Learning Enhancement Service > Best Practice

Best Practice

Ken Jones

I imagine that many of you are familiar with Gamson and Chickering’s Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education, but in case you aren’t, let me give you a little background.

In 1985 Zelda Gamson and Arthur Chickering were both on the board of the American Association for Higher Education, and looking for ways to promote improvement in teaching and learning. Eventually they decided that it would help if they could develop a statement on the principles of best practice in higher education.

In cooperation with about a dozen of the leading researchers on college teaching, they worked for a couple of years, reviewing the literature and refining their list until they came up with the Seven Principles in the handout. As an added bonus, I have also included a fairly similar list of good research-tested strategies from the University of Notre Dame Teaching Center, and John Frohnmayer’s more idealistic list of questions. I find the latter, especially, the last line, particularly heart-warming. (all the handouts are below).

My first goal today is simply provide a reminder to all of us about what the research suggests works best. Beyond that, I’m hoping that we can use this as an opportunity to share ideas on how to achieve these ends.

I’d like to start then, by asking you to read through the Seven Principles handout, and as you do so, if you think of a technique that you have used to achieve that particular good practice, jot it down. Once everyone has had a little time to do that, we can go around and share strategies.

1.	Contacts Between Students and Faculty Discussion centered on the importance of knowing our students’ names, and trying to give positive reinforcement in class by referring by name to earlier comments (As Mary pointed out a few minutes ago…”). People also emphasized the role of good advising, especially for first year students. We reviewed the ten behaviors listed in the “Faculty Inventory” (below) for this (and the other six good practice categories). The “Faculty Inventory” questions were developed to flesh out the Seven Principles. The authors emphasize that they are simply suggestions to generate thought; we don’t have to do them all to be following good practice.
2.	Reciprocity and Cooperation Among Students Discussion focused on cooperative learning strategies, and how to build in accountability for group work.
3.	Active Learning Techniques Many suggestions were put forward for engaging students including group presentations, debates, role-playing, and hypothetical scenario questions. To encourage preparation, people suggested pre-discussion papers and beginning of class free-writes. One person suggested that the key concept here was the faculty member keeping his/her mouth shut until the students had had an opportunity to explore what they knew and what they didn’t know.
4.	Gives Prompt Feedback The longer we wait to return tests and papers, the less likely it becomes that students will learn from the experience, so we need to do all we can to insure a quick turn-around. We also discussed the need for feedback on oral contributions. This can be informal reinforcement in the form of praise/acknowledgement of good comments. If participation constitutes a portion of the course grade, then periodic formal evaluation is not only fairer, but provides a great spur for quality participation. The need for reflection/self-assessment portion of this guideline led to conversations about how helpful it is to do this in Symposium.
5.	Emphasizes Time on Task Several people suggested that we need to be more explicit about expectations, and must take class time to advise students who are new to our discipline how to read/study in this particular area.
6.	Communicates High Expectations Suggestions included reinforcement of high quality contributions through in-class praise, and using periodic written evaluations of discussion contributions to lend weight to oral statements of expectations. The opportunity to re-write papers also sends the same message. One person pointed out that a key factor here was simply acting as though whatever you are doing is tremendously exciting and everyone should be thrilled to have the opportunity to be engaged; never act apologetic for asking them to do an assignment.
7.	Communicates High Expectations Suggestions included reinforcement of high quality contributions through in-class praise, and using periodic written evaluations of discussion contributions to lend weight to oral statements of expectations. The opportunity to re-write papers also sends the same message. One person pointed out that a key factor here was simply acting as though whatever you are doing is tremendously exciting and everyone should be thrilled to have the opportunity to be engaged; never act apologetic for asking them to do an assignment.

In conclusion, I would like to emphasize the point John Frohnmayer makes at the end of his list: there is no way that we are all going to be able to do all of these things in all of our classes. The Seven Principles and the inventories are good, however, in that they can keep us mindful of our goals. If we can keep these ideas in front of us and keep trying to hit the appropriate ones, we will be better teachers.

The Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education

1.	Good Practice Encourages Contacts Between Students and Faculty Frequent student-faculty contact in and out of class is a most important factor in student motivation and involvement. Faculty concern helps students get through rough times and keep on working. Knowing a few faculty members well enhances students’ intellectual commitment and encourages them to think about their own values and plans.
2.	Good Practice Develops Reciprocity and Cooperation Among Students Learning is enhanced when it is more like a team effort than a solo race. Good learning, like good work, is collaborative and social, not competitive and isolated. Working with others often increases involvement in learning. Sharing one’s ideas and responding to others’ improves thinking and deepens understanding.
3.	Good Practice Uses Active Learning Techniques Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much just sitting in classes listening to teachers, memorizing prepackaged assignments, and spitting out answers. They must talk about what they are learning, write reflectively about it, relate it to past experiences, and apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they learn a part of themselves.
4.	Good Practice Gives Prompt Feedback Knowing what you know and don’t know focuses your learning. In getting started, students need help in assessing their existing knowledge and competence. Then, in classes, students need frequent opportunities to perform and receive feedback on their performance. At various points during college, and at its end, students need chances to reflect on what they have learned, what they still need to know, and how they might assess themselves.
5.	Good Practice Emphasizes Time on Task Time plus energy equals learning. Learning to use one’s time well is critical for students and professionals alike. Allocating realistic amounts of time means effective learning for students and effective teaching for faculty
6.	Good Practice Communicates High Expectations Expect more and you will get it. High expectations are important for everyone — for the poorly prepared, for those unwilling to exert themselves, and for the bright and well-motivated. Expecting students to perform well becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
7.	Good Practice Respects Diverse Talents and Ways of Learning Many roads lead to learning. Different students bring different talents and styles to college. Brilliant students in a seminar might be all thumbs in a lab or studio; students rich in hands-on experience may not do so well with theory. Students need opportunities to show their talents and learn in ways that work for them. Then they can be pushed to learn in new ways that do not come so easily.

*The Seven Principles were developed by Art Chickening and Zelda Gamson for AAHE in between 1985 and 1987. They were drawn from decades of research on undergraduate learning. The work originally appeared as Chickening, A, and Gamson, Z, “Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education, AAHE Bulletin, 1987, 39 (7), 3-7. It was reprinted and distributed by the Johnson Foundation in the Wingspread Journal in June, 1987.

The Faculty Inventories were first published in Gamson, Z., and Poulsen, S. “Inventories of Good Practice: The Next Step for the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Higher Education,” AAHE Bulletin, 1989, 42 (3), 7-8, 14.

For a larger discussion of the development and implementation of the Seven Principles, see Arthur Chickering and Zelda Gamson, “Applying the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education, New Directions for Teaching and Learning, Fall 1991, No. 47.

Ten Teaching Strategies Suggested by Research

University of Notre Dame, 2001 (www.nd.edu/twut/handouts/tenteaching.htm)

1.	Have students write about and discuss what they are learning
2.	Encourage faculty-student contact, in and out of class
3.	Get students working with one another on substantive tasks, in and out of class
4.	Give prompt and frequent feedback to students about their progress
5.	Communicate high expectations
6.	Make standards and grading criteria explicit
7.	Help students to achieve those expectations and criteria
8.	Respect diverse talents and ways of learning
9.	Use problems, questions, or issues, not merely content coverage, as points of entry into the subject and as sources of motivation for sustained inquiry.
10.	Make courses assignment-centered rather than merely text-and-lecture-centered. Then focus on helping students successfully complete the assignments

John Frohnmayer, The Captive Conscience

National Teaching and Learning Forum, vol 7, no 2 (1998)

“I wouldn’t evaluate teachers. I would evaluate the students because their success is the only measure that matters. In standing invisibly in the back of the classroom, I would ask the following questions:

1.	Do the students ask why?
2.	Do they look within themselves and to each other for knowledge? (Have they acknowledged their responsibility for their own learning?)
3.	Do they recognize the connection between education and civic responsibility?
4.	Is compassion and inter-reliance apparent among them?
5.	Can they write and speak to articulate their arguments and defend their choices?
6.	Is reliance on process apparent
7.	Are they aware of ambiguity?
8.	Do they feel safe enough to express a contrary view?
9.	Do they take intellectual risks?
10.	Do they exhibit the passion for ideas?

Any teacher who has instilled half of this list in her class, or even half the list in half the class, has a permanent invitation to teach my children.”