What makes you any effective instructor?
what makes you any effective instuctor?
One area that seems to have not been listed here is modeling. Not just modeling content, or modeling professional ability, but modeling a passion for knowledge and learning. That is one way that I am communicating that I am an effective Instructor/leader. I seek out education, share my journey and outcome. It keeps me "real' and "approachable" to students when they know I am in the same boat...just on a different level.
Another aspect that's important: inspiration. I feel that inspiring students to try something new, to step outside of their comfort zone, and expand their knowledge is key.
Teresa,
Simple things like this are what make the difference in the earning of student respect and creating rapport with them. Your presence and approach sets the tone for a positive class to come.
Gary
I am always 15 minutes early. I greet each student by name as they come into the room and tell them how nice it is to see them. I always start and end on time. I am always enthused about the topic and give lots of real world examples.
Hi Brent,
I agree with you about the need for both compassion and caring. Both of these are critical for student success. Also, by extending these two emotions as an instructor I know I value even more the growth that my students make because I know the challenges they are facing in their personal lives. Thanks for sharing this perspective with us.
Gary
While all these factors are definitely good... I also think there are a couple more that are truly more subjective... but just as important. Compassion and Caring! I have taught traditional undergrads for almost 25 years now and have only been teaching online with non-traditional learners for only four years now. The biggest success factor for my courses starts with caring about each student and wanting to know them beyond their name and geographic location. Getting to know about their families and who's been deployed etc... goes a long way towards being successful. Having compassion with regards to the many issues they face as returning adult learners is critical! I tend to measure instructor success based upon student motivation. At the end of the day we are only facilitators and we must rely on student motivation... get to know them and help motivate them.
-Brent
Hi Dr. Okpala,
Good points all. You have shared with us a comprehensive list that if each item is followed contributes to an effective instructor that is respected by students. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Gary
A lot of factors contribute to making one an effective instructor. For me, coming to class on time, teaching the course content, creating a classroom environment where students can blossom and grow, asking challenging questions to my students - just to make sure they're understanding the concepts of the topic, grading and embedding comments on areas students need to improve on and areas they did great on their papers, responding to students emails within 24 -48 hrs. All these factors when combine together make me an effective instructor.
Hi Sylvia,
Can you expand on your question?
Gary
