Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T23:23:55.600Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Empiricism and the Art of Teaching

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 April 2015

Josef M. Broder
Josef M. Broder*
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Georgia, Athens
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

“Teaching is a messy, indeterminate, inscrutable, often intimidating, and highly uncertain task.”

Richard Elmore

Effective teaching is a recurring topic of faculty discussion and disagreement. The title of my address suggests that effective teaching has two components. First and increasingly important, teaching has an empirical component. The empiricism of teaching asserts that there are identifiable traits of effective teaching that can be used to improve one's teaching experience. I want to share with you some insights we have gained from recent empirical studies on teaching and the teaching evaluation process. Second, there is the art of teaching or the intangible and creative component of teaching. I will speak on how the art of teaching can be refined. This I will do by way of offering some personal teaching tips that have at least made my teaching experience more enjoyable.

Type
Presidential Address
Information
Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , July 1994 , pp. 1 - 18
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Braskamp, L.A., Brandenburg, D.C., Kohen, E., Ory, J.C., and Mayberry, P.W.. Evaluating Teaching Effectiveness: A Practical Guide. Beverly Hills, California: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Broder, Josef M. and Dorfman, Jeffrey H., “Determinants of Teaching Quality: What's Important to Students.” Research in Higher Education, 35-2, (in press).Google Scholar
Broder, Josef M., McClelland, John W., and Wetzstein, Michael. “Teacher Popularity and Student Evaluation of Teachers: Some Preliminary Results.” J. Econ. & Finance, Vol. 6, 1982, pp. 471–474.Google Scholar
Broder, Josef M. and Taylor, William J.. “Teaching Evaluation in Agricultural Economics and Related Departments,” Amer. J. Agr. Econ., 76-2(February 1994): (in press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broder, Josef M. and Ziemer, Rod F.. “Determinants of Agricultural Economics Faculty Salaries,” Amer. J. Agr. Econ., Vol. 64, No. 2, 1982, pp. 301–303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byrns, Ralph T. and Stone, Gerald W. (editors). Great Ideas for Teaching Economics, Fourth Edition, Glenview, Illinois: Scott, Foresman, and Company, 1989.Google Scholar
Elmore, Richard R. “Forward.” Education for Judgement, Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Press, 1991, pp. ix–xix.Google Scholar
Garvin, David A. “Barriers and Gateways to Learning.” in Education for Judgement, Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Press, 1991, pp.3–13.Google Scholar
Hemenway, Robert. “The Basic Secret of Life: Proposals for the University of the 21st Century.” in Rethinking the University: Educating for the 21 Century - Proceedings of the University of Georgia Academic Affairs Faculty Symposium, May 7, 1993.Google Scholar
Kahl, Kandice H. and Williams, Fred E.. “Panel on Measuring Teaching Quality: Survey and Summary.” in Proceedings of the American Agricultural Economics Association Teaching Workshop, AAEA Resident Instruction Committee, (July 1986):27–29.Google Scholar
Louis, Kenneth Gros. “The Renewal and Evaluation of Teaching - Preparing a Teaching Dossier.” in Proceedings of the American Agricultural Economics Association Teaching Workshop, AAEA Resident Instruction Committee, (July 1986):30–38.Google Scholar
Machina, Kenton. “Evaluating Student Evaluations.” Academe 73-3(May-June 1987): 19–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nimmer, J.G. and Ston, E.F.. (1991). “Effects of Grading Practices and Time of Rating on Student Ratings of Faculty Performance and Student Learning.” Research in Higher Education, 32:195–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prokasy, William F., Address to Faculty Recognition Ceremony, June 6, 1989, University of Georgia, Center for Continuing Education, Athens, Georgia.Google Scholar
Turner, Steven C. “Morale and Faculty Development in Agricultural Economics: Discussion,” J. Agr. Applied Econ., 25-1(July 1993):24–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, Fred C. “Enhancing Class Attendance,” NACTA Journal, 36-4(December 1992): 13–15.Google Scholar