Teaching Strategies

In accordance to my teaching philosophy, I am always on the lookout for new and interesting ways to deliver the material and engage the students. However, I refuse to make use of cool technology just for the sake of trying out something new and fancy. For example, while the students might enjoy a remote lesson using video conferencing, it is simply not as effective as face-to-face classroom teaching. On the other hand, there may be interesting and effective ways to usefully employ technologies like Google Docs and Twitter in the classroom. I just haven't got around to investigating them properly yet - something that I certainly plan on doing in the near future. In the meantime, I try to make use of traditional methods as effectively as possible.

I am a big proponent of using the whiteboard. During tutorials, I usually craft a solution step by step and explain how each step is derived on the whiteboard, asking students to supply the next step whenever possible. Compared to just showing the solution on the projection screen, this practice allows students to see the process of coming up with the solution rather than just the solution itself.

State Machine for a Library Book object, demonstrated in painful detail

Of course, this is the age of technology, so I'll have students doing this:

I also use games in my classroom, mostly as an ice-breaker (see below). Other than that, I don't really do anything too special. I ask a lot of questions, come up with interesting analogies whenever possible, and crack a few jokes to keep the mood light. In my slides I use images, animations and videos (sparingly!) where appropriate so that they're not just staring a words on a screen for an hour and a half. When I give the students a break during lessons, I usually chat with them about inconsequentials - my interest in computer games and popular culture helps a lot in that regard. It's not rocket surgery. :)

I've uploaded a couple of actual lesson plans for AOOAD in the Files section at the end of this page in case anyone's interested.

The rest of this section provides a bunch of links to posts on my blog that are related to my teaching strategies. By the way, if you have thoughts on any of my posts, please, please make a comment on the blog. As I write this, I have a grand total of zero comments, and it feels like I'm talking to myself over there. Anybody?

*crickets*

Classroom Games

One of my favourite tactics is to play a game in class. This is likely to appeal to today's DOTA and Candy Crush generation, and a little healthy competition can wake up a sleepy class. On the other hand, classroom games are time-consuming and are unlikely to be directly related to the material being taught, so it is best to do so sparingly. Honestly, the best thing about running a game in class is that you can build a nice rapport with the students and get a reputation for being a fun lecturer. That's not too bad a result, though, is it?

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