Hi Maritza,
Scenarios as such really require students to think out of the box. Students need to know how to make decisions based on their own personal experiences/ideas.
Patricia Scales
Hi Kevin,
I like how you allow the students to visit the site to make their assessment. I also like how you have your students use their text book as a source to help with their assessment. This is a good exercise also for students to see how to apply book theory in the workplace.
Patricia Scales
Hi Laura,
I like how you allow flexibility with procedures as long as the method is not harmful to anyone. I am sure you fully monitor those things that can only be done one way.
Patricia Scales
Hi Denisse,
Case studies are excellent for giving students a real dose of how it is like in the real world. Students want to and need to know how the real world is like.
Patricia Scales
Placing students in a scenario which they have to work out solutions for involves critical thinking. Specifically, I have students use decision making models but I invite them to think divergently and come up with solutions based on their own experiences or ideas.
IN my one class the students are given a project to do a security assessment of a place of business. They are required to research crime data and spend time at the business looking for security issues both positive and negative while using the different concepts from the text. They will then make recommendations and point out the positives. After they complete the their assessment they present it to the class.
I've used a fun activity that sounds similar to the previous one only not as dire. There's a plane crash between a jetliner and a small plane. (Okay, it's a little bit dire.) Each student is to imagine that he or she is in charge of who will be allowed to speak to the committee in charge of assigning blame. A list of fifteen potential sources of information is presented. The fascinating thing for me is how "no"s have turned to "yes"s over time as students have made convincing arguments for people on the list. It's an excellent exercise in coming up with hypothetical situations. And it also gives students a chance to ask good questions, which is probably the most important critical-thinking skill.
I usually use the role play. I teach clinical classes to medical assistant students. With hands on procedures there are many differents ways someone can explain a procedure of performed a skill. I usually ask students to do the instructioning in a way they wish someone will explained a procedure to them. I show them how to do a procedure and ask them to practice and find their own way to perform the procedure without jeopardizing accuracy. If a procedure can not be change I question them to see if they understand the reasoning for it.
providing students with case studies and ask questions regarding medical contraindications, pt. classification and trx. planning. Allows students to use all their knowledge and put them in practice
Hi William,
This high level thinking is great for preparing your students for the real world. You are doing a fantastice job with getting your students ready for their profession.
Patricia Scales
Hi Amos,
This is a great way for a student to think visually. They can see what they want to do, but they just have to keep their mind on the end result.
Patricia Scales
Student analyze a series of messages to describe a network. The must think critally as individuals to contribute to the group, and the group must do a critical analysis to build the network and present their findings. Because each group presents a different aspect of the problem, the groups do a critical assessment of each others results.
My name is Jordan I am a cosmetology instructor,I teach the first three begining terms of the course. I tell them to start the hair design with the end in mind,took a good look at the design that they want to acomplish.Then start back at the beinging breaking down the parts that they see which make up the hair design their trying
to acheive.
Hi Sean,
Great question to ask to get students thinking critically. I began to think critically as I read the question. Your students have a lot of responsiblity as students and especially when they begin their career. This job calls for strict carefulness.
Patricia Scales
I like to remind students that working on aircraft involves careful attention to detail not only as individuals, but on teams. I remind them that there are no second chances with aircraft when old habits result in not flipping a critical switch on a fuel hose or remembering to put air in the tires prior to takeoff. It makes them think about placing a family member on an aircraft when I pose the question, "Do you think that person has an 80% chance of coming back if the maintenance guy was in a hurry and did not carefully check a checklist and have a team member check the list as well under DUAL CONTROL?
Discuss among yourselves and we will regroup with our thoughts. Pick a discussion leader.
I liked the idea of providing students with an incomplete outline of the lecture in order for them to complete its framework within small group discussions. This creates challenge between team members to complete a task and focused listening and thinking skills.
Hi Rae Lynne,
Students love it when learning is directly applicable to things they will encounter in the real world. Students are excited about learning that applies to the real world. What an awesome way to get students prepared for the final exam, and the best part is that they are having fun while learning. I am sure your students do well on the final exam partly because of this fun learning activity. Students retain more when they are having fun while learning.
Patricia Scales
Hi Melissa,
This is an exercise that really makes students think out of the box. I am just wondering if any student ever got the correct answer. It is amazing how people can justify why they rank things as they do.
Patricia Scales
I have an activity that I currently use with a class that I teach, and the students absolutely love it. It also engages them in critical thinking. It is actually a team-building exercise. It deals with survival. The scenario is about being on a plan that crash lands in Northern Canada. There is a list of 12 items that are salvaged from the wreckage, and it is up to the students to decide which items are most important and for what purposes. They are to rank the items in order from 1 through 12. The exercise is actually used in military training classrooms, and so there is a definite correct answer for the exercise. It's so interesting to see the students' responses but more importantly, their reasoning as to why they ranked the items as they did.
I am currently teaching an Investments (financial) course. One activity I complete in the later stages of the course after we have covered the major investment tool options, is to create a list of investment opportunities and allot them a sum of money. I then have the students (either independently or small groups -- depending on the size of the class) decide which investment(s) they would choose and explain why. I LOVE this activity because it brings it to real life for them and it also shows them the reality application of the course. I sometimes have the students (again, depending on the size of the class) each research a certain number of investment opportunities and use that information to build the list of choices. Often my classes are VERY small so group work can be challenging. The students LOVE doing this activity. I usually do this on the final exam review day as part of the review activity for the final -- works perfectly to get them engaged to begin reviewing for the final exam. Additionally, during their discussions, I will ask questions forcing them to utilize course content in their responses. Typically between their responses/explanations of their rationale for their investment choices and questioning/discussion during their responses typically cover about 95% of the material to review for the final exam.
