Innovative Methods of Teaching

Innovative Methods of Teaching

      We think of the effective teachers we have had over the years with a sense of recognition, but those who have touched our humanity we remember with a deep sense of gratitude.

Dr.V.S.Damodharan and Mr.V.Rengarajan
Faculty, Business Studies Department, Higher College of Technology
Sultanate of Oman

     We think too much about effective methods of teaching and not enough about effective methods of learning.


ABSTRACT/PURPOSE

    Evaluate traditional methods of teaching as well as multimedia teaching methods teaching must include two major components sending and receiving information.
     Any communication methods that serve this purpose without destroying the objective could be considered as innovative methods of teaching.

Benefits of innovative methods

•   Improve Learning process
• Strengthen governance

IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION
       All religions attaches  great importance to knowledge and education. When the Qur'an began to be revealed, the first word of its first verse was 'Iqra' that is, read. A scholar (alim) is accorded great respect in the hadith. “Education is the manifestation of perfection already in man” – (Swami Vivekananda)
They are not students of our generation, where they sit down and listen. I think things have changed now; they want to explore, cut and paste.


ANALYSIS OF TRADITIONAL METHOD OF TEACHING
Pre-technology education context, the teacher is the sender or the source.

The educational material is the information or message.

The student is the receiver of the information.

The delivery medium
   chalk-and- talk” method
   overhead projector (OHP) transparencies.

In such a lecture students assume a purely passive role and their concentration fades off after 15-20 minutes.

LIMITATIONS

• Teaching in classroom using chalk and talk is “one way flow” of information
• Teachers often continuously talk for an hour without knowing students response  and feedback.
• The material presented is only based on lecturer notes and textbooks.
• There is insufficient interaction with students in classroom.
• More emphasis has been given on theory without any practical and real life time situations.
• Learning from memorization but not understanding.

Innovative Methods of Teaching

I hear and I forget. I see and I believe. I do and I understand. - Confucius
The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.-  Winston Churchill 

MULTIMEDIA LEARNING PROCESS

• Text
• Image
• Audio
• Video
• Animation

TRADITIONAL AND MULTIMEDIA LEARNING
TRADITIONAL METHOD – A ONE WAY FLOW

MIND MAP
Innovative way – Mind Map. 
Developed by Tony Buzan 1960.

Making notes with keywords and images.
visual and sensory tools at our disposal.
Recollect information for long time.


AN EXAMPLE OF MIND MAP FOR SCALAR QUANTITIES


TEACHING WITH SENSE OF HUMOUR

• Laughter is a natural, universal phenomenon, with beneficial effects, both physical and psychological.  
• Everyone loves a teacher with an infectious sense of humor.
• Cordial relationship.
• Ability to relax people and reduce tension.
• Advertising strategy.

Cartoon
-When there is a willingness to change, there is hope for progress in any field.
Students enjoys humor in forms of funny anecdotes 


Z TO A  APPROACH
This approach attempts to explain the application part of a particular concept first.

Strengths
Makes a particular concept clear.
Students develop interest to know exactly the concept.
Creates long lasting memory/correlation of a concept.

Weaknesses
take quite long time for a teacher to introduce a concept
Initial difficulty in understanding a particular concept will be encountered.

 

LEANING TOWER OF PISA EXPERIMENT –  EXAMPLE TO Z – A APPROACH

MNEMMONICS -  WORDS- WORDS –WORDS APPROACH 

• Concept approach.
• Associated meaning.
• Increase word power
• Dictionary.

ROLE PLAYING AND SCENARIO ANALYSIS BASED TEACHING

• Role playing
• Practical approach
• Theory supplemented by practical.

INNOVATIONS

• Internet ready phones
• Handheld computers
• Digital cameras
• Mp3 players
• Laptops
• Elearning

TEACHER THE GREATEST INNOVATOR

•  Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. 
• To teach is to learn twice. 
• Teachers should guide without dictating, and participate without dominating 
• The critical factor is not class size but rather the nature of the teaching as it affects learning. 

"LEARNING NEVER ENDS"