A group of trainee teachers at Bath Spa University are helping one classroom, raising the pupil/teacher ratio to 1.6 to 1, saturating the class with teaching. The trainee teachers have been drafted into the same classroom all at the same time to help 14-year-old children at a comprehensive school in Bath.
It means the class of 28 students has a pupil/teacher ratio of just 1.6 to 1 for these lessons and many children can be taught virtually on a one to one basis – a rarity in often crowded classrooms with only one educator.
The aim of this style of teaching is to improve student performance in exams and, in particular, give them better preparation for answering questions at the GCSE level.
The Bath Spa teachers work in teams to deliver lessons, sharing their innovative ideas with everybody. They focus especially on simple but practical devices to make science more accessible and interesting for students. They are also improving the students’ skills in measuring, drawing graphs and making calculations.
Bath Spa University's 'saturation teaching' approach is proving so successful that it has now been extended to classes in PE, English and Music.
Read the full press release on this innovative teaching approach online.
Content added on 12 January 2009.
Back
