The second way of thinking about effective teaching stems from an attempt to pinpoint the vital psychological factors at play. It constitutes, as previously said, psychological development of the surface level of analysis. Because the two basic constructs of ALT* and QI* reveal the most significant features of effective teaching in terms of the widest constructions of value, Model 1 has been dubbed surface level' of study.
The psychological level of analysis clarifies the psychological conditions that must exist for learning to occur. If specific process variables impact educational outcomes, they must do so by changing the psychological state and processes of the students. This is the kind of approach that tries to explain it. A wide range of psychological concepts, principles, and processes have been recognized as being at the heart of effective teaching. To mention a few, these include attention, memory, information processing, learning transfer, reinforcement, feedback, motivation, ability, expectancies, and self-concept. Overall, three primary characteristics of pupil learning must be considered when considering successful teaching planning.
- The student must be focused on the learning experience.
- The student must be open to the learning process (in the sense of being motivated and willing to learn and respond to the experience).
- The learning experience must be appropriate for the targeted learning goals (taking into account the pupil's prior knowledge and understanding).
These three elements are the foundation for the general conditions necessary for learning to occur. From a psychological standpoint, the study of effective teaching focuses on these three conditions and the factors that help or hinder teachers' achievement.
In conclusion, process variables impact educational outcomes via influencing ALT and QI. In some ways, this is a surface-level description of how to teach well. The psychological level of analysis tries to link process variables to educational results by explaining their influence on the key psychological concepts, principles, and processes involved. Therefore, it provides a "deeper level" explanation of effective teaching.
- Active learning time (ALT)
- Quality of instruction (QI)