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About Teaching
According to statistics compiled by The Chronicle of Higher Education, nearly half the students enrolled in higher education attend community colleges. The faculty at these colleges have significant teaching and advising responsibilities, while community colleges are often referred to as ‘teaching institutions’ with a student-centered faculty that is believed to place teaching first and the discipline second. Since these faculty have no significant research responsibilities and spend most of their working time teaching, offering guidance, and holding office hours. Many students in community colleges are academically unprepared, deficient in basic academic skills (English, mathematics, reading), and unsure of long‑term career goals; and they often choose majors inappropriate for their abilities.
One of the most widely respected and widely read authorities on the subject of college teaching is Kenneth Eble. In The Craft of Teaching, Eble claimed that research on the characteristics of effective teaching, dating from early in the century to the present, has arrived at consistent findings:
Drawing from years of research on higher education, students, and faculty, Chickering and Gamson proposed seven characteristics of the effective teacher:
One of the most widely respected and widely read authorities on the subject of college teaching is Kenneth Eble. In The Craft of Teaching, Eble claimed that research on the characteristics of effective teaching, dating from early in the century to the present, has arrived at consistent findings:
Drawing from years of research on higher education, students, and faculty, Chickering and Gamson proposed seven characteristics of the effective teacher:
- Encourages contact between students and faculty members;
- Develops reciprocity and cooperation among students;
- Uses active learning, techniques, having students talk and write about what they learn and relate it to their background and daily lives;
- Gives feedback promptly;
- Emphasizes time spent in class on particular tasks;
- Communicates high expectations; and,
- Respects diverse talents and ways of learning.