Journal of Academic Development and Education JADE Issue 9 | Page 18

ARTICLE #1 | 19 18 | JADE VALERIE BALL, ANIKSHA DHAMELIA, & ELLIOT ROLLASON Author profiles Research supervisor and main author Valerie Ball MSc Lecturer in Physiotherapy, School of Health and Rehabilitation, Keele University. Inter-Professional Education Year 3 Lead for Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, School of Health and Rehabilitation IPE co-ordinator. 01782 733536 [email protected] Researchers Aniksha Dhamelia BSc Physiotherapist, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. Keele graduate 2016, now working as a physiotherapist. [email protected] Elliot Rollason BSc Physiotherapist, Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust. Keele graduate 2016, now working as a physiotherapist. [email protected] ARTICLE #1 Title Characteristics of good teaching: The use of creative methods within our university classrooms? Author Dr. Helen A. Millward DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.21252/ KEELE-0000023 Contact [email protected] Keele University Abstract The good teaching characteristics of getting students to think for themselves, keeping discussions at appropriate levels, situating theory in reality and communication are explored within this paper. Indeed, it is argued that education professionals effectively utilizing these four characteristics can promote a positive and engaging learning environment for their students. Furthermore, the paper explores the rise of creative methods of teaching. In doing so, examples of how creative methods of learning have the potential to be positive tools for student engagement and understanding are presented. However, the paper also lends focus the potential pitfalls of creative methods, suggesting such activities have the potential to be viewed as beneficial only in the short term. Keywords Creative methods, communication, engagement, facilitator. Introduction The role of teaching professionals within universities requires individuals to be adaptive and creative, to enforce intended learning outcomes and to provide a professional yet friendly learning environment. This, at times, can present a difficult juggling act, with the teacher attempting to focus on several issues at once. Indeed, in response to juggling such challenges, education professionals often develop their own teaching styles, based on their own characteristics, ‘views and beliefs about teaching’ (Saroyan and Snell, 1997:85). While such teaching styles are likely to differ somewhat due to the personal traits of the professionals involved, several key characteristics are often associated with good teaching; getting students to think for themselves, keeping discussions at appropriate levels, situating theory in reality, and communication. This paper presents a discussion of the identified teaching characteristics, while also offering an outline of the potential benefits to students and teaching staff when such characteristics are adopted in teaching practices. Furthermore, this paper also explores the rise of creative methods of learning, suggesting that the addition of creative learning activities within the university classroom has the potential to increase student engagement through providing a form of participation that differs to the traditional verbal and written approaches often used within university classrooms. Characteristics of good teaching Getting students to think for themselves can be seen as an important characteristic of good teaching. As Morss and Murray (2005:135) suggest, in doing so, teachers can help students ‘to help themselves’. This allows students to take responsibility for their own learning while also giving them the necessary tools to engage with class discussions and to develop their own ideas about course materials. However, in order for students to engage in such efforts, the teacher must adopt the more passive role of facilitator. In adopting this persona, the teacher can encourage students to take control of their own learning and development, while continuing to ensure that discussions remain relevant to the intended learning outcomes of the course. In a similar vein, the ability to keep classroom discussions and learning at an appropriate level for all students can also be viewed as an important characteristic of good teaching. Students may have diverse backgrounds and reasons to attend university. For example, several individuals may be mature students, while others may be recent school leavers. Such dichotomy requires the teacher to be flexible