1、1The Comparative Study on Teaching Methods Between NIT and VUWAbstract: This paper firstly describes the current teaching at Nanyang Institute of Technology (NIT) in China, and then, uses a set of Wh-Questions to evaluate the teaching methods within NIT by comparative analysis with teaching methods
2、at Victoria University of Wellington (VUW). In the light of the learning opportunities, The paper finally puts forward the strategies to change the current teaching state and teacher training at NIT in order to improve the quality of teaching. Key words: teaching methods, teacher training, evaluatio
3、n. 1 The current teaching at NIT There are forty students in a class at NIT. One teacher is usually in charge with two or three courses in different classes in a whole semester with certain textbooks. So a teacher has to teach various courses in different classes for four or six hours every day. Sim
4、ultaneously, the students sit quietly to listen to lectures without raising questions while they take notes. It means the teacher crams English grammar, 2vocabularies, reading skills, listening skills and examination skills to the students. They have to passively accept what the teacher gives. Durin
5、g the whole teaching process, the teacher is a speaker to convey information to the students, without any feedback from the students. 2 Observation teaching at VUW There are fifteen students in every class. Two teachers are in charge with one class. According to students level, teachers adopt differ
6、ent guidelines to teach the students. In the class, the teacher gives the students adequate time and flexible activities to pratice. After class, homework helps the students accumulate information and, finally the teacher sets up their own perspective by using what the students have learned. It mean
7、s the teachers and the students regard the class as a placde to obtain knowledge. Of course, the teachers and the students regularly get feedback. It helps the teacher know students deficiencies in learning and the teachers can change his or her teaching activity immediately so that the students can
8、 improve their learning ability as soon as possible. 3 Evaluation on teaching in the class at NIT with a set of Wh-Questions 3Teaching in the NIT classroom is to create the environment for students who can easily convey their ideas. (Tudor, 2000) In order to evaluate teaching in the classroom at NIT
9、, I use a set of Wh-Questions (why, who for, who, what, how, and when) to guide the evaluation. 3.1 What is the purpose of doing the evaluation in the first place The aim of an evaluation is to design teacher strategies to reduce teachers burden in teaching, design good strategies for training teach
10、ers and to improve the quality of teaching. 3.2 Who among the stakeholders want to know the value of what is being done? This information will be valuable for the administrators. This will help them design better teaching programmes, the administrator is able to value what is being done, and seeks s
11、olutions. As well, the teachers purpose is to foster students by improving the quality of teaching. They should be concerned about strategies to improve their classroom practice when teaching. 3.3 Who should carry out the evaluation? The evaluation must be undertaken by an insider, such as an admini
12、strator, teachers and students. 4From teachers and students feedback, the administrator knows their reflection on each other, then he or she give them fair evaluations. So the teachers know how to change the teaching plan or how to negotiate with the students. The students are likely to realize thei
13、r weakness and strength in learning. After reflection and negotiation, both of them can cooperate with each other well in the classroom. During the teaching process in the classroom, they are going to evaluate each other again until the administrator and the teacher find out new solutions. 3.4 What
14、exactly is being evaluated? The teaching process is the main aspect being evaluated. The whole teaching process shows how the teacher guides the students to do activities in the classroom, how the teacher gives the feedback to the students and, whether the feedback is proper for the students, and so
15、 on. 3.5 How will the what be evaluated? Three types of evaluation tools will be used. They are tests, questionnaires and observation. Test easily offers outcomes of learning to the administrator and the teacher. By analysing outcomes, deficiencies are found during learning process. Questionnaires h
16、elp the administrator know what 5teachers and students think about. From the students reaction in the class the teacher knows whether they are interested in the class or not, and we still know whether they can catch what the teacher said or not. 3.6 When will the evaluation take place? The evaluatio
17、n will take place at the end of the lesson. When the lesson is finished, the administrator is able to analyse the feedback to evaluate the whole teaching process. Then the proper strategies can be designed to assist with teaching and teacher training. Ultimately the quality of teaching will be impro
18、ved. 4 Comparative analysis by evaluation By observing teaching, teaching management at NIT is not prescriptive and strict. teachers do not prepare for the lesson well because they undertake two or three courses at a time. The teachers have no time to design various activities in the classroom. They
19、 have no chance to have a meeting, in which they can exchange their teaching methods and, negotiate how they will do better than before to remedy their teaching weaknesses. Without financial support, the teachers are unwilling to improve their teaching methods and renew their old teaching concepts a
20、nd knowledge. Furthermore, traditional study habits 6in China are give-andaccept between teachers and students. The students seldom ask questions to the teachers unless they think their questions are worth raising. That is, the teachers and the students have almost no communication. It is impossible
21、 for the teachers and the students to get regular feedback from each other, even if they have examinations, which is a way to give students a score. Last but not least, the amount of students in one class is so large. There are only fifteen students in the class, just like a kind of tutorial, which
22、is easy for teachers to manage a class. Whereas, there are forty students in a class at NIT, obviously it is harder for teachers to teach them. 5 Changes in teaching at NIT 5.1 Reduce teachers burden in teaching To reduce the NIT teachers burden the large class has to be divided into small classes t
23、he same as tutorials at VUW. The tutorials function is not to instruct, but to set the students the task of expressing his thought articulately, and then to assist them in subjecting their creation to critical examination and reconstructing it (Moore,1968). The tutor is not expected to have a specia
24、lists knowledge of all the facts of the students course, but he or she must know where the 7facts are to be found and how to handle them (Moore,1968). So senior students are hired as tutors to help lecturers fulfil the teaching purpose. In this way, the shortage of teaches at NIT is tackled. Of cour
25、se, it is important to give the teachers more financial support in teaching to attract high quality teachers. 5.2 Teacher strategies The classroom actions taken by teachers were experienced by students. The teachers at VUW create learning opportunities for the students by effective learning activiti
26、es, and enable the students to incorporate their capacities and interpretations with their interests, preferences and enthusiasms. There are two steps to carry out ideal teaching at NIT. One is interactive teaching (Cooper and McIntgre, 1996). The teacher integrates knowledge of students with proact
27、ive plans, places the main emphasis on preset learning goals and the demands of the curriculum. Another is reactive teaching (Cooper and McIntgre, 1996). Teachers evolves plans more directly from their knowledge of students. The teachers are willing to adjust learning objectives in order to cater fo
28、r the students interests and intention. In this stage, the teachers thinking and actions are explicitly directed towards the achievement of 8a close match between lesson activity and student interests. The teachers should use the classroom as a stage. They are themselves directors to create differen
29、t real life situations as learning opportunities. The students are actors who use simple words and simple sentences to perform on the stage. After they are able to fluently use language in listening and speaking, it is better for them to learn the complexity. Lastly, In China, most teaching material
30、s are more complicated than the VUW ones. If possible, the teachers at NIT should have the right to choose teaching materials according to their need. Simple and interesting teaching materials facilitate the teachers to teach and the students to learn. 5.3 Teacher training Teachers have not only to
31、assist students to make use of knowledge from a variety of sources, but also to check its significance and credibility by their own knowledge. So the teachers need the dynamic skills which they attempt to foster in their students. They are demanded to have good personalities and abilities to confide
32、ntly communicate with students. Teacher training is a big problem at NIT, professional teachers need to be further developed. a. Innovations move along the social network of personal 9acquaintance Education is important to stimulate communication among teachers, so that they exchange experience and
33、advance each others thinking. The teachers need to be regularly sent for further study at domestic or abroad universities. In this way the teachers can increasingly renew their knowledge and thinking. b. Innovations in complex situations cannot be cloned. Any substantial innovation must allow teache
34、rs to identify with it in a personal sense, to modify it in particular ways, so that it becomes their own, not merely a copy of somebody elses developments. The teachers should be given more space to create their teaching ideas. c. Co-operation development between teachers and students Teachers have
35、 to be prepared to create learning opportunities which are considered to be useful for the future, but valid for the present. Problems in the interaction between teachers and students can often be explained by this clash of a “ negotiation culture with a Command culture”, because of the teachers tra
36、ditional position and students study behaviour. The teachers are able to negotiate with their students to learning activities. The teachers and the students will co-10operate continuously on determining the objectives. d. Exploit new technology Increasingly, knowledge can also be gained outside scho
37、ol, and information technology is likely to play an ever greater role. There are implications for the teachers role. They have to develop a new self-understanding, as facilitators and mediators of their students interactions with a variety of human and material resources. There are distinct differen
38、ces between teaching at NIY which is lecture based to the VUW programme which is more interactive and student-centred. As teaching is a cross-cultural experience, confident communication skills and well prepared resources are essential. References 1. Colemman, H. Evaluating teachers guides: Do teach
39、erss guides guide teachers?In J. Charles Alderson (Ed.) Oxford: Pergamon Press (1985) 2. Britten, D. and ODwyer, J. self-evaluation and in-service teacher training. In Rea-Dickins, P. and A.F.Lwaitama, editors, Evaluation for development in English language teaching. London: Macmillan (1995) 3. Parton, N. The nature of social work under conditions of
