Essay: Teaching Approach, Educational Climate, Student Motivation

This essay reflects on the author's teaching approach in a higher education setting, focusing on its impact on the classroom climate and student motivation. The author employs methods such as group discussions, visual aids, and lecturing to enhance student understanding. The essay analyzes these methods, highlighting their strengths in fostering student confidence, leadership skills, and engagement with real-life concepts. It also discusses how the teaching approach shapes the educational climate, rewarding participation and attentiveness to motivate students. The author concludes by affirming the effectiveness of current methods and proposing the introduction of differentiated learning to cater to diverse student abilities, aiming to further improve the learning environment and student outcomes. The essay includes references to support the analysis and proposed changes.

PERSONAL REFLECTION 1
6.1 resubmission
Student’s Name
Course
University
Date

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Table of Contents
Introduction...............................................................................................................................................2
Pedagogy methods.....................................................................................................................................3
Significance of reflecting on the current teaching practice....................................................................4
Impact of teaching approach to the motivation of the learners.............................................................4
An analysis of the current teaching approach.........................................................................................5
Educational climate created by the current teaching approach and its impact on the students’
motivation..................................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion and planning for future actions............................................................................................8
References..................................................................................................................................................9
Introduction
Pedagogy has always been my favorite activity in my daily life. This is due to the passion I have
for sharing knowledge. I work as a lecturer in an institute of higher learning where I deal with
students who have a great determination to succeed in their academics. As a tutor I have the
following responsibilities: teaching the students various subjects as per the university curriculum,

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setting continuous assessment tests for the students and marking them so as to ascertain their
level of understanding, monitoring the class attendance of my students which is very crucial for
their academic success and finally assessing their understanding for the whole semester through
exams.
Pedagogy methods
To enhance the understanding of my students I use the following methods.
a) Group discussions
I usually assign them various tasks where they do in their various groups and submit as
per the defined deadline. Through cooperative learning students gain much understanding
of the concept (Nunez & León, 2015).
b) Use of visual aids
This enables me to bring the academic concepts to the real life circumstances with visual
and practical learning experience which enables the students to have a clear picture of the
concept in the real life circumstance.

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c) Lecturing
I deliver the content and give them notes on the same via their class email. This is
efficient as it enhances effective coverage of the syllabus.
Significance of reflecting on the current teaching practice
Various research have established that a critical reflection on the current teaching practices by a
teacher is very important. It enhances the adoption of excellent methods in teaching different
categories of students, it encourages the teachers to evaluate their approaches to teaching
regularly and make the necessary amendments and it also enables the teachers to appreciate their
current teaching practices if the students are performing well on the various subjects.
Impact of teaching approach to the motivation of the learners
As a teacher, I ensure that I create a conducive environment for my students to enhance their
understanding which motivates them to listen and learn effectively. I usually ask them questions
regularly so that they remain attentive throughout the lesson which is a very crucial aspect of
their learning process.

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An analysis of the current teaching approach.
The current teaching approach has been very controlling because I have been able to achieve the
performance objectives among my students. The deeper analysis of each of the method is as
outlined below
Group discussions
My main aim as a lecturer is to ensure that my students learn a variety of issues as far as
education is concerned. During group presentations, each of the group member presents a
specific section of the assignment in front of the class. This is very important because it enhances
the confidence of some shy individuals. Some of them do their presentations in power point
format which outlines how efficient they are in the technological aspect of learning which
involves the use of computers. Group discussions are very important because it outline the
leadership skills portrayed by the students in the entire process of organizing themselves for the
presentation. It also enhances effective participation of all the students in the presentation which
is a clear indication of the research that has been done by the students which facilitate learning.
One of my main aims as an instructor is to ensure that my students play an active role in the

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learning process which is usually achieved through the group discussions (Ten Cate, Kusurkar&
Williams, 2011)).I also aim to ensure that my students acquire specific leadership qualities such
as courageousness which is very vital for their future life in their careers.
Use of visual aids
This method is one of the effective methods of teaching that has always enabled me to achieve
some specific teaching objectives. This is achieved through the incorporation of technology
through interactive white boards used to display various images to foster the understanding of the
students (Sullivan, Buckle, Nicky& Atkinson, 2012). I also provide them with tutorials so as to
break the monotony of explaining concepts and this has always been fruitful because the students
have always performed well. It also enables the students to interact with the real life concepts
and appreciate the module being taught to them.
Lecturing
This is also one of the most effective methods that enhance the deliverance of the content
to my students. It gives me a humble time to explain main concepts during the session
and later share with them notes via their class email. Through the lectures I usually have
various interactive sessions with the students and I usually get an opportunity to advise
them on various issues in life which enable them to acquire various life skills. Lecturing
enables me to cover a wide scope which make me to complete the syllabus on time
allowing my students enough time to revise for their end of semester exams. As a tutor

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this method has always been very effective and would never abandon it due to the
continuous success of my students over the years.
Educational climate created by the current teaching approach and its impact on the
students’ motivation
The teaching approach used has a direct impact on the educational climate of the students and
their motivation as well (Biggs, 1999). The use of group discussions has been very effective in
my class especially during presentations. This is due to my culture of rewarding the best group
after the presentations. The best group is determined by the quality of the presentation and how
the members presented themselves for the presentation. This makes the class a better place to be
and none of the students misses the presentations. In most cases I usually set my Exams from the
presentations an aspect that make the students to be very attentive during the group presentations
which enhances their learning.
The visual presentations make them to enjoy the lecture due to the conducive environment for
learning it creates. The students appreciate the fact that whatever they are learning in class is
relevant because the visual presentations give them a clear perception of the subjects which
usually motivate them to learn more. According to Reeve (2009) the lectures are also very
motivational to the students because I usually engage them in some discussions which makes
them to be alert because sometimes I usually offer some rewards for those students who answer
most questions during my lecture which motivates them to participate in class.

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Conclusion and planning for future actions
My current methods of teaching are very efficient. This is due to continued academic success by
my students. As a teacher have always ensured that my students enjoy the lessons. I also ensure
that I keep them updated with the current trends in the job market in relation to their career so as
to equip them with relevant knowledge which might be of significance to them in future. I focus
on both class work and real life experiences to enhance a wider scope of learning for my
students. This has always motivated my students to attend all the classes do all the assignments
since I usually give them real life examples on the significance of achieving academic
excellence.
I’m planning to introduce a new method of learning where I shall adopt a differentiation
approach to enable different categories of students learn. This approach shall involve allocation
of tasks to the students on the basis of their individual abilities, this shall ensure that all the
students learn appropriately and enjoy the classroom environment. The students who have a good
understanding of concepts shall be given more complex tasks to initiate research which shall be
very crucial for their good performance. The students with less academic capability shall get
appropriate support to make them motivated with their studies. I will implement this change
through formulation of appropriate strategies to apply the change and I have a strong belief that
this method shall work since I have done enough research about it and have all the tactics of
applying the method.

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References
Biggs (1999). What the student does: Teaching for enhanced learning. Higher Education
Research & Development, 18, 57-75. doi: 10.1080/0729436990180105
Nunez, J. L., & León, J. (2015). Autonomy support in the classroom: A review from self-
determination theory. European Psychologist, 20, 275-283. doi: 10.1027/1016-
904/a000234
Reeve, J. (2009). Why teachers adopt a controlling motivating style toward students and how
they can become more autonomy supportive. Educational Psychologist, 44, 159–175. doi:
10.1080/00461520903028990
Sullivan, P. B., Buckle, A., Nicky, G., & Atkinson, S. H. (2012). Peer observation of teaching as
a faculty development tool. BMC Medical Education, 12(26), 1-6. doi.org/10.1186/1472-
6920-12-26
Ten Cate, O., Th., J., Kusurkar, R. A., & Williams, G. C. (2011). How self-determination theory
can assist our understanding of the teaching and learning processes in medical education.
AMEE Guide No., 59. Medical Teacher, 33, 961-973. doi:
10.3109/0142159X.2011.595435