

read. If I try to describe it as a psychologist, I would say that all the models have at their base “mindful learning” and “deep processing.” These two ideas come from many sources, but the ones I like the best are Ellen Langer (1997) for mindful learning and Marton and Säljö (1976a) for deep processing. Mindfulness refers to being aware and proactive in learning. Too many times we just read the words without thinkin...

You would be consciously checking around to see where you were in relation to where you wanted to be, looking for landmarks, and using the big picture of what you know about the area to guide you. That would be “mindfulness.”

These three “states” may actually describe what happens to students when they read. In the first case, their automatic reading behavior kicks, in and they essentially read without being aware of what they are reading, blindly highlighting the first sentence of every paragraph. Suddenly they find themselves at the end of the chapter without much idea of what was in it. Skipping, for a minute, to the third state, if students are given extremely precise instructions (like very specific questions that have a right answer), they follow the instructions closely, answer the questions carefully, but miss the big picture. The middle state, “mindfulness,” requires them to pay more attention to what they’re reading because they have a general goal of understanding, with some directions that focus on the overall intent.

Deep processing could be said to result from such mindful behavior. Marton and Säljö (1976a) describe deep processing as going beneath surface features to see the underlying structure of an idea or a reading, one that makes clear ...

The model reading process is the SQ3R

first S stands for Survey. Readers are encouraged to skim through the reading the first time to get a general impression of what the reading is about. They

Then comes the Q, which of course stands for Questions. Jotting down what look like the main ideas and turning them into questions is the main task here.

should encourage the students to build in some “why,” “how,” and “when” questions because those are the questions that lead to deeper processing, especially the “why” questions. The quest...

One idea that reading research advises for this phase is for the reader to create a visualization o...

a concept map, a flowchart, a decision tree, or ...

Study questions intended to guide the students’ reading are often helpful, especially for novice or beginning learners. Marton and Säljö (1976b) found that questions designed to produce more thoughtful, integr...

Marton and Säljö found that students sometimes tended to look only for answers to the questions while disregarding the other content of the chapter. Andre (1987) reviewed research on study questions and concluded that questions generally do aid learning and that higher-level questions, rather than low-level ...

able students, who are less likely to think in those terms in general. You need questions that get students to think about the material. One way to encourage thoughtful reading is to ask students to post their answer to a thought-provoki...

Read, Recite, Review.

there is strong evidence in the literature that when working with a problem-based text, a student should work out all the problems for him/herself, starting with the example problems that illustrate the author’s point

kind of evidence is given? Do you agree or disagree with the conclusion? There is ample evidence that students benefit from specific instruction in selecting main ideas, asking themselves questions, looking for organizational cues, and attempting to summarize or explain what they have read.

show students how it might be modified to fit different types of texts. For example, Williams (2005) suggests what she calls the SQ6R, a modification of our model strategy expanded to fit the needs of reading the research literature. Her steps include: Survey the reading first, write down some Questions that it seems to address, and then Read, Reflect, Review, Rehash, Rethink, and Re-evaluate. She has fou...

They found that the students didn’t have self-confidence in their ability to read articles, they weren’t interested in the topic, or they didn’t understand the imp...

frequent use of the phrase “As you read in your reading assignment for today…” or the question “What was your reaction to [the author of the reading]’s discussion of…?”

For example, have students write a one-minute paper at the beginning of occasional class periods on: “The most important idea (or two or three ideas) I got from the reading assignment for today.” Alternatively, you can have students write a question—either something they would like explained or something that was stimulated by the reading. The class then revolves around what they’ve written.

Probably the surest strategy is to announce that there will be a brief quiz of some kind on the assignment.

effect. The most unusual version was called the Monte Carlo system, developed by Peter Fernald in 2004. Under this system the students had reading questions that represented different levels of Bloom’s taxonomy that could be applied to any reading in the course. On the days when there were reading assignments, the instructor rolled some dice to determine whether or not there would be a quiz that day and which of the questions would be the quiz question (hence the name Monte Carlo quiz). The situation really increased students’ preparation for every reading assignment, but also heightened anxiety.

ways. One way was to have a quiz whenever there was a reading (non-random timing) and allow the students to use their notes. The second way was to have the students write learning logs based on a set of questions while they were reading, which were turned in every time there was a reading due. This time the dice were used to determine if the answers were graded or not, and which of the questions was graded.

Another example of something similar was described by McElwee (2009). He uses what he calls Participation Preparation Assignments that students work on before class. The PPAs are distributed at the end of the previous class and must be completed for the following class. The actual activities vary in format, from explaining a portion of the reading assignment in their own words to applying the reading content to a scenario appropriate to the topic. In the class period when these are due, the students spend some time working together in groups comparing their assignments and then presenting the result to the class as a whole. McElwee’s students reported that they completed more of the readings because they knew what to do, which made them feel more prepared and more confident in their ability to participate.

1. What students learn depends as much on your tests and methods of assessment as on your teaching, maybe even more. What is measured is often what ends up being valued, so be sure your measures reflect what you want the students to learn.

5. Some goals (values, motivation, attitudes, some skills) may not be measurable by conventional tests. Look for other evidence of their development.

6. Assessment is not synonymous with testing. You can assess students’ learning with classroom and out-of-class activities, what the experts refer to as embedded assessment.

8. Don’t rely on one or two tests to determine grades. Varied assessments will give you better evidence to determine an appropriate grade. This is what experts call triangulation of data, w...

If teachers attempt to go beyond the usual practice of asking simply for memory of information from the textbook or lectures, they are immediately deluged with the complaint, “These are the most ambiguous tests I have ever taken!”

Because some course examinations emphasize the recall of facts, many students demand teaching that emphasizes memorization of facts. One student wrote on a teacher evaluation, “The instructor is very interesting and worthwhile, but I have rated him low because he doesn’t give us enough facts. The sort of job I get will depend on my grades, and I have little chance of beating other students out for an A unless I can get a couple of pages of notes each period.”

learned.” Marton and Säljö (1976b) showed that questions demanding understanding rather than memory of detailed facts resulted in differing styles of studying for later tests and better retention. Foos and Fisher (1988) showed that tests requiring inferences enhanced learning more than those requiring memorized knowledge.

quizzes). Summing it all up in a meta-analysis, Basol and Johanson (2009) conclude that frequent tests have a positive effect on student achievement, even though the actual frequency doesn’t seem to matter as long as it’s greater than two a semester. They don’t have to be the major mid-semester type of marathon tests. The short pre- or postlecture mastery quizzes and questions spread throughout a lecture can be both assessments and spurs to learning. Kuo and Simon (2009) came to a similar conclusion, although they reported that monthly tests paired with good feedback to students seemed to look like the best alternative.

For example, in chemistry, mathematics, and engineering courses instructors now use fewer standard abstract problems that can be solved by algorithms, and instead present more problems that describe situations in which more than one approach could be used and in which alternative solutions are possible. Such “authentic” assessments are particularly appropriate for service learning situations.

authenticity. If they saw it as just another class assignment, their strategies for carrying it out were very different than if it was perceived as “real.” The former perspective lowered the depth of processing and the motivation level of the students. I recommend that you do as much as possible to make the task a real task with real significance in order to avoid the class assignment mentality Spence-Brown found.

Journals, research papers, and reports come closer to the goals of authentic assessment than do most conventional tests.

Journals are particularly useful in helping students develop critical reflection and self-awareness (Bolin, Khramtsova, and Saarnio, 2005; Connor-Greene, 2000; MacGregor, 1993; Rhoads and Howard, 1998).

They suggested that the quality of reflection can be improved by making expectations clearer, providing training for students, improving the relationship between the teacher and the stu...

A rubric is basically a carefully laid out analysis of the key characteristics of the assignment and how well the student met ...

In these instances, students learn about the criteria used for assessing their work, and they learn to apply those criteria to their work before they turn it in, a real benefit for the instructor. Some instructors have developed computer-based peer reviewing systems (called “calibrated peer review”) that involve students grading other students’ work online using a carefully refined rubric given by the instructor (Davies, 2000; Robinson, 2001).

“How can I assess group work?” First let’s be clear about what we’re assessing. You might be assessing student learning in the form of papers or products produced by the group or by members of the group. Or you might be assessing the way in which students worked together in the group, focusing on group process and teamwork more than on content learning.

You can also include an exam question relevant to the group projects on a unit test or final. Mostly, instructors ask each group to submit a single report, which the instructor evaluates.

To evaluate individual contributions to the group, I ask group members to simply describe the work contributed by other members without assessing its value. This allows them to be nonjudgmental, leaving the judgment calls up to me. Group members’ descriptions of each member’s contribution can be compared to get a more accurate picture of what each individual contributed. Other instructors have students distribute points according to the amount each student has contributed to the group’s work. I find, however, that most students have difficulty offering any assessment other than reporting each person as doing an equal amount.

At the beginning of a group-oriented project, I have a class discussion about what constitutes good group work. Once we all agree on the behaviors that fit that designation, I draw up a contract that all the students agree to. The peer assessment and my assessment of each student’s work are then based on those criteria. Because they have contributed to ...

Wilson and Sloane (2000) have provided a good description of the spirit behind embedded assessment. “By using the term embedded we mean that opportunities to assess student progress and performance are integrated into the instructional materials and are virtually indistinguishable from the everyday classroom activities” (p. 182). A great example of embedded assessments that has surfaced recently is the use of personal response systems in the classroom, as discussed in chapter 6 on lecturing and chapter 17, which focuses on technology. What sets embedded assessments apart from just plain classroom activities and makes them “assessment” is that the instructor can gather inform...

For example, in my class the students are constantly working on applying the ideas we are discussing to their future professional situations by responding to scenarios on an in-class activity sheet. The sheet forms the basis of our discussions and lets me and the students know if they are understanding the concepts. If the students were actually out in the field observing children’s behavior, their field notes and write-ups could be used as assessments as well.

We all want students who are motivated to learn. These are the students who choose to attend class regularly, participate constructively, persist when learning is difficult, make the effort to prepare for class and to study effectively, who solicit help when they need it, and who translate all this into academic success. Knowing more about how students are motivated, and what you can do to structure a class that positively affects student motivation, can make a significant difference in student engagement and learning.