HOW TO TEACH

A BRIEF
GUIDE
Mohsen Raza

Core surgical trainee, West Herts NHS Trust

MOTEC meeting 26/9/16

SESSION AIMS
Get you thinking about teaching and

learning and help you become an

effective facilitator

SESSION OBJECTIVES
By the end of this session you will be able

to:
Structure a teaching session
Explain why objectives are important
Explain why interaction aids learning
Describe the rules of constructive
feedback

STRUCTURE: THE 3TS

Tell them what youre going to tell them
Introduction

Tell them
Body

Tell them what you told them

Conclusion

INTRODUCTION
MMUCKO
Mood
Motivation
Utility
Content
Knowledge
Objectives

BODY 3 TIPS
1.Less is more (chunking can help)
2.Keep the learners attention
3.Ask for questions

KEEP THE LEARNERS

ATTENTION
Video
Pictures
Group work
Questions
Changing speaker
Etc...

CONCLUSION
Key points summarised
Objectives and achievement
No questions or new material

STRUCTURING YOUR TEACHING: TAKE

HOME MESSAGES
Spend time on your introduction
Be realistic about the amount you can

cover
Use techniques to keep the learners
attention
Dont forget the conclusion

AIMS ARE BROAD

OBJECTIVES ARE SPECIFIC
An Aim
Is a broad umbrella statement of your
intentions
An Objective
Describes what the students will be able
to do by the end of the teaching period
that they could not do at the beginning

OBJECTIVES:
describe what the learner will be able to

do

describe a change of behaviour

are the key points learners need to get

from a teaching session

WHAT ARE THE FEATURES

OF A GOOD OBJECTIVE?
Relevant
Understandable
Measurable
Behavioural
Achievable

WHY ARE OBJECTIVES USEFUL?

If you dont know what you're supposed

to be doing or looking out for, its easy to

miss it

Objectives help the learner pick out the

most important parts of your teaching

WHY ARE OBJECTIVES USEFUL?

FOR THE LEARNER:
shows them the key things to look out for
makes them feel like they are expected to

achieve something
shows them you have thought about their
needs

WHY ARE OBJECTIVES USEFUL?

FOR THE TEACHER:
makes you think clearly about what you

want the learners to take away from the

session
makes you focus on the key messages
helps you structure the session clearly to
achieve the objectives

OBJECTIVES: TAKE HOME MESSAGE

Be creative in your teaching...but
Always fulfil the objectives

INTERACTION IN TEACHING
Teacher asks questions to individual

learner
Groups/pairs discuss questions
Groups/pairs do a task e.g. quiz,
presentation etc
Learner asks teacher questions

WHY DO WE USE INTERACTION IN

TEACHING?
Makes the teaching more engaging
Stops the learners falling asleep
Involves them in the learning process
Helps the learning stick
Helps them learn from each other

WHY DONT TEACHERS USE

INTERACTION?
Takes time and effort to prepare
Lose time during teaching
Scary what if you cat answer?
Potential to lose control
So what can you do?

TAKES TIME AND EFFORT TO PREPARE

Its worth it - take the time and make the

effort

WHAT IF YOU CANT ANSWER?

Praise the questioner for their excellent

question
Reflect the question to the group including the
questioner (someone might know)
Ask the questioner to repeat the question
(they will rephrase it)
Admit you dont know and say you will find out

AVOIDING LOSING CONTROL

Give clear written instructions
Make sure learners have materials they need to

answer
Tell learners how long a task will take beforehand
Listen for the lull and respond
Dot be scared to assert yourself, learners expect
it

HOW CAN TEACHERS ENCOURAGE

LEARNERS TO INTERACT?
be nice and non-threatening
give people time to think before

answering
reward people for asking and answering
questions
make your questions clear
pitch questions/tasks appropriately

INTERACTION: TAKE HOME MESSAGES

Interaction aids learning
Make the effort to use it
Be encouraging

FEEDBACK IS POWERFUL
If done well, it can transform you
If done badly, it can crush you

Aims of constructive feedback

To reward good practice/behaviour
To inspire change where necessary

SESSION OBJECTIVES
By the end of this session you will be able

to:
Structure a teaching session
Explain why objectives are important
Explain why interaction aids learning
Describe the rules of constructive
feedback

TEACHER TRAINING: TAKE HOME

MESSAGES
Remember the 3 Ts
Fulfil the learning objectives
Use interaction
Take the time to give constructive feedback

QUESTIONS ?