a demonstration of terrible teaching techniques
TRANSCRIPT
A DEMONSTRATION OF TERRIBLE TEACHING TECHNIQUESAuthor(s): NEIL DAVIDSONSource: The Mathematics Teacher, Vol. 70, No. 6 (SEPTEMBER 1977), pp. 545-546Published by: National Council of Teachers of MathematicsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27960929 .
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A DEMONSTRATION OF TERRIBLE TEACHING TECHNIQUES
Is this anyone we know?
By NEIL DAVIDSON
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
Bad teaching can sometimes lead to good teaching. Since 1970, demonstrations of terrible teaching have been presented to
groups of beginning graduate teaching as sistants as well as prospective secondary teachers at the University of Maryland. A
typical demonstration involves a moder
ator, an instructor acting as an "anti
model, "
and an audience of beginning teachers. The moderator tells the audience that they are about to see a demonstration
by a capable mathematics instructor. The antimodel instructor then enters the room and proceeds to teach a lesson, doing al most everything wrong.
It usually takes a few moments for the audience to realize that the demonstration is designed to be a comedy of errors. Au dience reaction shifts from disbelief and embarrassment to amusement and hilarity.
After the demonstration the moderator leads a critique session. Members of the class identify the poor techniques exhib ited by the instructor, and the moderator records them on the board. The demonstra tion is considered successful if the audience identifies at least thirty examples of poor teaching.
The demonstration requires ten to fifteen
minutes, and the critique may last from
twenty to thirty minutes. The moderator
may wish to sort the poor techniques into
categories as an aid for identifying the mis takes.
The antimodel should be a confident and flexible teacher with some acting ability. Less capable persons would be too threat ened by making "fools" of themselves in
front of the group. The demonstration should be well planned to include a wide
variety of poor teaching techniques?those that can be observed daily in mathematics classrooms. The subject matter for the demonstration is chosen by the instructor to be of interest to the teachers in the au
dience. Material chosen from precalculus courses is often appropriate.
The demonstration of terrible teaching has several advantages. It is a vivid and humorous way of communicating informa tion about errors in teaching. The prospec tive teachers are alerted to watch for the same mistakes in their own behavior. Be cause of its unusual nature, the demonstra tion quickly relaxes a new group of pros pective teachers at the beginning of a
training program. It especially helps the new teachers feel more comfortable if the model is their own teacher in the course.
The following errors should be consid ered by the instructor for use in the demon stration.
Ragged Beginning Rushes in late to class. Gives a ridiculous excuse for being late. Asks, "What are we supposed to do to
day?" Flips pages in the book looking for suitable
material.
Has no chalk and goes out hunting for it, blaming the janitors.
Lack of Preparation and Planning States definitions and theorems incorrectly. Has no examples planned in advance.
Attempts to make up examples on the spot, which turn out to be overly complicated, very difficult, trivial, or inappropriate to the idea at hand.
September 1977 545
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Loses line of reasoning and has to keep referring to the book.
Assigns homework thoughtlessly (e.g., to solve the odd problems from 1 to 200).
Ineffective Style of Presentation
Proceeds with maddening slowness.
Speaks in a monotonous, dull, pedantic, or inarticulate manner.
Rushes through the material, talking much too fast.
Does not write down enough of what is said.
Does not bother writing down definitions. Uses terms without defining them. Indicates diagrams only by handwaving. Presents no overview, summary, or rela
tionships among ideas. Does not attempt to motivate students to
study the material. Assumes that students already know the
basic material and humiliates them when
they do not. Goes off on tangents involving overly ad
vanced material.
Simply reads the book to the students. Makes numerous errors in computations,
logic, and grammar.
Lack of Rapport with Students
Makes no eye contact with the class; talks to the board, walls, floor, or ceiling.
Loses everyone's attention and goes on
anyway.
Makes disparaging comments about the low level of the course material.
Insults the students; tells them they are stu
pid or unprepared. Keeps saying "trivial" or "obvious." Shows no enthusiasm.
Keeps looking at the time.
Displays irritating mannerisms. Does not know students' names. Has no positive comments for anyone.
Poor Handling of Questions Does not permit questions or embarrasses
students who ask them. Does not answer questions adequately. Tells students to look up the answers to
their questions in the book.
Misunderstands the student and answers a
question that has not been asked.
Spends excessive class time answering ques tions of little general interest.
Asks almost no questions of the students. Asks questions that are vague, confusing,
impossible, or extremely simple. Calls on the first person to raise a hand,
without giving others time to think.
Harshly criticizes student responses to teacher questions.
Poor Blackboard Technique Makes messy, indistinct drawings. Labels diagrams unclearly or inadequately. Reverses coordinates.
Places figures too high or too low so that
key portions run off the board. Crowds items together. Mixes distinct problem solutions together
on the board. Leaves insufficient space for important
items.
Writes illegibly (too small, too large, or on a slant).
Blocks students' vision by standing in front of the board work.
Skips steps or combines too many steps at once.
Keeps changing the same statement by era sure or addition, rather than rewriting it on another line.
Erases too quickly, thereby preventing comprehension or questions.
Temperature Conversion
An easy approximation for changing Fahren heit readings to Celsius is to subtract 30 and take half. So 50?F is about (50
- 30)/2
= 10?C.
546 Mathematics Teacher
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