James,I completely agree. I tell my students the first day, that class will be conducted at a feverish pace. There should be no time for small talk. As an instructor, I go above and beyond to keep the students engaged in my lectures. I also, as a rule, never do a review of lecture material. This forces students to rise to a higher level of focus, and actually learn!
Another way to handle talking is the first day of class as we are going over the procedures I inform the students that I will present my lectures in 15-25 minutes time periods. At the end of that time period after any questions or comments we will perform an activity or I will give them 5 minutes to review the material with the person next to them in any way they want.
I call this tickle time 5 min to talk to your buddy about somthing you found humorous in the material or funny that the instructor said.I do this for two reasons one ,studies have shown that people learn best at the begining of a period of instuction and at the end of a period of instruction. So this way we have many beginning and endings covering the material in bite sized bits that are easy to digest. Two, knowing that Im not going to go on forever seems to help them focus. Most material has natural points where it starts and stops.These are great spots for a mental break or a little tickle time.
I think its important when instructing adults that educators realize that because of their life experinces they make have somthing to offer to the content of the class. Because of this as I cover the material I will occasionally stop and ask "at this time are there any questions or comments?" This gives the students a chance to voice an opinion or question that may be on their mind. What I have found is at this point students do have so interesting ideas. Most of the comments either question why things are done a certain way or the student will suggest what he or she thinks is a better procedure or tool.
Either way I find out that they are engaged and thinking about the material. But instead of sharing that thought or idea with their buddy next to them they are sharing it with the class.
I agree Don allowing the student talk states to them that their input is valued it also allows the instructor to determine whether information that was already presented was properly understood.
I agree that students can help each other. However by talking during instruction, they may miss content. Then, you may have participants asking you to repeat material. This isn't fair to the rest of the participants who were paying attention. It's great that you recognize the value of participants working together. And, asking questions amongst the group may demonstrate critical thinking and an interest in the subject. But, I like encouraging sharing thoughts/questions with everyone so the whole group can benefit.
I will do one of several things if students are talking in class. First, I will stop talking and try to listen to the gist of the conversation. If it is course and topic related, I will ask if there is something that I can clarify so others that may have a similar question can benefit from it. If the class as a whole is feeling talkative, I write on the board all the information that I was preparing to say and let them know that this is the only way that they may get the information. Most times, when I start writing sentences and paragraphs on the board the room gets very quiet.
If talking occurs in my class, I simply
quit my lecture, ask as nicely as I can
if thier conversation involves the subject
I am lecturing on, if so, please share it
with the rest of the class. If not, please save
it untill class is overwith.
If one person is talking, then the instructor should make sure that everyone else is listening. In the health field, it is IMPERATIVE that the health care provider can listen to the patient and their families. Vital clues to the health status may be missed due to poor listening skills. This is a quality that can be learned and the instructor can play a crucial part in this great endeavor that students should learn.
