Effective Teaching at Bilkent
University to Engage Learners
A workshop developed for
Bilkent University by
Gordon Suddaby
Gordon Suddaby - g.t.suddaby@massey.ac.nz
Rationale
If students are to learn desired outcomes in a reasonably effective
manner, then the teacher’s fundamental task is to get students to
engage in learning activities that are likely to result in their
achieving those outcomes...It is helpful to remember that what the
student does is actually more important in determining what is
learned than what the teacher does.
Thomas J. Shuell (1986) cited in Biggs and Tang (2007)
Overview
 This workshop will focus on developing and enhancing
approaches which engage students in the Teaching – Learning
relationship that you, as Bilkent teachers are responsible for.
The workshop will draw from research-based theory, including
John Bigg’s notion of constructive alignment, to explore how the
elements that go to create effective university learning i.e.
curriculum design, assessment, teaching approaches, learning
resources, motivation, relevance, and relationship development
may be brought together to achieve successful outcomes to
provide a range of strategies able to be used in your teaching.
Programme for the workshop
 9.00
 9.20
 10.30
 10.40
 11.40
 11.50
 13.00
 13.30
 14.00
 14.30
Setting the Scene
Evaluating and improving Teaching
Break
Assessing Student Learning
Break
Active Learning
Lunch (provided)
Motivating Students
Academic Integrity
Close
Your Expectations
 On the paper provided, please indicate your reason for
attending this workshop.
 Also list up to 5 expectations that you have arising from
your attendance;
 NB this will be collected in at the end of the workshop,
but will be anonymous and will be used for my purposes
of evaluation and improvement.
Intended learning outcomes
Participants will be able to:
 articulate an understanding of student learning and how this relates
to effective teaching practice;
 identify and implement effective teaching and learning strategies;
 identify and apply key assessment concepts;
 establish and maintain productive student-teacher learning
relationships
 Identify and implement a range of strategies that will enhance
student engagement, motivation and success
 identify and use a variety of strategies for gaining feedback on
teaching
Setting the Scene
Introducing the assumptions, theory, research
evidence and principles that underpin effective
university teaching and learning
Is this how we feel after a semester
of teaching?
Activity 1:
What are the teaching and learning issues
that are foremost in your minds?
 In Departmental/Faculty pairs identify as many teaching
and learning issues as you can which affect your
Department/Faculty
 Combine with another pair, compare your list and
identify the top four issues
 Be prepared to discuss these with the whole group
 Think about how these impact on the quality of
teaching!!!
What are Bilkent’s view’s of teaching...
The Bilkent website states that;
 “Good teaching is essential for all”.
The website goes on to define quality teaching when it states:
 “Quality means making the students learn by stimulating their
interest in the topic, by challenging their capabilities, and by
encouraging active participation and ‘doing’”
The website also stresses that;
 “Learning means more than rote memorization of facts; hence
teachers are expected to enhance students analytical, critical, and
independent thinking abilities”.
 What are the implications of this ‘policy’?
What does the literature say about
good teachers?
 Good teachers are;
 Knowledgeable about their subject
 Adopt an organised and systematic approach to their
teaching
 Are enthusiastic and interesting
 Respect their students
 Have high expectations of their students performance
From: Prebble, Hargraves, Leach, Naidoo, Suddaby and Zepke
(2005)
Activity 2: What is teaching all about?
 “All teachers have some theory of what teaching is when
they are doing it, even if they are not explicitly aware of
that theory...”
Gow and Kember, 1993 cited in Biggs and Tang, 2007,
p.15.
 Task (from Biggs and Tang, 2007, p.16)
What are your theories of teaching and
learning?
Learning is........
Teaching is.......
Activity 2: What is teaching all about?
 “All teachers have some theory of what teaching is when
they are doing it, even if they are not explicitly aware of
that theory...”
Gow and Kember, 1993 cited in Biggs and Tang, 2007,
p.15.
 Task (from Biggs and Tang, 2007, p.16
What are your theories of teaching and learning?
Learning is........
Teaching is.......
 Share your ideas with the person next to you
and identify common points
Some assumptions about teaching
 Teaching is a process not an event
 There is no one right way to teach, but there are many ways





to teach better
Both teachers AND students are responsible for learning
Learning is more likely to occur if the process has been
planned
Assessment drives learning
Learning occurs best in a relevant context
And most importantly...
Teachers want to teach better
Some assumptions about learners?
Learners are individuals needing to be engaged through
approaches that support interactivity, collaboration,
reflection, critique, and personalisation and;









normally start with high motivation to succeed
learn quickly when new learning is linked to prior knowledge
may have to unlearn some things
like to see the relevance of what they are learning
learn best when they are physically and mentally comfortable
like to be actively involved and engaged
like to contribute to the learning journey
need to experience success
Are usually good judges of their own competence and performance
Thinking about teaching
Biggs has suggested that there are three levels of
thinking about teaching
 Level 1 focus: What the student is
 Level 2 focus: What the teacher does
 Level 3 focus: What the student does
Biggs and Tang, (2007) chap. 2
Activity 3:
Models of Teaching (Biggs and Tang)
Form groups of 3
Members of each group will be given an extract from
Biggs and Tang (Chap 2) to read and discuss (either
the extract on Level 1, Level 2, or Level 3)
Task:
Your task is to become an ‘expert’ on the material in
your extract so that you are able to explain it to
others.
Models of teaching
Reform in groups of 3 with a level 1, 2, and 3, reader in
each group.
In turn each group member will explain their extract to
the other two group members.
Then the whole group will discuss the 3 models.
Write down and be prepared to report on:
 Comments the group has about the three models?
 How valid are these as representations?
 Where the groups theories of teaching and learning (noted
earlier) agree/disagree with those of Biggs and Tang?
 What further questions are raised
Model 1: Focus on what the student is
 Teachers tend to look at the student differences, i.e. the ‘good’
students and the ‘bad’ students
 The teacher is responsible for the content so in order to learn the
students must;
 Attend lectures/classes
 Listen carefully
 Take full notes
 Do the reading
 Regurgitate the information in exams and assessments
 It is a ‘blame the student’ approach based on student deficits
including; motivation, intelligence, attitude, study skills and
aptitude etc
Biggs and Tang, 2007
Model 2: Focus on what the student
does
 Teachers try to ‘manage’ learning by using a battery of
strategies (a ‘how to’ approach) by;
Establishing procedural rules
Ensuring clarity – voice, visuals, board work, ...
Establishing eye-contact
Using a wide variety of strategies
 It’s a ‘blame the teacher’ approach as it assumes that teaching
involves the application of a range of strategies and
competencies which are easy to quantify.
Model 3: Focus on what the student
does
 This is a ‘student-centred’ approach. The focus is on
approaches that cause and support student learning and it
will include a range of strategies which are integral to the
approach by;
Assisting students to understand facts, concepts and
principles
Using appropriate teaching/learning activities
Engaging students on tasks focused on the learning outcomes
Some thoughts on teaching and
learning...
 Clearly, not all learning is dependent on
teaching...However, all teaching regardless of quality is
predicated on learning. (Brown, p.223 in Ellis, 1993)
 Teaching makes learning possible. Ramsden, p.114, 1992)
 Instructional difficulties do not occur because faculty are
inept, or students capricious, they occur because
components of the activities don’t fit the instructional
circumstances in which they are used. Menges andWeimer,
p.151, 1996.
What is learning?
 Criteria
that indicates learning has
occurred involves;
 A change in a person’s behaviour or ability to
do something
 A stipulation that this change must result from
some sort of practice or experience
 A stipulation that the change is an enduring one
Approaches to Learning
Learning as a Process which involves;
 Constructivism
 Deep and surface learning
These in turn involve;
 Authenticity
 Activity
 Engagement
The constructivist approach
 Learning is an active process
 New knowledge is linked to existing knowledge
 Knowledge is developed in an organised manner
 There are multiple forms of knowledge
 Learning is a social act
 Learning is context dependent
 Learning focuses on cognitive processes and
strategies
 Intrinsic motivation is critical
Surface Learning
 Motivation is extrinsic (either +ve or –ve
 Involves rote learning and memorisation
 Only what is necessary is done
 Focuses on material delivered in lectures
 May not see connections or transferability
 Shortcuts are used
 Little engagement with the content
Surface learning-type courses involve;
heavy workload
 Long class hours
 Excessive course materials
 Lack of opportunity to pursue subjects in depth
 Lack of choice over topics
 Lack of choice over study methods
 A ‘threatening’ testing system
 A
Deep Learning
 Intrinsic motivation
 Learners seek meaning and to satisfy curiosity
 Learners develop much content knowledge
 Learners operate at a high level of
conceptualisation
 Learning is enjoyable
 Time and effort is put into learning (sometimes
too much)
 Learner reflects on learning and thinks about how
to learn
Encouraging deep learning
 Emphasis on the knowledge base
 Learner is interested in the field – high
motivation
 Interaction between learner, learners and teacher,
and learner and content
 Learner actively participates
 (The learner is more than a ‘spectator’)
Effective learning occurs when;
 What is already known is accessed
 New learning builds on what is already known
 The lecturer engages the learner (minds on)
Learning occurs not by recording information,
but by interpreting it and making it ours.
Resnick
The Bottom Line: The six characteristics
of teaching and learning
1. Entails encounters with challenging ideas and
people
2. Requires active engagement with those
challenges
3. Occurs best in a supportive environment
4. Involves real-world activities
5. Is a relational, social activity
6. Is unbounded by time or place
P. T. Terenzini and E. T. Pascarella (2004)
The Challenges Ahead
 Align what we do with what we know.
 In looking to improve forget about Silver Bullets.
 Think systemically.
 Think collaboratively.
 Use the 6 characteristics of learning and
development as touchstones in program planning,
development, and evaluation
 Focus on first-year students.
2004 P. T. Terenzini and E. T. Pascarella
Some questions for you as a teacher to
consider
 What is your teaching philosophy?
 What are your teaching goals ?
 What do you know about your students ?
 How does your course fit with previous courses?
 How does your course link with subsequent courses?
 How does your course fit into the overall programme being





offered?
What do you want your students to learn?
How can you give them the best chance of learning this?
How can you find out if they have learned it?
How can you judge the effectiveness of your teaching?
What do you know about yourself as a teacher?
Activity 4: Reflections
 Take any three of the questions listed on the previous slide
and;
1. Provide brief responses that answer each question
2. Show how the answers link together
3. Identify where there are gaps or disjunctions
4. Write down what you might do about these
5. Write down a question that remains in your mind.
Activity 4: Reflections
 Take any three of the questions listed on the previous slide
and;
1. Provide brief responses that answer each question
2. Show how the answers link together
3. Identify where there are gaps or disjunctions
4. Write down what you might do about these
5. Write down a question that remains in your mind.
6. Share your responses in a small group and identify
any points of interest/concern that you are happy
to share with the whole group
So
It would seem that one of the big questions
might be;
 How do I know how well I am teaching?
 How can I ensure my students learn what they
should learn?
AND
 How can I continue to improve?