What the Best College Teachers Do

Ken Bain’s What the Best College Teachers Do strives to answer significant research questions, like how good educators can foster deep learning and achieve success with an eclectic blend of pupils. Bain answers these questions by assessing teaching practices and the way in which effective educators approach pedagogy. Teachers deemed “effective” meet several qualifications: Firstly, they must achieve learning outcomes that have a “sustained” impact on student thought and behavior, despite varied teaching methods (5). In Bain’s study, evidence could include, but was not limited to, student testimony: “[…] we wanted indications from the students that the teacher had ‘reached them’ intellectually and educationally, and had left them wanting more” (7). Secondly, an “effective” teacher’s colleagues must view their learning goals “as worthy and substantial” (8). Many of the study’s subjects moved beyond their own fields, valuing liberal arts education, critical thinking skills, student inquisitiveness, ethics, and the science of learning.

Evidence of deep learning among students also served as proof of teaching effectiveness. Students who questioned assumptions and valued lasting understanding indicated their instructor encouraged deep learning, while those who valued memorization did not. Bain studies such interviews and ratings of teaching effectiveness to form conclusions, but knows they must be analyzed alongside other types of data (like observations of instruction and course materials).