Autism Student Teaching Approach

Approximately six or seven children in every 1000 display some degree of autism. Individuals with the condition vary greatly one from another. Some children with mild autism are close to normal in many aspects of their behaviour, but others are very low-functioning in terms of intelligence, self-control, communication and social skills. Some children with severe degrees of autism often sit for hours engaged in odd repetitive habits such as flapping their fingers in front of their eyes, and a few engage in self injurious behaviour such as biting or scratching at their own arms.

Areas of difficulty
Autism is a form of developmental disability in which the most obvious characteristics are:

• lack of a normal emotional relationship with others
• impairment of communication
• reduced ability to learn, particularly through observation and by imitation
• the presence of repetitive behaviour patterns (e.g. rocking, hand flapping)
• obsessive rituals, and the desire to preserve ‘sameness’ in surroundings and routines
• lack of imaginative and creative play.

Children with autism are among the most difficult students to place successfully in regular classrooms. Those with severe autism are usually functioning at a level too low to cope with the demands of even an adapted
curriculum. As many as three-quarters of children with autistic disorders have IQ scores well below 70, and ongoing special education is required to address their learning needs. In Australasia, the United States of America and Britain, only about 12 per cent of children with autism receive their education in ordinary schools. However, most of the higher-functioning students, including those with Asperger Syndrome, do attend mainstream schools. Individuals with Asperger Syndrome have some of the behavioural and social difficulties associated with other degrees of autism, but they tend to have intelligence and language skills in the average or even above average range.

Teaching and management approaches for autism
Many different approaches have been used to reduce the negative behaviour often associated with autism, including drug treatment, diet control, therapy, behaviour modification and self-management training. Of these approaches, behaviour modification has produced the best results. Behaviour modification involves the setting of clear objectives for teaching compliant behaviour and eliminating inappropriate behaviour through direct teaching and positive reinforcement.

Many other approaches have been tried, including sensory-integration training, music therapy, play therapy, facilitated communication, speech and language training, and social skills coaching. A recent technique that
appears helpful in developing autistic children’s awareness of ‘normal’ codes of behaviour is the use of ‘social stories’. Social stories are simple narratives, personalised to suit the child’s own needs and behaviour, to which the child can relate. The theme and context of the story help the autistic child interpret and respond more appropriately to typical social situations; for example, sharing a toy, taking turns or standing in line.
There is general agreement that the focus of any support program should attempt to:

• stimulate intellectual development
• encourage language and communication
• promote social development.

The following priorities should be set when working with autistic children:

• Be consistent in your management of the child (firmness plus affection).
• Gain the child’s attention, and speak clearly and simply to aid comprehension.
• Build up the child’s attention span.
• Challenge the child just enough to encourage progress towards new goals.
• Extend what you are teaching into different situations (for example, at home, out shopping, travelling on the bus).
• As far as possible, ignore attention-seeking behaviour and reward appropriate and compliant behaviour.
• For autistic children who lack speech, the use of visual cues (hand signing, pointing, picture cards, symbols) is usually necessary in most teaching situations.

Teaching sessions for children with autism generally need to be implemented according to a regular schedule. Objectives are best achieved by using both direct instruction methods and by using the natural opportunities
that occur during the child’s daily life. Evidence has proved that the most effective teaching programs are highly structured and delivered with intensity.

New information, skills or behaviour need to be taught in small steps, using consistent and direct methods. All teachers, parents and other caregivers must know the objectives of the teaching and management program, and must work together to ensure consistency. It is essential that parents are trained in any special teaching or management techniques that are needed because the child spends more time at home than at school. Sewell10 writes, ‘Remember – everything you teach children with autism to do for themselves will be one more skill they will not have to depend on someone else to do for them the rest of their lives.’
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Teaching approaches for children with intellectual disability

It is essential that teaching and learning situations for children with intellectual disability are reality-based – ‘learning by doing’. To acquire new knowledge and skills, these children need to experience things actively at first hand. If children with intellectual disability are to learn important number skills, for example, they should learn them not only from maths books, computer games and instructional materials, but also from real situations such as shopping, stocktaking, measuring, estimating, counting, grouping, recording data and comparing quantities. Similarly, reading skills should be developed and practised using a variety of resources such as instruction cards, recipes, brochures, magazines and comics, as well as through books, games and flashcards.

Children with intellectual disability also need direct teaching, with curriculum content broken down into very simple steps to ensure high success rates. Lessons that employ direct instruction use an active style of teaching that gets many successful responses from the children in the time available and makes much use of reinforcement. The method ensures that children master important concepts and skills before moving on.

There is heavy emphasis on practice, but lessons are made enjoyable and entertaining. It has been found that direct instruction is extremely effective for students with disabilities, particularly for teaching basic skills. Direct
instruction is among the most extensively researched teaching methods and has consistently proved more effective than child-centred approaches for introducing the beginning steps of basic academic skills. Other basic principles to consider when working with children with intellectual disability include the following:

• Do not sell the children short by expecting too little from them.
• Provide frequent guidance and prompts to enable a child to manage the steps in a new learning task.
• Gradually reduce the amount of guidance so that the child becomes more independent.
• Frequently assess the learning that has taken place against the child’s objectives in the curriculum (IEP).

Useful books on intellectual disability include:
Heward, W. L. (2006). Exceptional children (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River,NJ: Merrill-Prentice Hall.
Turnbull, A., Turnbull, R., & Wehmeyer, M. L. (2007). Exceptional lives:
Special education in today’s schools (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson-Merrill-Prentice Hall.

General explanations of intellectual and developmental disability can be found online at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_disability
http://www.eumap.org/topics/inteldis/reports/summaries/uk/uk.pdf

For recommendations on teaching approaches and school provision, see:
http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/eet_ctte/completed_inquiries/2002-04/ed_students_withdisabilities/submissions/sub157a.doc

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Can A Game Promote Learning?

Teachers compete against a world of entertaining distractions in which the best instructional programming seems to incorporate a prescribed mix of eye candy, puppets, storytelling, cartoons, and music. This is a tough act to follow! But mass media cannot deal with our students’ needs on a daily and continuing basis. We all know what our students need in terms of curriculum and application, but sometimes we need help in creating the appropriate education to entertainment mix that meets their needs on a day-to-day basis.

As educators and parents, we are always looking for ways to engage our students and our children with the classroom topic. Our lessons are not “work” to us , and we certainly don’t want them to be “work” to our students. We want our students to want to know more about the topic, to become vested in their own learning experience connecting their own dots and experiencing their own ideas.

The twenty-five games in this blog bring students into the learning arena. Each game has a playful feature that intrigues students and transforms them into players who interact with the game format. Once involved in the play of the game, each player actively interacts with the topic and also demonstrates skills in problem solving, creativity, and group dynamics. These games are powerful tools that extend the invitation to all players to “come on in, the learning’s fine.”

GAMES AND INDIVIDUAL LEARNING STYLES
Each student has a personal preference for how she receives, interprets, and understands information. Michael Grinder, in his book Righting the Education Conveyor Belt, divides learners into three main types—visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. As educators we hope to successfully address all three types of learners each day and with each lesson. Games are an amicable way for an educator to present material and assess material learned, in a way that appeals to all her students. Games also help you maximize each student’s learning potential. Games help everyone win.
Here are the learning types and the ways games satisfy each type:

• Visual learners. Reflective of our visual age, many of our students are visual learners, reacting favorably to reading assignments, pictures, wall charts, overheads, videos, worksheets, game sheets, and other visual media. To these students the props, game sheets, and visual sequences enacted during a game create a visual experience that can be recalled to reinforce the items or concepts covered in the activity.
• Auditory learners. Many students react favorably to music, oral stories, reading aloud, class sing alongs, sounds, class discussions, and ongoing dialogue. For these students the oral directions in games, repeated episodes of question-and-response, and ongoing discussions create a memorable experience.
• Kinesthetic learners. Many students prefer to be involved in the learning experience through touch and interaction, as occurs during game play. They like tactile experiences, such as touching ordinary game items like game sheets, pencils, and markers, and may especially enjoy touching special game props, such as balloons, trash balls, chips, letter cards, question cards, and so forth. The actual physical movement involved in certain games is also important for these learners. They will enjoy the out-of the- chair games. These students especially enjoy interacting with the other students during the socialization required in a competitive game environment. Students become players, and players become teams during the surge of energy and adrenaline that occurs during game play. Learning types can also be expressed as internal and external styles.
• Internal learners. These learners prefer working alone to create a product or solution—they enjoy reflecting and then working out the solutions in their heads before presenting an answer. Games encourage and reward the type of reflection and thought that is needed to provide the best answers.
• External learners. These learners are very social and thrive on group collaboration and interaction. They work well with others and are natural leaders. Games give these students a way to socialize, yet still remain on task with their learning goals. Games also provide an opportunity for these students to test out their leadership skills in a safe environment.

Read More : Can A Game Promote Learning?

Use of Reading and Writing Strategies for Teaching Letter-Sound Correspondence

Provide children with a sample of a single letter book (or create one from environmental sources, newspapers, coupons, circulars, magazines, or your own text ideas). Make sure that your selected or created sample includes a printed version of the letter in both upper and lower case forms. Make certain that each page contains a picture of something that starts with that specific letter and also has the word for the picture. The book you select or create should be a predictable one in that when the picture is identified, the word can be read.

Once the children have been provided with your sample and have listened to it being read, challenge them to each make a single letter book. It is often best to focus on familiar consonants or the first letter of the child's first name. Use of the first letter of a name invites children to develop a book that tells about themselves and the words that they find. This is an excellent way for the reading workshop aspect of teaching alphabetic principles to complement and enhance the writing workshop.

Encourage children to be active writers and readers by finding words for their book on the classroom word wall, in alphabet books in the special alphabet book bin, and in grade- and age-appropriate pictionaries (dictionaries for younger children that are filled with pictures).

Of course, the richest resource within the reading and writing workshop classroom for teaching and fostering the alphabetic principle lies in the use of alphabet books as anchor books for inspiring students’ writing. While young children in grades K-1 will do better with the single letter book authoring activity, children in grades 2 and beyond can truly be inspired and motivated by alphabet books that enhance their own reading, writing, and alphabetic skills.

Furthermore, use of these books—which have and are being produced in a variety of formats to enhance social studies, science, and mathematical themes—provides an opportunity for even young children to create a meaningful product that authenticates their content study while enhancing alphabetic skills and, of course, print awareness[SAW4]. Consider selecting an alphabet book that has a particularly inviting concept, art style, or adaptable format within the children's capacity to use as a model.

For example, author Tana Hoban uses actual color photographs of letters in her 26 Letters and 99 Cents. Children may want to make clay letters or create letter sculptures that develop their own "in style of” alphabet book similar to Hoban's. If nutrition is the science topic, children might want to examine Lois Ehlert's very
accessible Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z. This, combined with an examination of the fruits and vegetables in a local store (perhaps a pleasant walk from the school and a quick break from the routine local outing) can yield a wonderful alphabet book on fruits and vegetables that can also include those fruits and vegetables eaten in various cultures (e.g., mangos, plantains, pomegranates, etc).

The alphabet book can also offer the class a chance to work collaboratively within a template created by the teacher. Completion of this collaborative work can be shared with peers in another class and parents. It can also be kept as a model for the following year's class (of course, with the recognition and acceptance of the authors!).
Read More : Use of Reading and Writing Strategies for Teaching Letter-Sound Correspondence

HOW GAMES BRING LEARNING TO YOUR CLASSROOM

Games deliver a welcome variation to the tell-and-test classroom format. The games in this blog will make your lessons more enticing and motivate your students to learn more and, more important, enjoy learning more. These games can be adapted very easily to most themes and subjects that your school’s curriculum has outlined.

As an educator, you have goals for yourself, to tap into each child’s zone where he gets excited about learning and has continued moments of success that drive him to undertake further challenges. Students have goals for themselves, too—they want to succeed, they want to do well in school, and they want to learn the best they can.
Games help satisfy everyone’s goals. They keep the curriculum fresh and interesting, which is key to motivating future learning. Here are fourteen ways games bring your curriculum to your audience:
1. Games are experiential. Today’s student needs to do and to try things on her own. These games bring her into direct contact with the topic; she will actively interact with your information wrapped in a game. Games also allow you to observe her realtime behavior.

2. Games allow special tutoring for one or two. On occasion you need to work with only one or two students. Games can be customized with almost any topic and used in the home or classroom for special tutoring sessions. You will find additional tips on how to use each game in this book in the “Teacher’s Notes”
and “Customizing” sections.

3. Games provide choices for your classroom. Educators sometimes feel weighed down by assigned curricula and audiences. Games allow you to add variety and flexibility to your teaching menus. Here is a brief list of your classroom choices with games:
• In-chair or out-of-chair play
• Table, floor, or wall play
• In-class or learning center activities
• Small- or large-group play
• Teacher or student scoring
• In-class or take-home assignments
• Individual or team play
• Introduction or review of material
• Open-book or closed-book play
• Inside or outside play

4. Games reinforce learning. Games give you playful ways to present and represent material to your students. During this play, your students can practice and demonstrate what they have learned from lecture and readings.

5. Games provide immediate feedback. Students want and need feedback on their performance. Games give students immediate feedback on the quality of their input—with appropriate corrective feedback. This can become an invaluable learning opportunity.

6. Games improve test-taking skills. Because of the playful challenge inherent in them, games serve as excellent practice for test taking. They expose students to a variety of question areas and formats, and postgame discussion can focus on testtaking tips from both the teacher and fellow students.

7. Game playing shows that classroom energy is good. Sometimes the educator has to deal with the energy that children bring into the classroom. Using games reinforces the concept that energy is a good thing and that the classroom is a good place to expend energy. In addition, games can bring students’ focus back to the curriculum following active play periods such as recess.

8. Games can introduce new or difficult material. Games have an unparalleled facility to introduce new or difficult material to willing participants. Because the game format is playful, the inherent challenge of new or difficult material is much less threatening than it is ordinarily. During game play the seeming unsolvable question is “just part of the game.” And educators can use the window following a correct response to successfully introduce new information. One method, for example, is to give an in-class assignment on a new reading.
After ten minutes of individual work, bring students into small groups to share their understanding of the material.

9. Games complement reading assignments. Games work very well to complement in-class or at-home reading. Use game sheets as homework guides or use in-class question-and answer sheets.

10. Games improve teamwork. Because games are real-time activities that bring students into teams, they train students in the rules of working together as a team and underscore the value of team collaboration.

11. Games teach playing within the rules. Games continually reinforce the concept that the only way to win is to play within the rules. If an instance of “fair play” or “cheating” is aired, the postgame discussion can deal with issues of cooperation and honesty.

12. Games foster both individual and team achievement. Games underscore the importance of both the individual and the team by giving the student a chance to work alone and then adding the dimension of bringing him into a small group to share ideas.

13. Games reinforce and improve multitasking. Games allow students, individually or in groups, to experience and practice multiskill tasks, such as bouncing a balloon while responding to a series of questions. The pressure created by game play helps build problem-solving skills and promotes creativity.

14. Games can replace drill work. Games can replace the dreaded memorization work required in learning multiplication tables, spelling, and the like. The required repetition can be carried out in a game format. When the students’ attention is focused on the play of the game, memorization becomes less of a chore.
Read More : HOW GAMES BRING LEARNING TO YOUR CLASSROOM

Selecting An Appropriate Game For Your Classroom

Remember, these are your learning games, and they need your customizing in both content and implementation to meet your specific needs in terms of the age, size, and level of your audience. Consider the following information when selecting a game for your learners.

One of the most important considerations is your target audience. Your game must reflect their knowledge, skills, and abilities. Games can evoke powerful learning. It begins when the student, now a player, is challenged with the information that provokes a search for the answer. When the correct answer is aired, the learning is immediately reinforced. This learning transfer happens over and over during the game. This moment of learning is not only powerful but often remains long after the learning event or game has been completed. Three dimensions of your target audience are level of play, number of players, and class size.

Level of Play

As you would expect, game play varies with the age of the audience in terms of the challenge of the material, the complexity of the rules, and the time of play. To assist you in sorting the games for your needs and audience, we have divided the potential audience into three groups with some distinct needs: grades K–2, grades 3–6, and grades 7–8.

• Grades K–2. Learning games for this group should focus on behavioral as well as intellectual skills. Children at this age may still be in the egocentric stage and are just beginning to be introduced to group play. This may make group work a challenge for the young student. Children will learn what games and group play mean overall—that games have winners, contain an element of challenge, and encourage competition. Using teams of fewer than five and simple concepts at the outset of game play allow children to focus on the rules of play. As the concept of a learning game is understood, you can build in additional task complexity.
• Grades 3–6. The focus for this audience continues to be how to work cooperatively in groups, but you can also put more emphasis on course curriculum. With students of this age it is developmentally appropriate to move them into larger teams. At this age students will also become very familiar with the concept of testing. Teachers can use games to teach their students about the content and the format of a test—easing their students into formal testing in a friendly environment.
• Grades 7–8. Learning games for this group can be expanded to familiarize students with written testing procedures, oral and written directions, forming and working in teams, individual and group problem-solving skills, and individual critical thinking skills.

Number of Players
When games are used in the classroom, any number can play. Although many games seem best suited for a small number of players, the intrigue and challenge of play invites the involvement of larger groups of participants. Interaction with the play of the game is vital because it brings your students into active contact with the topic.

Participation in a team is an important element of the game experience it immerses students in a collaborative learning environment. Teams not only present a collective approach to problem solving but also reduce the threat students might feel during a question-and-response period. If an individual responds incorrectly,
she may feel embarrassed or unprepared. If the team responds incorrectly, team members have a mixed experience of both disappointment and discovery. Working in teams also shows players that all learning does not have to come from the teacher.

The size of a good working team varies from two to seven players. Teams usually function better with an odd number of players, such as three, five, or seven. Try to use three-member teams unless the game rules indicate otherwise. Using three players allows all players to get involved in the responses and other aspects of game play.

Size of Class
The size of your class requires you to vary the focus of your control. In smaller groups you will be able to reinforce the topic during presentation of the question-and-response material. The natural energies and distractions of larger classes require more maintenance and direct control.

• Group size of 1 to 2. This very small group requires one-on-one skills from the educator and a game format that can be adapted to one-on-one play. The contest pits the player or players against a preset time or score. Feedback can be tailored to the student either in the form of an immediate score or as a mix of score and tutoring.
• Group size of 3 to 14. This small group allows a casual game atmosphere in which the teacher and students participate at a high level. In a small group there is time to go over each question, reach in-depth closure, and ensure each child understands the material. For a group of three to five players, consider having the students run the group, using the game as a learning center activity.
• Group size of 15 to 25. A medium group requires greater class management skills. The teacher must  decide whether she will run one game for the entire class or break the class into teams for whole-group games—perhaps two to four games for this medium class size. Conducting multiple games requires you to make preparations for the additional activity, disruption, and noise.
• Group size of 26 to 46. A large group presents class management problems that require the teacher to decide whether he needs personnel assistance (other classroom monitors) and to plan room logistics that accommodate all the players. One method might be to divide the students into two sets and run the games in two rounds—in the first round one set of students acts as players and the second set acts as observers, and in the second round the roles are reversed. Again, remember that conducting multiple games requires you to make preparations for the additional activity, disruption, and noise.

Read More : Selecting An Appropriate Game For Your Classroom

Learning Outcomes With Game Teaching Approach

Games can reinforce many different behavioral and learning outcomes.  Your learning outcome can vary from the reinforcement of the topic to the demonstration of how to participate in a working group. It is important to establish a set of learning objectives  what you want the participants to learn or demonstrate during and after playing the game. Then you can evaluate how the game met your expectations.

Games are excellent vehicles for learners to demonstrate the following skills and abilities, all within the friendly and competitive game environment:
• Understanding of the concepts of rules, cooperative play, and winning and losing.
• Understanding of the classroom material.
• Application of concepts and principles found in the classroom material.
• Problem solving and strategizing.

PLAYING TIME
Time of play is always a critical issue. Game play represents only part of the total classroom time required. The total learning experience is a three-part process of setup, game play, and closure.
• Setup time: approximately 20 percent of total. During this time, you establish the game environment by preparing the room, distributing game materials, dividing learners into teams, and reviewing the rules of play.
• Game playing time: approximately 60 percent of total. This is the actual playing of the game, including the start and stop of game play, clarifying questions about rules or content, validation and elaboration of correct responses, and declaring winners.

Closure time: approximately 20 percent of total. This portion of the time is for processing game content and player conduct. During this time the teacher brings the class “back to the classroom” and revisits the learning concepts covered during game play.

Teachers must plan for a total learning experience, considering several factors including the complexity of the topic, time required for setup and closure, time of day, and even the attention span of the participants. Because of these factors, all the games in this book are designed to be played in fifty minutes or less. Of course, if you find that a game generates a highly motivating environment, you may extend the time of play by conducting additional rounds or adding supplemental questions or tasks.

THE WHOLE COURSE GAME
When a particular game proves both popular and effective, consider reusing it as appropriate throughout the entire school semester or year. This whole course technique allows you to reintroduce a game experience that is familiar to both student and teacher. Advantages of a whole course game are ;
• Immediate acceptance of a game format that has already proven successful in reinforcing learning or behavior outcomes.
• Familiarity with the rules and roles involved in game play.
• Immediate focus on content in the form of game questions and situations.
• Readily available game accessories from previous play and easier setup for game play.
• Ease of updating to match your current curriculum requirements.
Read More : Learning Outcomes With Game Teaching Approach

Game Variations For Game Teaching Approach

Once you have selected a game and played it with your students, you may want to modify one or more of these game format elements to meet your classroom needs ;
• Class size. Most games in this book are designed to accommodate four to twelve players. Modifications should be made to accommodate groups larger than twelve or to simplify rules and question material to play with one or two players.
1–2 players. The teacher directly participates in the administration and scoring of the game. Revise the competition process by substituting standard scores or times in place of other teams’ performance.
3–14 players. Little or no modification is needed for this small group.
15–25 players. Modify for medium groups by allowing more time for game play, preparing additional materials, and revisiting your logistics to make sure your classroom can accommodate the requirements of the game.
26–46 players. Major modifications are required for large groups to ensure that players understand and follow the rules and that the dynamics of game play do not overwhelm the playing area.
Many teachers have found that using one or two assistants especially in the first run of the game—helps with crowd control and speeds up setup and closure.

• Time of play. Expand or contract the total time allowed for the entire game depending on the number of rounds or questions or the amount of material you wish to cover in the time allowed. The rule of thumb is to expand the playing time for groups over fifteen; expand topic coverage for groups under five.

• Focus of the task. Adjust the levels of competition and cooperation or encourage extra teamwork or creativity, and the like.
Grades K–2. The focus should be on the manner of play, such as following the rules and demonstrating appropriate behavior, as well as on providing the correct responses. The concepts of winning and losing are introduced at this level.
Grades 3–6. Students should understand how to play games. The focus is on demonstrating an understanding of the topic as well as on demonstrating appropriate game and social behavior including sportsmanship—how to be a good winner as well as a good loser.
Grades 7–8. In addition to answering questions on the topic, students can be challenged with problem-solving and critical thinking tasks. The teacher may ask for greater student involvement in conducting and observing the game and even in writing questions for the game.

• Scoring procedure. Revise rewards and penalties as necessary.

These elements are a starting point for modifying games to suit your particular educational purpose. Each of the game descriptions in this blog provides further, specific recommendations for adjustments to the four elements of class size, time of play, focus of the task, and scoring procedure.
Read More : Game Variations For Game Teaching Approach

MBA Teaching approach

The approach to teaching will depend greatly upon the type of programme. If it is highly academic there may be a strong emphasis on the relative merits of different theories and different methods, with a strong reliance on input from lecturers or textbooks. If there is a more practical orientation, the programme may focus more on the application of such theories to the real world, and on the development of transferable skills. Discussion of students’ own experience will be important, and assessment is more likely to be based on real situations encountered by the students.

There is an increasing emphasis on transferable skills in higher education generally. A possible list of such skills which any MBA programme might develop, albeit in different proportions, is:

• numeracy and analytical skills – through case studies and projects;
• written presentation skills – through assignments and project reports;
• oral presentation skills – through presentations on group work;
• team skills – through group work on cases and projects;
• leadership skills – through group work and through consultancy or similar projects;
• IT skills – through use of word processing and graphics, spreadsheets, databases, the World Wide Web, and electronic conferencing;
• negotiation and other consultancy skills – through an in-company project;
• personal skills (self-organisation and time management) – through meeting programme demands;
• learning skills and self-awareness – through a continuous process of challenging personal assumptions and reflection on practice;
• critical thinking skills – through research and writing on this.

Your own needs with respect to these skills will form an individual profile: an ideal programme will match this fairly closely. Another element of teaching approach which will be important is the degree of ‘spoonfeeding’. There are two aspects to this, one good, one bad. If you are told what to think, and what to reproduce in exams, this is not good. Study at Master’s level should be developing your ability to think for yourself. But some institutions are very much better than others at providing you with the information and materials you need in order to study efficiently, and this sort of ‘spoonfeeding’ is all to the good for the majority of pressured students.
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MBA Teaching media

Although in one sense a subset of teaching approach, the use of media in teaching is so important it warrants a separate section. Information and communication technologies (ICTs), in particular, have become a transforming force in management and management education, the full effects of which have yet to be envisaged. These developments have had an effect on the curriculum, with e-commerce and knowledge management courses highly popular at present. More importantly, they have impacted upon almost all the basic components of conventional teaching.

Consider the traditional ‘building blocks’ of education. Information was transmitted by a lecturer or textbook. Understanding was increased through questions to the lecturer and seminar discussion, and tested in examinations. The physical presence of students in lecture room or library was essential.

Distance learning has allowed this physical presence to be dispensed with. ‘Lectures’ are transformed into printed workbooks and/or video and audio tapes, or delivered via a CD-Rom. Necessary readings may be compiled into books and mailed to students, or web links provided to them. Telephone or e-mail allows students to receive answers to specific questions or to discuss things in ‘virtual’ tutorial groups. Web pages can hold tests which you sit at your leisure, and from which you receive automatic feedback. You can submit substantial assignments electronically and receive tutor comments almost immediately. Via the Internet you can attend ‘lectures’, and access not only the equivalent of a first-class library, but also an almost infinite variety of more transient and current (albeit often less reliable) materials.

Opinions are at present divided on how best to exploit the technical options for teaching. The latest ICT developments can be sources of frustration as well as excitement. Equipment or software incompatibilities may waste hours or even days of valuable time. Searching the World Wide Web without some guidance can positively devour time, and produce results ranging from amazingly good to worthless. Trying to study quantities of material directly from a screen is for many far more difficult than working from good quality print. Conferencing with fellow students round the globe can produce fascinating insights, but on the whole is less exciting than a good face to face debate followed by a visit to the pub.

Because your own situation and preferences are important here, and things are changing so quickly, this is another dimension which you will need to research carefully when making your choice. Bear in mind the quality of materials and interaction in the media used, the likely learning efficiency, and whether you will feel comfortable with, and enjoy using, the different media on offer.
Read More : MBA Teaching media