As a culinary instructor it is easy to incorporate active learning because of the nature of the actual program which requires students to practice what they have learned and observe. where we as instructors struggle is on the lecture part of the program which is driven by power points and information. Here I thought the key was to ask questions to keep the students involved in the learning circle, but i have learned from this module that another approach is to use the guided lectures technique which will help me turn the lecture into a active learning environment.
Hi Janice,
You may want to try playing a matching game or some type of game to introduce hands-on items. You may even want to ask students to give you their ideas as to how to make the class interesting and fun.
Patricia Scales
Hi Kate,
I agree! Peer teaching is wonderful. It is amazing the length that students will go to in order to impress the instructor and their classmates. Some students have a real knack for teaching. Students enjoy learning from their peers.
Patricia Scales
Hi Ziaul,
I agree! With no comparison, getting involved is a great teaching method. Students learn so much more and retain more when active learning is involved.
Patricia Scales
Active learning is the best way of learning process to me. They love to be involved in this and it is very effectine.
As a dental hygiene instructor, many lectures are pure lecture and tend to be boring. Introducing hands on items in classes like dental materials helps the students understand the nature of the materials. Many times we do small experiments in lecture and pass the item around. My issue is time constraint during lecture. Any ideas?
A fun activity to involve students is having them teach part of a chapter. For example, if you are doing chapter 5 one day, give the students the lecture a few days before and have them present it to their other classmates.
They really go out of their way to make it interesting and they really own the topic.
Hi KIM,
Active learning is a great way to determine if stduents are retaining what has been taught. Students truly enjoy active learning.
Patricia Scales
Hi David,
You have the exercise all thought out. You need to go ahead and implement this exercise. Students love active learning.
Patricia Scales
You must engage the the with activity that movements help the mind to retain,
Usually I would present the topic of concept mapping as a pure lecture. I could make the students more active learners by having them research the various types of concept maps through instructor-selected websites. Then I could have them create their own concept maps based on topics that they have chosen.
Hi Bernard,
Great way to change things up, and this is fun as well. Students like variation, and they love having fun while learning.
Patricia Scales
For a final review on a sanitation exam I divide the class into teams and let them brain storm to see what team can offer the most correct answers on the subject of how to prevent Food Born Illness and Cross Contamination in a Restaurant situation.
Hi David,
I am sure your students really enjoy this exercise. This is the type of thing students will have to do in the real world. Let's get them exposed now so that they will know exactly what to expect in the real world.
Patricia Scales
Hi David,
There are always going to be areas that students are more interested in than others. We have to be creative to spark our students interest in other areas as well.
Patricia Scales
One part of a lesson on nutrition involves how to create low-fat and no-fat salad dressings that have similar flavor to the full fat versions yet the appropriate amount of calories. The class is also paired with a cooking lab. The course materials give us recipes for the students to make as examples of the lower fat versions. Rather than give the students the recipes, break them into groups and put all kinds of ingredients on the table in a "mystery basket" format. Then challenge each group to make a low fat and a non-fat vinaigrette using some or all of the food items in the basket.
When teaching new students about engines they tend to want to talk about the power and performance aspects and dont really embrace the more mundane systems of the engine such as the cooling system. I will divide the class into groups based on parts of the the cooling system and have them research and develope a discussion with the restof the class based on their findings. I then will go over each topic and we keep track of things on their topic that they missed if any. We keep score and have rewards for great performances.
Hi Nicole,
Team work is important. Students should be introduced to this type of environment before going into the real world so that when they encounter this type of activity it is not new to them. Team work is vital in the work environment; let's get our students use to this type of work.
Patricia Scales
I usually start my Accounting blocks off with a short lecture followed by a class activity, followed by group activities. Many students frown upon working with others at first, and I always remind them that employers expect their employees to be able to work together in groups. Working with others is an important part of learning, and it enhances work productivity. When the students work on a real-life examples, I walk around the class ensuring that all students are participating and following along with the individual discussions. I do not correct students during this process, I only guide them back on task if they stray off topic. I hope that they are able to assist each other in figuring out the solution.
I teach mathematics. To get the students actively involved in the learning process, I often have them solve problems, either individually or with a partner, by writing the solution down on a dry erase board (that I made for each student by cutting shower board from Lowes into small 12" X 12" squares). When asked for their anwsers, the entire class displays their dry erase boards. The students love the novelty of using the dry erase boards. I gain two benefits from this activity (1) the students are actively involved in learning the concept and (2) as an instructor I get immediate feedback in reference to their understanding of the concept.
