Introduction
It is certain that educators and the methods that they apply in practice while teaching can directly affect the outcomes of the students, which is why teachers are willing to improve when it comes to delivering information and managing classes. The potential beneficial outcomes include the student’s ability to retain, understand, and utilize information, as well as the opportunities to improve knowledge-wise and achieve high academic results. However, multiple negative correlations may occur that can be minimized by applying certain strategies. Thus, the goal of teachers is to improve learning, and an excellent way for this to be facilitated is to reach it through specific strategies. This paper argues that being resilient, reducing anxiety, giving students power, applying technology, implementing effective leadership, addressing communication, and including students in educational practices can be beneficial for improving teaching and learning.
Educational Strategies to Improve Learning
As mentioned prior, several evidence-based techniques can be applied by educators to improve teaching. Improving teaching ultimately leads to better learning for students, which is the goal of any academic process. The techniques that will be mentioned are based on research and studies that have shown the practical integration and efficiency of the measures in educational settings. Improved teaching and efficient learning can be facilitated through:
- Resilience
- Anxiety reduction
- Creative classroom implementations
- Technological advancements
- Effective Leadership
- Communication between mentors and students
- Integration of students in the academic process.
The first proposed strategy is improving resilience. Flexibility is essential for an educator, which was proven during the COVID-19 pandemic when multiple schools had to quickly switch to remote modes. According to researchers, teachers familiar with e-learning techniques and other nuanced measures can facilitate positive learning outcomes (Logan et al., 2021). Another addition can be a focus on anxiety reduction, which is critical for students whose well-being is at risk because of the mental aspect of someone evaluating their work. Researchers highlight that fear during tests can negatively impact the results, which is why it is to be compromised (Cooper & Brownell, 2020). Thus, educators are to explain that evaluating one’s current knowledge does not have to be a stressful process. Another measure is based on creativity and creating an environment in which students can be actively involved in the teaching process. This implies the integration of flip classroom experiences in which students gain expertise in becoming mentors themselves (Awidi & Paynter, 2019). Such initiatives have been observed to be beneficial for learning and lead to an improvement in student satisfaction.
Adding technology to the process can become an excellent way for students to be more interested in the information that is being shared while being comfortable with the way it is being expressed. One way to do that is by applying blended learning, which is a hybrid approach combining regular teaching with technology (Bouilheres et al., 2020). As a result, students will be inclined to perform various projects while maintaining communication with the educator and not feeling overwhelmed, similar to the typical overview of fully remote experiences. Thus, the concept, which implies the combination of two techniques, does not limit the learners in terms of ways to receive information, allowing both strategies to remain relevant and efficiently applied in practice. It is also important to consider changing the leadership style. According to current literature, leadership in an academic setting is directly linked to outcomes, which shows whether learning is effective or not (Leithwood et al., 2019). Furthermore, teachers are to have open and transparent communication sessions with students in which concerns, suggestions, and recommendations are discussed (Petillion & McNeil, 2020). Last but not least, making students an active part of the educational setting through peer assessment can help learners understand the concept evaluations better (Li et al., 2019). This has a beneficial impact on the understanding of how evaluation works, which motivates students to increase their academic results through learning.
Conclusion
Effective teaching and focused learning are two interconnected concepts that depend on each other. An educator that can change and improve based on the needs of the student can facilitate excellent academic results. While each student is different regarding learning needs, preferences, and the outcomes that follow, certain techniques can be integrated for a general improvement in information retention and creating a beneficial environment in the classroom. Thus, an educational setting can become proficient in terms of learning if specific techniques are integrated into the process by mentors who aim to compromise risks related to inefficient teaching. The evidence-based approaches are exemplified through relevant literature and research highlighting their practical efficiency. Teachers are to improve their resilience, reduce classroom anxiety, implement creative ideas, add technology to the process, improve their leadership styles, communicate with students openly, and include them in the academic process. These measures have been observed to be effective in improving academic outcomes, which directly highlights how educators can directly affect the way students perceive information, understand it, and retain it. Such initiatives can have favorable implications in terms of classroom activities, motivation, and grades facilitated by focused learning.
References
Awidi, I. T., & Paynter, M. (2019). The impact of a flipped classroom approach on Student Learning Experience. Computers & Education, 128, 269–283. Web.
Bouilheres, F., Le, L. T., McDonald, S., Nkhoma, C., & Jandug-Montera, L. (2020). Defining student learning experience through blended learning. Education and Information Technologies, 25(4), 3049–3069. Web.
Cooper, K. M., & Brownell, S. E. (2020). Student anxiety and fear of negative evaluation in Active Learning Science Classrooms. Active Learning in College Science, 909–925. Web.
Leithwood, K., Sun, J., & Schumacker, R. (2019). How school leadership influences student learning: A test of “The four paths model.”Educational Administration Quarterly, 56(4), 570–599. Web.
Li, H., Xiong, Y., Hunter, C. V., Guo, X., & Tywoniw, R. (2019). Does peer assessment promote student learning? A meta-analysis.Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 45(2), 193–211. Web.
Logan, R. M., Johnson, C. E., & Worsham, J. W. (2021). Development of an e-learning module to facilitate student learning and outcomes.Teaching and Learning in Nursing, 16(2), 139–142. Web.
Petillion, R. J., & McNeil, W. S. (2020). Student experiences of emergency remote teaching: Impacts of instructor practice on student learning, engagement, and well-being.Journal of Chemical Education, 97(9), 2486–2493. Web.