This is a hard one because many of us are at the mercy of a standardized curriculum and don't have as much academic freedom as we'd like. However, I think it's important to add that freedom where possible to ensure students are not disconnecting with the material. I use music, movies, and quotes to supplement my lecture.
Traci,
Great! Segmenting lessons is a good way to keep interest and add variety to the lessons.
Barry Westling
We teach in 5 week modules. I try to select course work and lectures on what I need to accomplish in that week, what kind of homework will help make the material stick and what other activities can I add to break up lecture and help to make learning fun and interactive which I believe is another great way to learn.
Wendy,
You point a difference in the challenges in OL vs on-ground classwork. True the the dynamics are different, even though the content may be identical. My solution is perspective. If we say student learning is the goal, then in both settings this can be accomplished, perhaps with different resources, delivery methods, or course work assignments. Both are valid (in my opinion), just different, and we need to learn to adapt to the delivery model being used.
Barry Westling
I don't seem to have too much problem with this issue for face-to-face classes, but do for on-line classes. A lot of the material I might use in person is not in the right format for posting on Blackboard or whatever other interface program is used. There might be copyright issues. It might also have to do with videos not being detailed enough to actually show a student how to do a particular task or the let her have an opportunity to get some hands-on time.
Lisa,
Sounds like that was a meaningful experience for you. As instructors every day, month, and year provides opportunities for us to make improvements, and become better at waht we do if we're willing to learn from our experiences.
Barry Westling
Mary,
It's a challenege to be sure we're choosing the appropriate course materials. Instructors need to be creative, and put in time and effort in the planning of their courses to be sure we are offering the best for optimal student learning outcomes.
Barry Westling
As my first time teaching our professions specialized software program course, I started out by selecting the most pertinent information and tools they needed to learn by course end. Unsure of exactly how each chapter/subject was going to go time-wise and finding out that some topics went a lot quicker than others, I learned quickly that having sufficient practice exercises or projects planned definitely helps fill time when a lesson goes much quicker than expected. Also learning which ones to provide on the more difficult material or making them a little challenging so they're not done and looking for the next one so quickly.
The course content in the class I teach has 3 parts. There is a registry exam that needs to be taken. The course must cover this topic in order for the students to be successful. Daily work tasks that must be able to be performed. This includes both theoretical and practical information. The final part is real life application. If all of these are not covered in the course content the student will not be well served.
Jay,
Yeah, it's good to try not to repeat mistakes or less than effective activities. They say experience is someone with a history of mistakes...behind them!
Barry Westling
I like to prepare for the new class by assesing the previous class and adjusting for issues so they dont arise again.
Kathryn,
Here are a couple thoughts. If there is required information that you feel is outdated, minimize it by having the student read or learn about that on their own, perhaps outside of class. Even if they respond to various degrees, it will have little impact on their grade. Next, carefully choose the most important imformattion and make sure that's where your emphasis is. It's like, "if my students learned only three things today, what would I choose for them?". Then, as time allows, more added topics. Finally, discussions don't have to be static activities. If students are given a small group study or pair-share discussion assignment, have them then bring their conclusions to the class. That way their time is used for both their personal interaction with peers, then presented to the whole class with information you won't have to present. You may want to add something they missed, or amplify a point or two, but basically you're using their discussion time in substitution for your lecturing time. It's a time management thing.
Barry Westling
The basic content of my course is dictated by the curriculum which I cannot alter. I try to add enrichment since I am very experienced in the real world whereas the curriculum has some outdated content. I find that by teaching the required content and also adding what I consider essential enrichment that I do not have time to get all of the material into the one hour. I try to add hands-on experiences, student involvement, discussion, etc. but all of this takes time also. My only solution is to talk very fast and I find that exhausting. Any recommendations?
Darron,
My thought about sufficiency is assuring that all my resources are effective, specific to mky course and objectives, and contribute positively to the course material and student learning. Easier said than done, for sure!
Barry Westling
review material for relevance to course work, choose material that is visual and vivid , take opinoins from the class, colleagues invision how you would best be able to retain information sometimes the support material is just as vital as primary course content.
Daniel,
Back up plans are great to either fill empty time or to substitute when more emphasis may be needed to assure adequate understanding is achieved. It is a bit of trial and error until we strike the right amount of time to get the information across.
Barry Westling
Eddy,
If we stay focused on course objectives, student learning outcomes, and program goals, this will naturally lead us to selecting topic-appropriate course content.
Barry Westling
Eddy,
It does take a balance of different methods to reach everyone in class. In general, the more senses involved, the better will be the retention of information.
Barry Westling
My class is an introductory course. For the first couple of times that I taught the course, I made sure that I had some extra group projects -- just in case. Once I got the feel for how long things take in the classroom, it was a little easer to stick to a nightly plan, and know in my head that I had a few secondary strategies in my hat (just in case). Right now, I am back to the beginning because we were just issued a brand new book and assignment guides. I am doing my best to plan with the new curriculum, but I still have some of my old special assignments in case things go off the rails unexpectedly.
By Eddy Mojena
In learning what type of students that I may have e when it come s to their learning style helps me decide on how to use the material to their benefit so they can have a better outcome long term.
