Having objectives changed my delivery
This is my first time teaching at a university level. I am now familiar with establishing objectives prior to each class.
Hi Beth,
Your objectives should be based upon the critical content of the course. Ask yourself "What is the essential information that my students must know and/or the skills they need to develop?" This will create the foundation for your objectives. Then you can develop objectives that will enable your students to acquire course content and skills. Some objectives may be more broad than others because they are dealing with general information and others will be very specific with an exact standard of performance.
Gary
How specific are your objectives? Do you develop your objectives first then build your class around them? I feel that mine were to broad and I didn't think they were as useful as they should have been.
I like using the objectives too. I helps me plan my lectures so that I make sure I cover the needed material.
I think creating class objectives for every session provides students a clear plan for the day. It allows for accountability on both the instructor, and student level.
Hi Michele,
Good instructional planning on your part. You have a real clear grasp of what you want to accomplish with your students and you are letting them know it through clear and concise objectives.
I like the way you handle discussions because they are so valuable in the teaching process. I am glad you have build time into your schedule to enable them to occur. Keep up the great work you are doing. You are going to develop into an outstanding instructor.
Gary
This is my first time teaching college/university courses too. I've found it very useful to cover the objectives at the beginning of class (what we are going to talk about), discuss the material, then review the objectives and ask the students questions to see if they understand. If there is confusion, then I take a different approach and reteach the meaterial [in a different way] or ask another student that "gets it" to explain/demonstrate the concept.
Discussing the objectives at the beginning of class also helps keep us on track for the night's discussion. Sometimes it does bring up deviations in the original discussion but my classes usually had time built in them to see how the students were doing and answer any questions that they might have. Some of the best discussions we had came from their questions that came up because we kept reviewing the objectives for the class.
Hi La Toyla,
Sounds like you have a real good start in getting your instructional planning in place. With your goals and objectives clearly laid out you will be able to concentrate on your instructional delivery and be more effective and efficient in your teaching. Keep up the good work.
Gary
