ABSTRACT
Surveys show that upwards of 65 percent of psychology graduate students in the United States have the opportunity to take courses on teaching, to get teaching supervision/mentoring, or both, and that this training is a requirement for teaching assistants in 84 percent of the departments surveyed. This chapter describes seven basic principles of effective teaching, then lists some notable characteristics of effective teachers, and finally summarizes specific teaching methods and behaviors that seem to contribute to their effectiveness. Theoretically, teachers who follow the principles just listed should be able to engage in effective teaching, which has been described as “instruction based on empirically supported or otherwise demonstrably effective pedagogy that produces meaningful, significant, transferable, and enjoyable student learning experiences”. Indeed, factor analysis of the teacher behavior checklist has revealed two factors that appear most closely associated with effective teaching: They are labeled caring and supportive and professional competency and communication skills.
