Hi Deborah:
Great idea! You are enabling them to be active participants in a guided, directed manner. This should help keep all your class somewhat together as the move from lesson to lesson. Thanks for sharing!
Regards, Barry
Some of the strategies for helping students use their senses in learning are haveing them look at visual materials, have them hear you lecture and watch videos, and have them perform a physical task.
One of the strategies I use in the online environment is to have handouts for the students to take notes with. They are able to access it during our live chats. Some students need the guide to help them follow along and make more sense of the material.
I did a survey in my last class and found that the interactive screen share is more powerful than the same information on a powerpoint. I guess that would equate to working out problems on the board in a traditional classroom versus overheads or powerpoints.
I also ask a lot of questions and wait for a response. I know some students require longer processing times to come up with an answer and I want to give them an opportunity. In doing this I learn a lot from them as well.
I love teaching online. It is really fun to see the ways people interact and to learn from each other.
Dera Burt
Hi Dale:
It takes some practice to become aware of all the many ways we can learn if we really "tune-in to" our senses. With practice, they can positively contribute to better student outcomes.
Regards, Barry
Absolutely right. I too teach in a culinary school. Besides being able to here instruction, food that is cooking right his making a certain sound. I can hear and smell from across the room when something ins going wrong, without even being able to see it. I point this out to my students as well. Use all five senses all the time and be aware of whats going on around you, even if is not your food that is cooking.
Hi Nicholas:
Culinary really does involve most senses. In other programs, teachers may have to be more creative to use senses, both in the instructional plan and in the students personal study plans. More senses lead to better retention of information.
Regards, Barry
Use all your senses! As an instructor at a culinary school your senses are key. Example:
Making Italian Meringue.
See the size of the bubbles in the boiling sugar.
See that your thermometer registers 248 F.
Feel the sugar is not @ firm ball stage.
Hear the eggwhites as we add the boiling sugar.
Smell the egg protien coagulating.
Taste good. Yes?
When teaching the concept of swallowing difficulties in patient populations, I like to employ a student hands-on lesson. Not only do I deliver the theory/lesson but I physically produce the product that provides liquid thickening for the students to actually prepare. They are using their hands to measure the powder into the liquid, stirring to desired consistency. After the liquid reaches the desired consistency (which can be felt through stirring) they are encouraged to taste and/or smell the finished product. It helps the students to understand why patients are at risk for dehydration when they have swallowing issues and are on a thickened liquid order. Then when they go out into the clinical setting, they have a personal experience to draw from to be more aware of patient needs.
Hi Micahel:
Great - that's one of the purposes of labs and skill performance, especially in a field such as yours. "Involve me, and I'll understand".
Regards, Barry
I teach Auto Technology, When feasible, I try to get parts I am talking about into the students hands. You could talk about it for hours but to see and feel it makes it so much easier to understand it.
Hi James:
Great! I'm sure there are many pieces of machinery that has a "feel". Experienced fingers can sense rough, when it's supposed to be smooth.
Regards, Barry
Hi Madelyn:
Some vocational training seems like using sense is almost built in to the training by necessity. Culinary is one. Court reporting would seem to fit that category as well. Good example.
Regards, Barry
Hi Colette:
Good use of senses in enhancing learning.
Regards, Barry
Teaching automotive it is really nice to have bad parts or parts that we have changed to show students so the can see and hold the part so they know what to look for
I teach court reporting and it is rather important for my students to hear every word that is spoken. Along with hearing, they use their tactile senses by actually writing on their machines what is being said. They start feeling where their fingers should be on day one.
They enjoy actually getting on the machine and writing. Writing simple words like "Cat, Spat, Car, ect. gets them very excited that they can actually write a word. I make sure the machine is ready for them and all equipment is working properly so no class time is spent on the mechanics.
I teach at a cooking school as well and I am always encouraging the students to activate all their senses in the lab.
I suggest they develope a "bakers nose". We talk alot about flavors and aromas especially with baking.
Hi Victoria:
I think all of these ideas are creative and if willing to try, they'd be effective. The idea in using sense is to try to immerse the student in as many stimulations as possible to inhance the learning experience - whether that be in the classroom or lab, or in the students's own personal study. More senses equates to more retention of learning.
Regards, Barry
Hi Vinita:
Great examples. Culinary offers a great opportunity to use multiple sense. Some classes have to work harder but it is possible to be creative.
Regards, Barry
I am a culinary instructor and I teach students to involve all of their senses. We set up a "Farmer's Market " style class everyday. They SEE the ingredients, they TOUCH them, they scratch and SNIFF them, and hear them Snap,Crackle ,Pop!!! and they TASTE. In a kitchen this scenario is very important.
I'm not sure how applicable this would be, but as far as uing the sense of smell as a learning tool, how about using smells commonly found in kitchens (cookies baking, garlic, etc.) and experiment to find what fabrics are more likely to absorb those smells; or find out what wallboard materials are more likely to absorb a nicotine smell. Maybe use different hardwood samples as a way to ID the smells they might emit in a home. Another idea might be to use different chemicals frequently used in homes such as in carpeting to see how their odors might penetrate a home. This might be particularly eye-opening since there are more and more people who are doing their best to avoid allowing products with these substances into their homes.
