hands on
good info on hands on
Hi Bruce,
Great idea if you can work out the logistics. You are using an inquiry method of self learning for the students. What you will find is that even if they hit some rough spots when completing the performance exam they will retain in their working memory a major amount of information that has been acquired during the course.
Gary
Hi John,
Thanks for your comments about us, instructors being too verbal at times. This certainly can be true if we don't really look at the feedback we get from our students. Often times when we are introducing a new content area we think we need to talk it to death to make sure the students understand the concepts. By stepping back and making our demonstrations rock solid and clear then we will be able to our message across.
Gary
I am trying to develop a performance exam in Photoshop class. The idea I am thinking of is having students complete a short project in front of me. During their performance, I would ask questions of why they choose what the method that they did. The idea here is that I am trying to determine how often student hit the correct answer by accident rather than on purpose. Class logistics will be difficult but I will try it out.
I teach a basic cooking class that has two and a half hours of classroom instruction and two and a half hours of classroom lab work where students apply the knowledge from the classroom lecture/demo/case study of that day. After a few sequences through the curriculum an instructor can easily see the effectiveness of his or her demo's by the quality of the student's work in duplicating the teacher's demo.
What I have found in teaching this course, with this delivery system, is I am often guilty of trying to include too much verbal information while I am demonstrating a cooking skill, cutting, mixing, straining, sauce making, etc., and the student quality can suffer. I think allowing the 'picture worth a thousand words' to compensate for a few hundred less nuggets of knowledge from my mouth, oftentimes more keenly focuses the attention of the students to my hands. Of course the class must be able to have a very clear view of my hands, which our classroom technology allows. Of course questions that are asked by the students are always answered, and new techniques seen for the first time are discussed.
Hi Margaret,
Good plan. The steps are clear and manageable for both you and your students.
Gary
Hi Michael,
Thanks for sharing this good information about how you work with your students. Also, thank you for the website on the bridge building. I really like this activity as it lets the students use a variety of methods to build the bridge.
Gary
I teach computer software classes and hands-on is vital to the learning process.
My steps are as follows:
1. I introduce the topic.
2. I demonstrate the steps.
3. We walk through it together.
4. The students do an in class assignment.
5. The students do a homework assignment that is due at the start of the next class.
As a CTE instructor tactile learners dominate my classes. In my beginning engineering class we do a bridge building activity that teaches students about measurement, structure, tensile strength and modern bridge building. I have always like about this activity it allows students would not normally use a ruler or scale and opportunity to develop skills to properly use and manipulate them. This fun problem solving activity requires using proper measurement skill sets, drawing to scale and build a small bridge structure from start to finished. It is also a great confidence building activity because students devlop a finished product. If you have students who are interested they can go to http://www.iit.edu/~hsbridge/database/search.cgi/:/public/international/index
To get further information.
Hi Dan,
The connection between cognitive and tactile learning is very important. Demonstrations help to bridge that gap.
Gary
I will be teaching at a technical trade school and I can see how good demonstrations can play an important role in the success of my students.
Hi Mark,
I agree with you. Give them the basics and then let them apply the knowledge they have just acquired in a practical setting. This method reinforces their learning to the point that they can associate content with application. This makes their training relevant.
Gary
Hands on work is absolutely a must if you are teaching a "trade" skill. With good lectures on the basics, get the students in the lab as soon as possible.
This will also help you to keep your students alert and engaged in the learning process.
Nothing beats "real world" hands on exprtiance.
Hi Scott,
Many of us in the career college field are tactile learners. By showing students visually how to do something and then letting them do it helps them to remember both content and process. Good approach to keeping students engaged in the learning process.
Gary
I too learn better by hands on and feel that I can ask more questions. I am definitely a hands on teacher, I show them how to do it and then I sit next to them and watch them do it and make sure they understand why and feel comfortable with this new technique.
Hands on projects also give the students some real world type experiance. The project let the students put to practice classroom training. The students can troubleshoot their own mistakes, and learn from them.
Hi David,
When students become engaged in relevant hands on learning they get motivated to learn more. They start to see the connection between theory and practice.
Gary
I find that hands on projects re-enforce lecture topics and are invaluable to my students learning. They also allow me to evaluate where all of my students are to help strengthan weaknesses.
most automotive students learn from hands on this is vital for my style of teaching,being that thats the trade i teach.
Hi Jennifer,
Yes, you are helping your tactile learners by having activities at the end of the mini-lecture times. For tactile learners movement does not have to be large muscle but can be fine motor such as writing down or drawing a picture of the concept you just presented. Any body movement helps to engage learners in total body processing. This builds a strong connection within the brain so it is easier for them to store the information and then retrieve when needed. Psychomotor connections help with the cognitive and emotional connections that are needed for retention.
Gary
