Hi Meggan,
Yes it is. You are making it real for them and this helps them to see the relevancy and application of the content you are sharing.
Gary
Hi Trudy,
You have great balance to how you present your content. You have the students involved in a number of ways and that helps them use their different learning styles to stay engaged.
Gary
In my classroom, I attempt to implement a variety of learning styles. I try to keep the class interactive with short lectures followed by an activity.
I do alot of hands on learning, that really helps with my student population. They take turn manipulating syringes, dressing openings, using crutches. Very fun and effective way to learn. I also have them work in groups and share experiences, write on the white board using concept mapping. What is your experience with concept mapping?
The classes I teach have business and personal application to them as well. It's nice to teach them things that they will actually need.
I use current events in some of my business classes and it is a great discussion tool. Great idea.
I usually lecture about a topic, then I show it, and then I have the students perform it.
Through the discussion board, I tie career goals to the topics presented. Since the class I teach is an exam prep course, every topic presnted relates to the career goal of passing the national exam.
For some classes I incorporate a power point lecture followed by an assignment to reinforce the subject. The following day we take a field trip to a relevant location or do an experiment. Knowing something is one thing, experiencing it is something entirly diffferent. I find using this methodology allows all students to learn as it covers all the general learning styles.
For lectures without powerpoints, I usually have tactile examples. So as I lecture, I move around the room passing around the examples that I am referring to in my lecture. I found it is a great way to reinforce what I am lecturing about and also generates good questions from students.
It is actually pretty straight forward. Since our school has a standardized curriculum we know exactly what we will be teaching day to day. What I will typically do is source a current topic that is related to the day's activity and use is as a discussion item or class assignment. The more students can learn about their business, the better off they are.
Normally, I'll go over the instructor's material for any course that I'm teaching, and implement some of the additional projects listed in the instructor's material. Since most of my courses are technical I'll provide links to websites that actually show's demonstrations and I implement virtual field trips as well.
I am very new to teaching. I have not actually started teaching a course yet - I am still in the training process. However, since I am a veterinarian teaching veterinary technician students, I plan to incorporate a large amount of relative information into my lectures. I hope to teach using mulitple methods including demos, case studies, group porjects, journals, and real-life scenarios and examples. I feel that this is by far the best way for these students to learn and keep their "eyes on the prize"!
Hi Meggan,
These kinds of effort provide support and encouragement to students. This in itself is a form of teaching strategy that is beneficial to student success.
Gary
Hi Tasha,
Take the subject you are teaching and then select examples of how that content is used in everyday life. If it is accounting then have some examples of how the students use accounting in purchasing, etc. Assignment them to find examples of how they are using the course content and then report back to class. Any activity that will be the connection between the class and the students' lives will help to cinch the need for learning the content.
Gary
Students gain confidence in their learning abilities and with the course and the school itself when they are able to immediately apply what they are learning in their current job. These real world applications are important. I teach skills in writing and communicating that students can use right away. For example, students learn how to write an effective Email message. By increasing their skill sets and applying the new skills in the real world, students stay engaged in the class.
Having opportunities for students to practice the skills they are learning brings up questions about what isn't working, so they are able to learn it better, and see the relevance of practicing. Giving examples of when a skill is useful in the workplace helps them see the relevance of it, or why they need to know it. The example could be a hypothetical situation, or even better, a situation I have encountered in the workplace. Having students share their own experiences also helps the others think ahead of time how they will deal with similar situations.
It helps to gather information so to know what is important to the students. Then to alternate lecture and group activities so to keep them engaged & appeal to the various learning needs.
In an online class, it's difficult to vary the teaching method or curriculum. I find that I spend more of my time trying to contact students who aren't participating or answering questions to help students stay caught up.
One of the courses that I teach is Medical Terminology. My students come from several career areas including medical assisting, veterinary technology, massage therapy, health and exercise, and paralegal. It's important that each student sees how the material applies to his/her career area. One thing that I do is to have students find an article each week illustrating the use of the terms we are studying in the student's chosen career. They share the articles with the class. This gives students experience reading and interpreting medical language, allows them to learn about each other's future careers, and makes what they are learning relevant to them. It generates some great discussion!
Hi Shannon,
Good plan. You are working in the major learning preference areas so students can feel comfortable with the content as it is presented.
Gary
