Teaching Methodology in Higher Education

Teaching Methodology in Higher Education

Om Prakash
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-5888-2.ch354
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Background

The process of learning goes on throughout the life of a learner. Teachers are the best learners since teaching a topic requires a thorough understanding of the issues involved. Learning is facilitated by the learner communicating his knowledge. Students could be engaged in activities relevant to the learning. (Marton, 1976) According to Ilich:

Learning is the human activity which least needs manipulation by others. Most learning is not the result of instruction. It is rather the result of unhampered participation in a meaningful setting. Most people learn best by being with it; yet school makes them identify their personal cognitive growth with elaborate planning and manipulation. (Illich, 1971)

Lecture can be defined in various ways. One of the definitions comes from Professor Davis which seems more appropriate: “The classroom lecture is a special form of communication in which voice, gesture, movement, facial expression, and eye contact can either complement or detract from the content.” (Davis, 2009, 148) So if education is an important nation building exercise, lecturing is a tool to achieve this objective.

By explaining a concept to someone, an individual increases his understanding. Many teachers report that they hardly had the understanding of a subject until they taught it. When comprehension of a concept is the learning objective, instructing students to “pen down their understanding briefly can be a meaningful engagement in a large lecture hall.” (Mc Keachie et al., 1994) Interaction can be defined in terms of the amount of attention paid to learners’ needs, responses, and pedagogical concerns. Such sensitivity appears to have an inverse relationship with the complexity of the subject-matter being taught. (Borko et al., 1990)

Key Terms in this Chapter

Lecture: Process of communication between speaker and listener.

Pedagogy: Art of effective teaching.

Education: Act of imparting knowledge and rational thinking.

Learning: Accumulation of knowledge by systematic efforts.

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