The Effect of Teacher's Age on Students' Academic Achievement
In the final project of the "Statistical Research" course, we were asked to do our own research on a topic of our choice. I found the teacher's age an interesting topic and what made me do my research on it was that I heard some students complaining about their teacher who isn't interested in teaching at all and who is old.
The first step which I have taken was comparing the grades of students of an old teacher and the ones of a novice teacher. The results showed that the novice teacher's students got better results in their mid-term exam. This made me curious to know the exact reasons behind that difference. As a result, I decided to observe both classes.
My observations showed that the novice teacher is more up-dated with the new and interesting ways of teaching. She also based her teaching on students' interest while the old teacher just used the traditional ways. However, it was clear that the old teacher had a great knowledge and she only needed some modifications in her plans.
That's why, this research proved that it's not about the teacher's age only but it's about the teacher his/herself who can either choose to teach his/her plans or to teach the students by selecting what best suits them.
To sum up, results can't be generalized from one case only, but they were logical enough and it's all based on the teacher who can add life to her classroom or take it away from it.
This is so interesting, I have always felt that a teacher's age had something to do with her practices. Thank you for proving it. But this means that as we grow old we must always keep ourselves updated with what interests our students and new ways of teaching to avoid falling into the trap of becoming traditional teachers.
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