Why is Teaching Effectiveness Important?

Effective teaching is an important part of ensuring students are able to achieve their goals. It also has a positive impact on their wellbeing and the environment in which they learn. Teachers have an immense impact on their students, helping them to learn and develop into successful members of society. This is why it is so crucial that effective teaching practices are developed and sustained throughout a student’s education career.

Improved Learning Outcomes

Effective teaching is an important part of a student’s learning experience. It involves consistent reflection on your strategies and conduct to identify areas of improvement so that you can develop your teaching practice and grow as an educator.

Unlike learning objectives, which describe specific information or knowledge that students must acquire for a course or program, learning outcomes address the ways in which learners will use their acquired skills and knowledge. Good learning outcomes prepare students for assessment and help them understand why their knowledge and skills are valuable to them in their professional, personal, and academic lives.

Research has shown that teacher effectiveness is a significant factor in student achievement. Although many teachers are evaluated based on standardized test performance, there is growing interest in exploring other important teacher outcomes that influence student learning and success.

Increased Self-Efficacy

A key reason why increased self-efficacy is important in teaching is that it is a key driver of students’ performance. If a student feels they can perform well, they are likely to persist in a difficult task.

This can be achieved through various sources, including mastery experiences, vicarious experience (observing another person do a similar task), verbal persuasion (giving students the opportunity to hear or see others succeed at a particular task), and physiological arousal (emotional state).

In addition, teachers can build student self-efficacy through teaching strategies that are designed to enhance learning outcomes. These include presenting students with options and choices, communicating recent successes, encouraging them to make positive changes in their behaviour, and more.

Teaching Effectiveness – Better Relationships with Students

Strong student-teacher relationships have a positive effect on learning, research shows. That’s especially true for students from under-resourced backgrounds who may be at risk for academic failure.

To build a good relationship, it’s important to spend time getting to know your students and finding out what makes them tick. It’s also important to provide them with constructive feedback and reminders for assignments.

Having a good relationship with your students can reduce feelings of isolation and increase their motivation to learn. This is because teachers who connect with their students often are able to help them overcome challenges they might face.

A recent study by University of Missouri researchers found that better teacher-student relationships impacted teaching practices more than any other factor surveyed. The findings could help support improved student outcomes, prevent teacher burnout and stem teacher shortages.

Teaching Effectiveness – Enhanced Motivation

The ability to motivate students is important because it helps them engage in learning activities that are meaningful and worthwhile. It also encourages them to persist in applying effort over time and trying new approaches.

Motivation is influenced by many factors, including the student’s psychological needs for autonomy, competence and connection or belonging. By meeting these needs, teachers can improve the level of motivation in their students and achieve greater teaching effectiveness.

For example, giving students a clear goal for a task can increase their interest, motivation and self-efficacy in a learning activity.

Similarly, giving students choices and empowering them to make decisions can enhance their sense of control and competence. Moreover, it can also increase their risk taking and help them develop a sense of ownership over their learning.