What the Best College Teachers Do

Courses with a heavy workload often produce poorer learning than those taught by Bain’s subjects, as effective instructors approach students in good faith— believing all can excel rather than viewing them as “geniuses and dullards, good students and bad” (72). They understand students have unique backgrounds that shape their performance, as psychological research on “stereotype threat” suggests. They know students who internalize negative stereotypes (i.e., women being bad at STEM, etc.) find learning more challenging, even when aware these stereotypes are false. Research shows giving students regular feedback, praise, and reassurance can combat stereotype threat. Effective instructors create mutual trust while maintaining (achievable) high standards. Creating a safe environment where students can practice critical thinking and pursue questions fosters this trust. Instructors also relinquished control to students, emphasizing that learners have power over their education.

This transfer of power appears in the “promising syllabus,” in which effective teachers outline “promises or opportunities” available to students (74-75). A syllabus outlines a course’s key questions and target skills, while avoiding the language of a task master. It also establishes learning assessment and the potential for necessary modifications, starting a conversation that empowers students and fosters mutual trust between them and teachers. Effective teachers are empathetic, willing to have difficult conversations with struggling students. They reexamined their courses when students struggled and avoided punitive grading for late work—instead helping them understand the negative impact of lateness. For example, biologists at Northwestern University offered struggling students a workshop rather than remedial action. This workshop had a positive impact on “populations of students like the minority students who had a history of doing poorly in the class, in essence saying to them that he [the professor] had great faith in their ability to do advanced work” (81). Participants performed well on exams and “reported higher interests in the biological sciences” than those who did not take part (82).

Effective instructors believe students have the capacity to grow, that intelligence is not fixed. This attitude informs better pedagogical practices, in which learners “undergo deep-seated changes, transformations that affect both the habits of the heart and mind and the capacity for continued growth” (84). Effective instructors across disciplines stress methods of reasoning like using evidence to reach conclusions. They make critical thinking and the like objectives and implement them through regular practice. For example, they “give students many opportunities to use their reasoning abilities as they tackle fascinating problems and receive challenges to their thinking” (87). Teachers scaffold course material to facilitate this growth, tackling the most challenging content and analysis toward a course’s end. They also connect courses to the human condition and ethics. For Bain’s subjects, the best learning happens when a course encourages students to consider their lives beyond the classroom—something that only occurs when they care about their learning and apply it.