how to keep students focused
make sure you keep them happy and give them projects to do in groups to get to know other students.
Marcy,
Projects are good. Also, discussion, and acitivities that involve student interaction are almost certain to keep interest and retain student focus. Also, if the studenjnt feels their instructor cares about their learning, they'll be more apt to stay tuned in.
Barry Westling
I think having fun projects are entertaining for students. It promotes learning.
Kimberlee,
Yes, I agree that sharing stories, past situations (good and bad), examples from the work setting, and case study type of discussion are very helpful in getting and keeping attention, and also great for engaging students. Posing hypothetical questions, or the "coulda, woulda, shoulda" solutions are also good to stimulate thinking and offer possible alternatives to real world occurrences.
Barry Westling
I teach Dental Radiology in a Dental Hygiene program, so I am fortunate that all my students have at least has the experience of being a patient if they have not actually taken radiographs as a dental assistant. During lectures we are able to discuss real life experiences. The engagement and interaction brings attention back if they are drifting off.
Eboni,
I like the competition surrounding learned material. Personnaly, I would not give extra credit for it. If it is an activity I require, I find some category to put these kinds of activity into (e.g., class participation). Besides the points, the good thing is the activity engages students and it's fun. Students like these kind of departures from the traditional (lecture, written assignments, etc.).
Barry Westling
I have a session called play back time or brain power. I divide the class into teams and ask questions from lecture for small prizes or extra credit.
Hi Laura:
Real life scenarios are great to engage students. Better yet, after discussing a concept, how about dividing the students into groups, have them tackle a problem, then present that information to the class as a means of discussion?
Regards, Barry
Hi Sherry:
It's iteresting , students like stories. I don't mean "what I did over the week-end" kind of stories, but those that have an application to the topic, work or the career field the students are studying for. I think since students can relate to some elements in the story, that helps bridge understanding of the material a teacher is trying to convey.
Regards, Barry
I prefer real-life situations. Even in a group activity. This gives them the support from fellow students, they bond as a class, they also will discuss the situations. Usually with very little guidance they can come up with the correct answer.
I agree, giving students real-life applications gets them involved in the learning process and gives the material relevance.
keeping students focussed is a mixture of delivering the material in manageable bites for them. Most students can only focus on topics for a short period of time and then they shut down and the message becomes unclear. Taking time to deliver the message and then talk about something real life or relevant to the instruction will allow students to stop thinking and start listening.
I too add critical thinking with role playing involved. It gets them motivated.
I assigned critical thinking classword in groups of 2 or 3 to stimulate learning.
