Techniques that I can employ to further develop, refine and enhance my instructional style would be to observe and discuss my style with my peers. Other ways would be to take my technical area and improve it by taking other classes or researching. I could also video one of my classes in order to see how I would rate myself in the classroom setting. This would give me an opportunity to not only see myself, but to really get a visual of the students responses to my instructing style. An overview of what I am trying to get the students to understand the roadmap that I am using to get there, could also help to refine my instructional style.
I beleive a lot of value can be placed on reflecting back to our own personal experiences in the classroom. Specific instances will always come to mind that may take us back to either a very positive or very negative situation or an Instructor whom we felt was not a good teacher. I recall a class in which the entire reason for taking the course was that the Instructor was easy going and laid back. If you slept, it wasn't a problem. I have tried very hard not to turn into him! Starting as an Instructor is a challenging endeavor and utilizing past experiences to mold yourself, using the best traits of past teachers you encountered, is a great bit of advise. I try to input as much passion into the subjects I teach as possible. Beleive me it becomes more difficult for a student to ignore that passion and underperform than it would be to buy into it and succeed. My style is a work in progress and will continue to develop as I am exposed to a variety of classroom scenarios. Try video taping one of your own lectures and watching it back; you may be a bit surprised.
I will implement the 10-15 mini lectures. I will also use more group projects, demonstrations and case studies to fully engage the class.
I try to adopt a 'never stop learning' philosophy; just today, I received an email from a fellow instructor, and I definately intend to use it in my future courses. Listening to other's tactics and approaching them with issues or concerns I may be having has proven to be a great resource.
My instructional style is always evolving. I have been teaching for 9 years and I always teach the same 3 classes. I look for ways to keep it fresh and interesting for both the students benefit as well as my benefit. One area that I would like to begin to focus on would be to assess students learning styles early in the class so I can begin to cater my delivery to the various learning styles that are present. I have found that it is easy to favor the style that is most comfortable for the instructor. Becoming more self aware of your own learning style will help avoid teaching exclusively from that same style.
I think it is great that you are using PowerPoint in your classroom. In one of the courses that I taught recently, I had each student create a 10-slide PowerPoint Presentation. Since we did not have a text required for the course, I used information that I had created for a PowerPoint workshop for the staff and faculty where I was working. It is amazing how many instructors want students to do their projects in PowerPoint.
I've been teaching 20 years, but need to remember every new course that I teach, students key in on my enthusiasm and organization. Delivering information to students has been changing, and I'm trying to bring in more Power Point pieces to the classroom. Feeling at home with the technology is something I still struggle with-but the more you do it, the better it gets!
I completely agree with Willy. Awarding participation and attendance points can often muddy a true grade. A true grade is a measure of what a student learned. Instead of participation and attendance points, we use measurable in-class assessments. They're small assessments of what a student learned, not a "thank you for showing up for class". Using participation and attendance points as an incentive for students to show up for class and stay for the entire period is a substitution for good classroom management skills. A grade is a measure of what a student is learning, and classroom management is my responsibility as an instructor.
As a fully-online instructor, one of the best strategies I can employ to further develop, refine, and enhance my instructional style is exploring various technical resources available to me. The more technical resources I can implement, the more learning styles I will be able to meet. But I definitely need to make certain I am comfortable with the technical resources in order for me to use them effectively.
I plan to continue to share best practices with other instructors. Also, I like to attend seminars that share the latest information and tips on best teaching practices. As I gather these techniques, I pick the ones that I feel will best match my own style. Last, I work these into the classroom instruction. Then it becomes an iterative process of continuous improvement and refinement of these techniques.
I understand that participation does enhance learning. It is against our college policy to grade on participation. The rational being it is to difficult to measure. If something can not be measured adequatley it can't be used as a criteria in the final grade. There may be ways to creatively measure something which can indirectly measure participation.
Willy Wilson
I have worked in industry for many years prior to teaching. I try to create projects which are more realistic to the work environment. Most of the exercises provided by the text authors are very simple and very repetitive. I realize projects need to start simple but need to be enhanced to be closer to real life situations.
Willy Wilson
I have taken several courses online in the past. It was quite some time ago so this method has improved substantially since my experience with online courses. At the time I did not have other student participation. I had good feedback from the instructors. It has become vry popular and I would consider using the delivery mehtod myself.
As I am a "semi-retired" professional (VP - Taxes at American Express for 25 years)and have taught for the last 8 years at various institutions (St. Thomas University, Metropolitan State, and University of Wisconsin-River Falls)I believe there may be some "tweaking" that could enhance my instructional style (lecture, quiz, and exam) but not much at this point. I come from the real world and "coddling" "students" is neither my style or the real world. One example: Taking aside a student to ask him/her what I can do to help him/her get to class a time is a joke. My style "if you are late to work like you are late to class, you won't have your job very long especially today where there are at least 5 people in line who will be happy to take your job AND be on time."
Hello Amy,
I also obtained my Master's entirely online (through the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater) and loved it! I consider online education one of the best things that has evolved out of the Internet. I now teach online and absolutely love that as well. I actually obtained my Bachelor's through Distance Education (not online--correspondence independent study). I virtually taught myself college--that was a great way to learn! I love teaching--both traditional and online. I seem to be a "natural." I just try to be myself--I care--I think students somehow know that--anyway it seems to be working so far. I also feel participation is so very important in the classroom. Students (and I) learn so much from one another.
Renee Weeks
The techniques that I can employ to further develop, refine and enhance my instructional style involve asking good questions. My instructional style is one in which I ask a lot of questions of my students. I ask questions regarding the material as well as questions on their viewpoints on the issues involved. I also involve real-world experiences from not only my prior jobs, etc., but also real-world experiences that my students may have had. I also listen to my students in order to find out what is going on with them. I value their opinions. I try to establish a rapport with my students, which I have found increases learning within my classrooms, whether traditional or online. I am always a professional and my students appear to sense that--they respect me and I respect them.
I did my entire Master's program online and it was the best learning experience I could have had. The reason was that I was forced to participate and therefore forced to do the reading and do the work. I couldn't be passive. One thing that is important to me both in the online environment as well as on ground is participation. I want my classes to feel comfortable and for it to be a discussion enviornment. I know my students can learn a lot from each other as well as from me. I want everyone to participate and want to contribute so that is something I am always working on with my classes.
The best way to present yourself is to be well prepared in the subject matter. Being well prepared also strengthens confidence for presenting. In my particular field of expertise, computer technology, it is difficult to keep up with the changes. The instructors I have had in the past were not always well prepared in their subject matter. Those instructors that were well prepared definitely shined.
Another aspect of instructional style would be good hands-on experience. Demonstrate where possible with student involvement. Lecture is greatly enhanced when psychomotor activity is added.
In conclusion, the best way to enhance teaching in my field is to keep current with the technology.
I feel teaching in a career college, an instructor needs to be very flexible because of the wide range of student backgrounds, experiences, and educational levels.
Also because of some of the personal situations they are in, some latitude must be given for assignments etc without letting the student take advantage of this flexibility.
And the materials need to be useful to the student and not load them down with just "busy-work" assignments because they usually have many things going on in their lives.
So I feel in a career college, really getting a feel or "read" on the students in your class should help you to enhance the methods you use in that particular class.
As being a new teacher, I am still tying to develop my techniques. I am sitting in in different instructors to see how they teach and see if I can mimic them.
