Lecturers sharpen skills at Micro Teaching Workshop.
By: Iwuagwu Faith O.
Teaching staff of the Federal College of Education (Technical) Umunze on Wednesday 16th July 2025 participated in one-day Micro Teaching Practicum Workshop to hone their skills and improve quality teaching.
The theme of the workshop, “Micro teaching skills a prerequisite for teaching Excellence” took place at Dr. Alex Ekwueme Auditorium, Main Campus of the College with lots of teaching staff in attendance.
While declaring the workshop open, the Provost, Prof. T.O. Okoli represented by the Deputy Provost Dr. T.A.K. Nzeribe welcomed participants and advised them to pay rapt attention to the resource persons and also put into practise what they had learnt. She emphasised the importance of Micro teaching workshop, noting that experts in the teaching profession come together to brainstorm and exchange novel ideas that would improve their classroom teaching experience.
She commended the workshop convener, Dr Kelechi Maranzu, HoD, Curriculum and Instructions for organizing the programme at this point in time for the benefit of newly employed staff of the College.
The Provost stressed the need for retraining programmes and advised lecturers to always embrace such opportunities whether they come to update their knowledge and skills.
She further highlighted the significance of the workshop and the need for continuous professional development among teaching staff in the College.
The Dean, School of Education, Dr. Unigwe S C., discussed the topic “Set Induction, Use of examples and Questioning.
He highlighted the importance of Set Induction in micro-teaching, describing it as the initial phase where the teacher introduces the topic or subject to be taught, sets the learning objectives, and creates an atmosphere conducive to learning. This step, he said, is essential in ensuring that students are focused and prepared to learn.
Dr. Unigwe also emphasized the need for the use of examples in micro-teaching. According to him, the use of examples serve as illustrations that help students understand abstract concepts and relate them to real-life scenarios. He noted that the use of relevant examples could make learning more interesting and effective.
Dr. Unigwe stressed the importance of questioning in micro-teaching, identifying it as a powerful tool that encourages critical thinking, promotes active learning, and helps students to engage with the material. He stressed the essential of asking the right questions at the right time to stimulate thought and encourage students to think deeply about the subject matter.
In his presentation, the Director, Teaching Practice Unit, Dr. Alex Okoli discussed the topic, Skill of Reinforcement, plan repetition, and skill of stimuli variation. According to him, reinforcement is the process of increasing the likelihood of a behaviour occurring again. It can be positive reinforcement (rewarding a desired behaviour) or negative reinforcement (removing an unpleasant stimulus after a desired behaviour).
While explaining the fifth skill in micro teaching (Plan Repetition), Dr Okoli said repeating a skill helps the supervisors to strengthen it and makes it more authentic.
According to him, it is important to vary the context and conditions of repetition to ensure the skill generalizes well.
In her presentation, the Coordinator, Center for Education Training (CET)/Micro teaching laboratory, Dr. Maranzu K.N focused on Non verbal communication, Evaluation and Closure.
Maranzu said non-verbal communication remains just as important as verbal communication. It includes facial expressions, body language, and gestures. Understanding and using non-verbal cues effectively can enhance teaching and learning.
While explaining evaluation as one of the skills in Micro teaching, she described it as the process of assessing students’ performance and understanding. and it helps to identify areas of success and areas that need improvement.
Also, she explained Closure as the process of wrapping up a lesson and providing conclusion for the students. It may include summarizing the key points, asking review questions, and providing opportunities for students to ask questions.
An erudite scholar, Dr. Orikpe E A, in his contribution listed Knowledge Acquisition, Interactive and Integration as some of the phases in the teaching profession.
According to him, knowledge acquisition is the first phase where teachers introduce all the nine skills to students and the primary goal is to provide students with the necessary knowledge and understanding.
Also, the Interactive Phase, he said, is a phase, whereby students are given opportunities to practice and apply the knowledge they have acquired by applying the teaching skills. And it is the responsibility of the lecturer to guide students in using the skills in various scenarios, encouraging active participation and engagement.
He identified Integration Phase as the final phase where students are expected to integrate the skills they have learned into more complex tasks by using more than one skills during teaching practice exercise.
Dr. Orikpe emphasized the importance of teaching students not just to acquire knowledge, but also to use and apply that knowledge effectively.
In the Interactive phase, he said students get hands-on experience, and in the Integration phase, they demonstrate their ability to apply the skills learned in a holistic manner.
He advised participants to always teach the students how to use and apply the aforementioned skills efficiently.
The workshop provided a smooth flow of information and an engaging atmosphere for attendees. The inclusion of the question and answer segment was a thoughtful touch that catered to the participants’ needs, allowing for further clarification and productive discussions.
