Students&apos; and Teachers&apos; Views on Teaching Styles and Methods
Author: Simovic, Tatjana
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Student Attitudes,Teacher Attitudes,Teaching Styles,Teaching Methods,Medical Education,College Students,Linguistics,Foreign Countries,Student Centered Learning,Classroom Environment,College Faculty

Aim: The purpose of this study is to assess the efficiency of teaching styles and methods from students' and teachers' points of view. Methods: The design of the study is an analytic cross-sectional study. Different teaching styles and methods were compared through opinions of students and teachers. Two focus groups were conducted: (1) a group of 27 students from the College of Health Studies in Cuprija and the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade and (2) a group of 18 teaching staff from the same institutions. Results: The two focus groups (students and teaching staff) discussed two domains of teaching style: teacher-centered (TC) and student-centered (SC), and four sub domains: teaching methods (TM), classroom milieu (CM) (the social environment in the class), use of questions (UQ), and use of assessment (UA). The majority of students (91,1%) prefers SC style, and the third-year students more than first-year students and this difference is, statistically significant (X[superscript 2] =4,62; df=1; p&lt;0,05). The majority of students (89,1% of first-year and 96,4% of third and four-year students) knew the learning outcomes of the study program, although there is no statistically significant difference between students (X[superscript 2] =2,62; df=1; p&gt;0,05). About 58% of the students perceive the risk of TC styles for their way of making conclusions and usefulness for everyday life and future work. About 80% of students estimated that the additional lectures about some fields are needed during the studies in order to be applicable in real life, but only 24% of teaching staff thinks the same, and this difference is statistically significant (X[superscript 2] =17,77; df=1; p&lt;0,01). Approximately 40% of the teaching staff surveyed thinks that they need knowledge about new teaching methods and there is always room for improvement in teaching, but 75% of them do not know how to acquire that knowledge. Findings revealed that there was a significant difference between the group of students and group of teachers in their preferred teaching style. The group of students reported a greater preference for interactive and dynamic learning than the group of teachers. Discussion: The study revealed that the students preferred 'interactive learning', because this method engages students into thinking for themselves and trying to reach a conclusion without the teacher providing them with information from the beginning. This is a method which belongs to the 'student-centered' model of teaching. The authors believe it is appreciated by the students mainly because it deviates from what they were used to in their previous education -- mainly teacher-centered learning where a teacher would give information while standing in front of the class and occasionally ask a student to answer a question. Furthermore, the student-centered model provides the teacher with a more relaxed atmosphere to converse with students less formally which in turn enables the students to speak what is on their mind freely and without fear of getting the answer wrong. However, even though the method of interactive learning is the first choice of the students, for the teachers it is not completely unproblematic. Conclusion: Every teacher develops his or her own teaching style. It is advisable that he or she stays true to it, but simultaneously to further develop and improve it. During pre- and in-service training (future) teachers are given the opportunity to experience the challenges of teaching from the very beginning of their career. Moreover, younger teachers can shadow their more experienced colleagues, and learn all aspects of the job and some tricks of the trade, thus helping to improve their teaching style and in improve the quality of their work. [For the complete Volume 12 proceedings, see ED597979.]