The College of Teacher Education Students’ Preferred Teaching Style: For an Instructional Enhancement

Abstract

Designing and presenting lessons is the core of the teaching process. Every day, teachers make decisions about the instructional process. A teacher's approach can have an enormous impact on their teaching effectiveness. Understanding students' preferences toward teaching approaches and teaching styles can create opportunities for teachers to make adjustments that better serve their students. This study assessed the students' preference for teaching-learning methods, strategies, and approaches to help produce competitive, innovative, creative, and well-rounded education graduates. This research employed a descriptive-correlational design and a researcher-designed survey questionnaire. A self-developed questionnaire was used to gather data and subjected to pilot testing to assess its reliability. 145 education students who enrolled in the 2018-2019 school year voluntarily participated in the study and were selected using purposive sampling. Frequency counts and percentages were used to determine the profile and preferred teaching methods and approaches, while the Chi-square test of independence was used to determine the significant relationship between the respondents' profile and their preferred teaching style or method and approach. Results revealed that most respondents were female and in the youngest age category, aged 18 years or younger. Moreover, the respondents had a strong preference for direct instruction, demonstration, partner learning, and the deductive and inductive approaches. Also, the respondents had a consistently high preference for all the teaching methods, especially the 4As. It is concluded that students taking Bachelor of Elementary Education (BEED) and Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSED) have a clear preference toward the combination of learner-centered and teacher-directed teaching approaches and methodologies