For students in career learning this method of thinking process is an effective and highly productive. But sometimes with limited time is there any alternate approach in the delivery system for effective teaching?
Hi Tammi,
We need to get the students involved in as much active learning as possible, and based on your response it seems like you do an excellent job of getting your students involved in various activities. I am sure your students enjoy the variety that you share with them.
Patricia
When I am preparing for a lecture I always try to incorporate more than one way to get my students involved in the discussion. I have to admit...I get tired of standing in the front of the class and just babbling all day....I enjoy talking and interracting with the students on the subjects too. I often include:
Role playing
Brainstorming
Hands-on models
Debates
I teach surgical technology which is most definitely a hands-on type of career so it is a very challenging classroom to manage at times but I seem to "pull it off".
Tammi Smith CST, MBA
When I am preparing for a lecture I always try to incorporate more than one way to get my students involved in the discussion. I have to admit...I get tired of standing in the front of the class and just babbling all day....I enjoy talking and interracting with the students on the subjects too. I often include:
Role playing
Brainstorming
Hands-on models
Debates
I teach surgical technology which is most definitely a hands-on type of career so it is a very challenging classroom to manage at times but I seem to "pull it off".
Tammi Smith CST, MBA
Hi Shari,
Students love hands-on! A lot of students have to actually do the concept before they fully understand what's going on. Studies have proven that kinesthetic learners need to feel it and do it.
Patricia
I like to bring things into the class that the students can touch and practice with. Gives them the hands-on before we go into the lab and put the lecture to the task.
Hi Milton,
Labs and projects generate a great deal of critical thinking on the students part. These activities are great because active learning is taking place as well as critical thinking.
Patricia
Hi Dan,
Over the years I've learned that when the instructor assigns groups it works out better. When I assign groups I make sure the groups are balanced academically. I have at least one "A" student in every group.
Patricia
Hi Gerti,
Field Trips are great for students to see how book theory is being applied in the workplace. Field trips are an exciting critical thinking activity even for college students.
Patricia
I create different field trips for the students to underestand the real life examles where they discuss, evaluate, and take decisions in the outcomes.
I like to use indiviudal and group projects to research topics related to the students' unit. Initially I allowed the students to create their own work groups and timeline for completion. I found that technique didn't work so well as groups, inevitably, became groups of friends and most groups were rushing in the last few days to complete their work. While I anticipated groups of friends forming I did not anticipate the slow production.
I now assign groups and provide all students with a timeline/progess checklist - what is due when, etc. This seems to be working very well.
- completing labs
- Group projects
Hi Elizabeth,
Are these the questions you poise to your students to get them to think critically?
Patricia
What is the purpose of our final project? Will it determine how much we have learned this session? Will it get the results we are taking this class for?
What is the purpose of our final project? Will it determine how much we have learned this session? Will it get the results we are taking this class for?
Hi Megan,
Based on each student's role, you can really tell if they have a good understanding of the information. I really like how you get every student involved and every student has a crucial part. Students like to be given labels as director, analyzer, etc.
Patricia
In Composition class, I use literary groups. This means students are put into groups of five, and they each have a role to write and share with the group. An example of one role is the summarizer. This person must summarize the story or chapter in their own words. Some other roles are a discussion director and a character analyzer. This tends to really help students process the information and be prepared for discussion.
I teach English Composition, which requires reading selected essays and answering questions. Instead of allowing students to do this individually, I often treat the questions as discussion prompts. I have the students read the selection individually, then I break them up in small groups of 3 or 4 to discuss the questions. I end the activity with a whole group discussion where the students feel confident sharing with the rest of the class because they have already shared and received validation in their small groups. It gives them time to critically evaluate the reading selection, while analyzing the opinions of their peers.
Hi Laurie,
Excellent activity! I've learned that critical thinking can be geared toward any subject matter. I like how you tie in the critical thinking with the persuasion. Students have to really think out of the box as to how they are going to convince the reader to have the same opinion as their opinion.
Patricia
In the Writing Practical class, students write a persuasive essay on a topic they care about. We talk about the fact that good persuasion presents information to the reader that hopes to convince but doesn't force the reader to agree. It takes critical thinking to figure out the best way to present the material to convince the reader that your opinion should be theirs as well.
In this class, we also do lots of whole group discussion, brainstorming and small group activities.
