| | 8 November 2021HIGHERReviewIN MY VIEWIN MY OPINION KEY STRATEGIES FOR ENSURING TEACHING EXCELLENCE IN HIGHER EDUCATIONBy Dr. Garry Hornby, Professor of Education, University of Plymouth, UKT he best way of ensuring that students get the most out of their education is to use teaching strategies with proven effectiveness, that is, evidence-based education practices.Four key evidence-based teaching strategies are out-lined that are relevant to higher education, and have emerged from systematic reviews and meta-analyses of research on education. These include cooperative learning, peer tutoring, metacognitive strategies, and, formative evaluation.Cooperative Learning has been found to be one of the most effective interventions in the field of education. It is typically defined as the instructional use of small groups in which students work together to maximize their own and each other's learning. A wide range of strategies have been developed including `Think-Pair-Share', `Jigsaw', and `Numbered Heads Together'. The developers of cooperative learning approaches in-sist that, to be effective, strategies must involve individual accountability and positive interdependence. Individual accountability is when each student is assessed and the re-sults are given back to the individual and the group, and requires that every member of the team is accountable for completing tasks. Positive interdependence involves link-ing students together so one cannot succeed unless all group members succeed. Cooperative learning groups create mutual support and good cooperation among team mem-bers and result in more effort and greater responsibility for learning outcomes.Peer tutoring, also referred to as `peer assisted learn-ing' or `peer mediated instruction', is a technique that Dr. Garry Hornby, Professor of EducationDr. Garry Hornby supports academic staff working in education to develop their research expertise and profiles in order to ensure that teaching becomes a more evidence-based profession and involves coordinating the drive towards improving the education submission for REF 2020, as well as directing the PhD programme in education. He has published over 200 journal articles and book chapters, and 13 books, on topics including parent involvement, special needs education, bullying, inclusive education, children's mental health, educational psychology and teacher education.
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