Introduction

Over the years, I have had the privilege of working with some of the best scholars and teachers through the annual Stanford-NUS Executive Program. In the beginning, I wondered how Stanford professors could easily score at least 6 out of a 7-point scale from a highly critical audience of top-notch executives. In contrast, NUS instructors were ranked far less favourably. I could not accept these results lightly. Together with some of my colleagues, we closely studied these great “gurus”. We have since caught up, and several of us now rank as well as the best Stanford teachers. So I would now like to share with you these acquired insights on how to be an effective teacher.

Learning from the Stanford Professors

What notable qualities did the Stanford professors exhibit? With great authority, Ezra Solomon would begin his lectures with an opening remark like, “When I was an economics advisor to President Reagan…”, making everyone sit-up and listen carefully. A great storyteller, George Parker has a theatrical style of teaching and punctuates his presentation with great jokes and fantastic anecdotes. He also makes complicated topics like financial ratios, mergers and acquisitions easy to understand.

When I sat in the class of Harold Leavitt, he captured the audience’s attention despite his need for a microphone to project his voice and his heavy reliance on chalk and blackboard. His secret simply lay in his wealth of business experience arising from years of training and consulting for very large American corporations. Jeffrey Pfeffer relies on scholarship: he draws the attention of the audience to his research findings as reflected in his books and journal publications and explains these findings in layman’s terms. When you listened to Jim Howell’s lecture on the state of the world economy, you felt that you understood all the issues involved as Jim’s strength was in organisation. He can structure a very complex topic in such an orderly and systematic way that people who have never studied economics can understand

Yet, beyond each man’s unique teaching style or strength, they all shared one common trait: they each possessed great communication skills.

Inferences about Effective Teaching

Several interesting points about effective teaching can be gleaned from the above. Firstly, there is no one best style of teaching. Each Stanford professor had his own unique manner that appealed to the audience. Although not everyone can be as charismatic as George Parker or as authoritative as Ezra Solomon, we can discover the style of teaching most suitable to us if we invest enough time and effort to cultivate our personal strengths.

Secondly, everyone can be a “star” teacher as there is no one ideal mode of teaching. The key is to have the confidence and willingness to learn, especially from as many great teachers as possible. I believe that I am a very strong teacher today – my style of teaching is continually evolving because I am always learning from others.

Thirdly, communication skills are very important. One need not be loud or forceful in speaking. But to excel in teaching, one needs the ability to express ideas clearly and succinctly. So if we have communication difficulties, we should be humble, acknowledge our weakness and seek help from others.

Finally, presentation and teaching skills can be acquired. For example, authority and experience can be gained through our consulting and outside work. Scholarship comes through research and publications. Organisation can be learnt and theatrics achieved through practice. In fact, these characteristics are all part of our duties and responsibilities as academics. It only depends on our willingness to learn and progress. I personally have witnessed how several of my colleagues at the Faculty of Business Administration have grown in teaching stature and strengths over the years because of their relentless motivation for self-improvement.

Improving Teaching Effectiveness

How does one improve one’s teaching effectiveness? Based on my years of university teaching and of conducting executive training/consulting for international companies, I can say there are four key areas of concentration:

1. Know Your Strengths
   
   It is vital to know your strengths so that you can develop your particular teaching style. For instance, not everyone can excel in large classroom teaching; instead, we could perhaps teach smaller classes such as tutorials or seminars. In addition, it is necessary to:
   
   1. Enhance course content and development;
      
   2. Make greater usage of information technology and teaching software;
      
   3. Keep teaching materials relevant and updated;
      
   4. Provide more “value-added” presentations.
      
      
2. Work on Your Weaknesses
   
   All of us are weak in one aspect of teaching or another. Teaching in NUS itself may also pose certain challenges that we may not know how to cope with despite our academic credentials or personal experiences in teaching at other institutions. Consequently, invite, when necessary, established colleagues who are known as great teachers to sit in during your class. They can provide constructive comments on how you can improve your teaching skills to fit specific circumstances. Many faculties and departments have established peer review committees for teaching and research whose services can also be utilised. Besides inviting “critics” to your class, you can also proactively sit in the classes of better teachers.
   
   The University has also provided other facilities for those who need help to improve their teaching. For example, it is now possible to videotape your own teaching with the help of the Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning (CDTL). An unobtrusive, self-learning way of monitoring yourself, videotape allows you to review your performance after class, discover your shortfalls and take appropriate action to overcome those faults. Attending courses offered by CDTL and the Centre for English Language Communication can also help improve your communication and presentation skills.
   
   
3. Pay Attention to Personal Grooming
   
   In teaching, I believe personal image matters. Because we are largely role models to our students, the extent to which we project ourselves (whether positively and confidently or negatively and passively) will hence naturally affect how our students perceive us. If you are well attired, your level of consciousness is heightened and you tend to behave with a particular decorum. If dressed sloppily, you are likely to behave casually. So when you are dressed well and have good manners, students will probably regard and respect you more.
   
   
4. Know Your Students
   
   The University is a great place for us to mould the minds and characters of future leaders. But how many of us teachers actively do so? Do we pay close attention to the students’ feedback/end-of-course evaluation and study the comments carefully to see how we can improve ourselves? Do we remember our students by name and show them concern beyond the classroom? Some of the hallmarks of a great teacher are his/her ability to establish strong rapport with students, to be sensitive to their needs, and to be a caring mentor/counsellor. If we show profound care for our students, we would probably have a greater, more positive impact on the lives of students than if we kept aloof.
   
   Within the classroom setting, knowing the capabilities of our students will naturally help us pitch our teaching at the right level and stretch their academic limits. Armed with this knowledge, we can better stimulate creativity, enhance analytical thinking and cultivate learning skills among our students, thereby helping to fulfil an important national agenda, i.e. building a learning nation and encouraging thinking schools.

Conclusion

Teaching excellence must be a key responsibility of any academic, especially for those working in NUS. As a nationally funded institution, our biggest contribution to the socio-economic well-being of Singapore is the quality of graduates that we produce because they are the future leaders of our society. With more foreign students entering NUS, this role of shaping future leaders has taken an international significance. Thus, it is important that we continually improve upon our teaching effectiveness. Let us work harder to enhance our strengths, overcome our weaknesses, invest more effort in knowing our students, and learn to project ourselves more positively. What I have shared is not new, but I hope my views will enable you to be more aware of the important roles we play. After all, awareness is the beginning of wisdom – a trait that we should all aspire to achieve as academics.