Enhancing Teaching Through Innovation in the University: What Teachers should Know and Do.

Bukari, Chei and Owusu, Anthony Akwesi (2017): Enhancing Teaching Through Innovation in the University: What Teachers should Know and Do.

Abstract

Burgeoning literature in education have shown an affirmed resolve of educators to adopt modern productive teaching approaches to ensure maximum learning outcomes. There is indubitably a serious need for teachers in higher educational institutions to focus on ways of enhancing teaching and learning. However, few researchers appear to have focused on the subject. This working paper, by employing the narrative design, examined the teaching enterprise with emphasis on moving from pedagogy to andragogy as a harbinger for the creation of autonomous self-directed adults. The paper advocates for pragmatic teaching strategies for teachers at this level. It concludes that university teachers must necessarily take advantage of the-now-increasing avenues for knowledge nourishment widely provided by outstanding journals, conference, articles and scholarly books among other knowledge outlets. Teachers are urged to profiteer from the wide range of polished teaching options espoused and circulated via the media. It is the paper‘s view that implementing contemporary teaching methods is the only panacea to tackling the current phenomenon of qualification inflation that has virtually led to the reduction of the academic currency among graduates. The paper‘s firm belief is that with innovative teaching methods, teachers desire for excellence in the classroom is already a forgone conclusion

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: contemporary approaches; experiential learning, collaborated learning, Problem-based learning, student voice, active students participation
• Subjects: A - General Economics and Teaching > A2 - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics; B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B5 - Current Heterodox Approaches

References

Abramson, L. Y., Metalsky, G. I., & Alloy, L. B. (1989). Hopelessness depression: A theory based subtype of depression. Psychological review,96(2), 358.

Alfred, D. K., Tsadidey, S., Ashiagbor, I., & Baku, M. D. (2008). Graduate unemployment in Ghana: Possible case of poor response of university programs to the demands of the job market. Education Research Network for West and Central Africa research paper. Retrieved from http://www. rocare. org.

Allen, D. E., Duch, B. J., & Groh, S. E. (1996). “The power of problem-based learning in teaching introductory science courses.” In L. Wilkerson & W. H. Gijselaers (Eds.), Bringing problem-based learning to higher education: Theory and practice (pp. 43- 52). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Amador, J. A., Miles, L., & Peters, C. B. (2006). The practice of problem-based learning: A guide to implementing PBL in the college classroom. Bolton: Anker publishing company.

Amankrah, J. Y. (2007). Youth unemployment in Ghana: Prospects and challenges. Ghana statistical Service Report on Job Tracking Survey.

Anding, J. M. (2005). An interview with Robert E. Quinn entering the fundamental state of leadership: Reflections on the path to transformational teaching. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 4(4), 487-495.

Andrews, T. M., Leonard, M. J., Colgrove, C. A., & Kalinowski, S. T. (2011). Active learning not associated with student learning in a random sample of college biology courses. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 10(4), 394-405.

Armbruster, P., Patel, M., Johnson, E., & Weiss, M. (2009). Active learning and student-centered pedagogy improve student attitudes and performance in introductory biology. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 8(3), 203-213.

Avolio, B. J., & Bass, B. M. (1995). Individual consideration viewed at multiple levels of analysis: A multi-level framework for examining the diffusion of transformational leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 6(2), 199-218.

Barrett, T. (2010). The problem‐based learning process as finding and being in flow. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 47(2), 165-174.

Barrows, H. S. (1996). Problem‐based learning in medicine and beyond: A brief overview. New directions for teaching and learning, 1996(68), 3-12.

Barry, C. L., Horst, S. J., Finney, S. J., Brown, A. R., & Kopp, J. P. (2010). Do examinees have similar test-taking effort? A high-stakes question for low-stakes testing. International Journal of Testing, 10(4), 342-363..

Beard, C. M., & Wilson, J. P. (2006). Experiential learning: A best practice handbook for educators and trainers. Kogan Page Publishers.

Beauchamp, M. R., Barling, J., & Morton, K. L. (2011). Transformational Teaching and Adolescent Self‐Determined Motivation, Self‐Efficacy, and Intentions to Engage in Leisure Time Physical Activity: A Randomised Controlled Pilot Trial. Applied Psychology: Health and Well‐Being, 3(2), 127-150.

Beauchamp, M., Barling, J., Li, Z., Morton, K. L., Keith, S. E., & Zumbo, B. D. (2010).Development and psychometric properties of the transformational teaching questionnaire. Journal of Health Psychology.

Berk, R. A. (2009). Multimedia teaching with video clips: TV, movies, YouTube, and mtvU in the college classroom. International Journal of Technology in Teaching and Learning, 5(1), 1-21

Boateng, K., & Ofori-Sarpong, E. (2002). An analytical study of the labour market for tertiary graduates in Ghana. World Bank/National Council for Tertiary Education and National Accreditation Board Project Report.

Boekaerts, M. (2002). Bringing about change in the classroom: Strengths and weaknesses of the self-regulated learning approach—EARLI Presidential Address, 2001. Learning and instruction, 12(6), 589-604.

Bligh, D. A. (2000) What’s the Use of Lectures. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Bonwell, C. C., & Eison, J. A. (1991). Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom.1991 ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Reports. ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education, The George Washington University, One Dupont Circle, Suite 630, Washington, DC 20036-1183.

Bonwell, C., & Eison, J. (1991). Active learning: Creating excitement in the classroom AEHE ERIC higher education report No. 1.

Bouffard-Bouchard T, Parent S, &. (Larivée S 1991). Influence of self-efficacy on self-regulation and performance among junior and senior high-school age students. International Journal of Behavioral Development. Catalano, G. D., & Catalano, K. C. (1997, November). Transformation: from teacher-centered to student-centered engineering education. In fie (pp. 95-100vol). IEEE. educators and trainers. Kogan Page Publishers.

Dillenbourg, P. (1999). What do you mean by ‘collaborative learning?’ In P. Dillenbourg (Ed.), Collaborative-learning: Cognitive and Computational Approaches (pp.1–19). Oxford: Elsevier.

Dillenbourg, P., Baker, M., Blaye, A., & O’Malley, C. (1996). The evolution of research on collaborative learning. In E. Spada & P. Reiman (Eds.), Learning in humans and machine: Towards an interdisciplinary learning science (pp. 189-211). Oxford: Elsevier

Bjelanović Dijanić, Ž. Neke metode za razvoj kritičkog mišljenja učenika po ERR sustavu, pregledni članak, 2011.

Gijselaers, W. H. (1996). Connecting problem‐based practices with educational theory. New directions for teaching and learning, 1996(68), 13-21.

Gwee, M. C. E. (2009). Problem-based learning: A strategic learning system design for the education of healthcare professionals in the 21 st century. The Kaohsiung journal of medical sciences, 25(5), 231-239.

Higher Education Research Institute (1999) The American College Teacher: National Norms for the 1998–99 HERI Faculty Survey. Los Angeles, CA: Higher Education Research Institute, University of California at Los Angeles.

Lowe, K. B., Kroeck, K. G., & Sivasubramaniam, N. (1996). Effectiveness correlates Of transformational and transactional leadership: A meta-analytic review of the MLQ literature. The Leadership Quarterly, 7(3), 385-425.

Maudsley, G. (1999). Roles and responsibilities of the problem based learning tutor in the undergraduate medical curriculum. British Medical Journal, 318(7184), 657.

McKeachie, W. J., Brewer, C. L., Davis, S. F., & Buskist, W. (2002). The teaching of psychology: Essays in honor of Wilbert J. McKeachie and Charles L. Brewer. Taylor & Francis.

Oppong, S. (2013). Should higher education institutions (HEIS) serve national economic needs? Why and why not. Education Science and Psychology, 25(3), 390-109.

Oppong, S., & Sachs, P. R. (2015). managing graduate unemployment in emerging economies: critical analysis of the skills mismatch and oversupply theses. Business Excellence, 9(1), 125.

Slavich, G. M., & Zimbardo, P. G. (2012). Transformational teaching: Theoretical underpinnings, basic principles, and core methods. Educational Psychology Review, 24(4), 569-608.

Shelton, J. B., & Smith, R. F. (1998). “Problem-based learning in analytical science undergraduate teaching.” Research in Science and Technological Education, 16 (1).

Roschelle, J. & Teasley, S. (in press) The construction of shared knowledge in collaborativeproblem solving. In C.E. O'Malley (Ed) Computersupported collaborative learning. Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.

Twumasi, I. K. (2013). The challenges of youth unemployment to the Church in Ghana: response of the Methodist Church Kumasi Circuit and Church of God Patasi District (Doctoral dissertation).

Thielens J R . , W. (1987). The Disciplines and Undergraduate Lecturing. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Washington, DC.

Verspoor, A. M. (2008). The challenge of learning: improving the quality of basic education in sub-Saharan Africa. In The changing landscape of education in Africa. Symposium Books: Oxford.