Andrew Chase
Equinox Staff
There are many different ways a professor can teach their students but these styles affect every student differently.
I believe that there are three primary teaching styles. These different styles of teaching can impact every student differently because every student has their own preferences of how they learn the best. The first teaching style is what I call the “Iron Grip” style. The “Iron Grip” style of teaching is when the professor teaches the class with an authoritarian position. The professor does not allow any funny business. Their favorite students are the ones that are obedient and fall in line. I believe that this teaching style is not effective for the more creative students because the professor usually doesn’t allow the student to use their creativity to do work in a different way. In this style of teaching, the learning will usually be in a lecture style.
The second style of teaching is the demonstrator style. The demonstrator style of teaching is when the professor teaches the class by giving a lot of examples and shows the class step by step how to solve problems. The professor will usually address individual problems during class time. This can be a bad thing too because if the class size is large then the professor might not be able to answer everyone’s individual questions. This can also be a good thing because if a creative minded student is struggling to understand a concept, the professor can show the creative minded student how to solve the problem via step by step instructions. I enjoy this style of teaching because I am a decently slow learner and it truly helps when the professor goes over a certain topic that I am struggling with more in depth.
The third style of teaching is what I like to call the hybrid style. The hybrid style of teaching is when the professor combines his personality and interests into their teachings. This style of teaching is extremely useful for professors when they are trying to connect with their students. Since the professor is using their knowledge of their interests, they are able to find and connect with students that share the same common interests. I believe that this can be a good thing for students that share these common interests with their professors but when they do not share any common interests with their professor, then it becomes harder to make connections.
Out of these 3 primary teaching styles, I personally find the hybrid style to be the most efficient teaching style because it creates a connection between the student and the professor that allows the student to be more engaged in class. When the student is engaged in class, they tend to find the topic easier to understand. I also find that most other students prefer the hybrid style of teaching to be the most efficient for the same reasons. Yet, everyone is different so others will have their own opinions on how they are taught the best.
Andrew Chase can be contacted at achase@kscequinox.com
