Lots of chapters to Cover
I teach three courses and in one we are required to cover 21 Chapters in 11 weeks. This has proven to be a challenge for both me and the students. What would be the best way to deliver this much material in this short of time? I am doing traditional lecture with note handouts given.
I have a similar problem as Sara: A broad historical overview course that covers ALOT of written material. I've found that re-reading the text multiple time and making sure that I have a grasp on the key conepts helps to narrow down the instruction and delivery. If the students are required to read all 21 chapters of the book, that is one part of the instruction. Our challenge is to come up with engaging lesson plans that augment rather than re-iterate the content of the text book.
Students can take extra notes of lectures and read samll sections at a time.
Hi Sara,
I can really appreciate your situation, with some much to cover and so little time to do it in. The question that comes to mind is "What is meant by covering the 21 chapters?". Is it possible to hit the highlights of the chapters, provide the handouts you mentioned and then provide activities that will enable the students to get the key concepts in their minds? Can you use graphic organizers to help the students pull the key points out of the chapters? Do you have to lecture on every section of every chapter? Can you select the 10 most important points from each chapter and deal with those? These are some of the questions I would ask myself as I start to plan to teach a course such as yours.
If you have any additional questions or input on this topic I will be glad to talk with you about it.
Gary
