Since I am in my second quarter with different students I have noticed how modification of course content is critical. My first class after having them take notes on chapter one I realized that they didn't know how to take notes. So I had a note taking class and then also decided to help by creating a study guide for each chapter. This was greatly appreciated by all. My second class had less problems with that and I still am using the study guide. My course content is set since they have to take a national exam to become licensed so my goal is to provide as many resources for them to review material. I have added a Chapter/Lesson Powerpoint to Engrade ( electronic gradebook)that they may review to help them study. It's great and really helping them be successful on tests.
Hi Terry,
In these two issues you bring up, which is the lesser of two evils?
Each instructor should ideally have an idea of the minimum content they want their students walking away with.
Using many assessment methods during the learning sessions may be a good way to gauge if the students are getting it.
Regards,
Barry
Perhaps we get too wrapped up in the syllabus. The syllabus tells us what we are exactly supposed to do. However, the syllabus doesn't consider learning styles, backgrounds, "baggage," and all the other things that a learner brings to the classroom. Certainly the syllabus should be our big picture. On the other hand, perhaps our jobs as instructors is to use the syllabus only as a general vision and not get too caught up in it. The syllabus may be big-picture oriented. It's up to us to be more strategic in the day-to-day carrying out of that syllabus.
They assume information has been covered in a prior class. If the students haven't already had the information they fall further and further behind. Hopefully they will ask the instructor to explain. Some students feel they are the only one that doesn't know what the instructor is talking about so they are ashamed and don't ask questions.
That is a wonderful way of describing experience. The students I work with get very down on themselves when they make a mistake. I try to reinforce to them that in the process of learning you may not get everything right, but it is important that you are trying.
I believe many course instructors take the easy way out. Not enough information may create problems in the classroom where idle time becomes the devil's workshop so to speak. I attempt to have more material than necessary in order to be able to have a backup plan if necessary.
I can speak from personal experience. Sometimes when I put my lectures together I assume (which you should never do) the students will understand what I present to them, so I add more into the lecture. I can’t help myself sometimes I just want to share everything I can, so that when the students go out in the workforce they will be well prepared. It’s when I go into the classroom and as I am lecturing I see the confused look, then I know I have to stop and take a step back. I think sometimes as instructors we get carried away. We know this material inside and out, and we think the students are coming in with a basic knowledge, which isn’t always true. Over the years I have learned to get it in my head that the students coming into my classroom know nothing. That way I start at the very beginning and if I find out the students are more advanced all I have to do in move on.
I think some common mistakes come from pre-conceived ideas about the students themselves. As an instructor, I know what my students should already know. At that point, I should be able to start my lesson on that level. Unfortunately, there are students who "slip through" or an instructor who did not get them to the point where I am starting. From here I have to guess almost at which category they fall into and where I should start. I do not believe in "dumbing down" a class just to get students through, but at the same time, I have to judge what will make them understand what they need to learn. I can't just throw out material to them and tell them to learn it.
Hi Greg:
Students will assume all kinds of things unless careful planning and clear expectations are given in the syllabus on the first day of class, with frequent reminders. This is not hand holding, this is achieving results.
Regards, Barry
Inexperienced instructors, being over zealous in their approach, want to share with students all of their experience and knowledge. This can overwhelm students and create doubt. Apathetic instructors with a comlete grasp of the course content, present the material in their own manner, disregarding student characteristics or knowledge level.
A common mistake is overestimating the knowledge base of your students. I am especially glad that this topic was covered in the module.
Whenever I find myself in this situation, I find that the pre-testing methods gives the best results and as the module pointed out having several lesson plans available is a good stategy.
Deborah Balentine
Hi Brandy:
These are good examples. The most common is timing how long a lesson will take - too long or too short. Course difficulty will vary as some brighter srtudents will want to move ahead while others need more time and attention.
Regards, Barry
Some mistakes include instructors not considering student background knowledge, making course work to difficult for students, and/or not allowing enough time for students to complete work.
Hi Richard:
Too much information at a time or in one session is not advantageous. Some of this discussion should involve the course objectives and student learning outcomes. These need to be met. How, when, where, these are all variations that are pertinent. Well written objectives should be adequetely segmented and spaced to allow for reasonable presentation, discussion, application, and understnding, with more advanced topics escalating topics towards the end of the course.
Regards, Barry
I think a common mistake is trying to fit too much material into a specific timeframe. I have found that it's better to break the class into "modules" and go deeper on a few core concepts than try to cover breadth of 100+ concepts. I find that students appreciate the theory/application approach with the depth, and that they can tie together a more "high-level" connection of all the related topics. For instance, in teaching consumer behavior, there are multiple variations of one consumer decision-making model. I teach students one version, but then share a chart so they can see how this theory compares to the others. Thus, if they ever need, they have awareness of other theories and can go research further. However, in the short-term they are able to repeatedly use the decision-making model as we get into creative strategy and media planning decisions for marketing communications. This allows students to repeatedly apply the core consumer behavior theory.
Hi Julie:
These are good examples and probably do occur for many teachers at times.
I think good teachers make mistakes all the time. What makes them good is that they are willing to try new techniques and expand their abilities to convey ideas. But they are also able to recognize the errors or faulty activity when an new activity fall flat and learn from that experience - avoiding repetition of that event. That makes future classes better.
Regards, Barry
It is common for instructors to assume that students know either too much or too little background on the material covered. If they assume students are familiar with all terms, jargon, abbreviations and background on a subject, they may lose the students who cannot follow along.
Conversely, if the instructor over-explains background information that the students are already familiar with, they may become bored and lose interest in the lecture. It is also possible that the instructor might not get to the "meat" of the material if s/he is too busy explaining background!
Spot on Barry. We do no have any control over who enrolls, and we certainly cannot / must not lower the academic standards. Struggling students are often mentored by other students without any prompting from me, which is wonderful to see. They can also receive one-on-one tutoring and remdiation.
For those who do not pretest they could setting their classes us for hardships. I think it is important to select the appropriate course content and be willing to change it necessary. Flexibility should be expected and utilized.
Hi David:
Good point. Well written course will space out and have good timining of key learning objectives.
But even the best curriculum can get distorted by unwise use of time, interesting but unneeded discussion, or inefficient use of students time (starting late, not having resources, long breaks, or cutting class short due to lack of preparedness).
Regards, Barry
