A review of 50 years of research on learning revealed a set of 14 factors that were consistently correlated to positive student outcomes. Noting that "Nothing is so useless as a general maxim." (Lord Macaulay), Angelo calls this his "teacher's dozen" of solid principles to teach by. He maintains that student performance is greatest when students:
|
Principle |
Implication |
| 1 |
are more actively than passively engaged in their academic work. |
Have students explain to others, in different contexts, having rehearsed. |
| 2 |
focus their attention by being aware, or made aware, of the basic structure of what is to be learned, and the priorities in the subject content elements. |
Point out the landmarks in the body of content, especially for novice students. |
| 3 |
set and maintain explicit, high, but realistic goals , and which are aligned with the teacher's goals. |
Ask students to write down specific learning goals, compare them to goals of other students, and to yours. |
| 4 |
meaningfully connect new information to prior knowledge. |
Provide many examples, analogies, metaphors, etc. Ask students to provide them. |
| 5 |
successfully identify and unlearn erroneous previous knowledge and bias. |
Probe student knowledge and identify "icebergs" early. |
| 6 |
organize subject content in meaningful ways that are personally and academically appropriate, and become aware of their own ways of learning (metacognition). |
Show students various ways to organize the same knowledge. Have students construct "mental models" of the content; give them feedback on their models. |
| 7 |
receive and use abundant, timely, specific feedback . |
Don't assume that students understand. Find out what students do with feedback; show students how you incorporate feedback. |
| 8 |
know in detail and in advance the standards to be used in assessment and evaluation, and the nature of the instruments. |
Provide sample exams and study questions; provide feedback on practice efforts. |
| 9 |
invest adequate time and high quality, focused effort . |
Advise students of the real-world time requirements to achieve mastery of the content; give examples. |
| 10 |
find real-world applications, in many contexts, to transfer what they are learning. |
Direct student attention between the general and the specific. Provide many examples of the same concept; have students devise their own. |
| 11 |
perceive and adopt high expectations of achievement. |
Ask students about their expectations, let them know yours. Put them in contact with previous, successful students in your course. |
| 12 |
experience a balance of intellectual challenge and academic support (scaffolding). |
Fine tune scaffolding to the learner; novices need more, and more experienced students may feel suffocated by the support given novices. |
| 13 |
clearly perceive the value in what is to be learned. |
Communicate that you hold the content to be valuable; show that mastery of the content will lead to other important goals. |
| 14 |
interact frequently with teachers and other learners. |
Learn students' names; engage them in dialogue. Challenge students with assignments that groups perform better than individuals. De-emphasize competition for grades and approval. |
Angelo, T. A. (1993). Teacher's dozen: Fourteen general, research-based principles for improving higher learning in our classrooms.
