Too much material
I have to cover several chapters during each class period. This makes it difficult to have group activities and mini-lectures. How can I maximize student learning and interest if I can't avoid lecture-format classes?
Hi Shajan,
Thanks for your good comments. You are going to have great results with your new method. Let me know how it works for you.
Gary
This is funny. What these online training courses are doing, we need to be doing as well - I'm sure everyone's noticed by now.
I've done demos before that took 40 minutes and realize that after doing so...I spend more time demoing again. Knowing that our attention span is only 15-18 minutes...YIKES! What have I been doing?! I thought there was something wrong with my students...but "AAAAAAAAA," there's something wrong with me!
Looking forward to doing these 15 minute demo/lectures.
Hi Andrea,
Excellent advice on how to restructure a course to better meet student needs without compromising the course content.
Gary
Restructuring the course is the best way to deal with this. I teach an advanced course that is a subject matter that doesn't really excite the average student. That combined with too much to accomplish gave my course a bad reputation.
Over time I removed and condensed lab activities.
This allowed me the freedom of giving extra activities to those that could accomplish more.
However, don't "dumb down" your class. When your students feel challenged, they will complain during the process, but when the course is completed, the student will have a better understanding of time management and feel a great sense of accomplishment.
Hi Renee,
I think you are going to have great results from using them. Let me know how they turn out.
Gary
i am going to attempt to incorporate mimni-lectures into my teaching style.
Hi Steven,
Maybe you can do some cognitive activities in the classroom covering the content in preparation for going into the lab. So you have broken up the lecture a bit but haven't destroyed the flow of content.
Gary
Easy answer? Restructure the class! Better to have them learn something than hear a whole bunch but learn nothing.
Otherwise try to zero in on specific concepts that are vital and then lecture over the rest of the material. You get to choose what will stand out.
I have found it a struggle if I give a lecture on a subject without a lab to back it up. Than if I have someway to break up the lecture and reinforce the students learning. I can only break away from lecture to run to lab so much?
Hi Ralph,
Good way to introduce materials. The students can see what they are going to learn and then dive into the knowledge acquisition part of the class. By discussing and sharing they start to see themselves in the career area.
Gary
One way to handle the problem is to let an exercise introduce some of the material. Let the student come in contact with the material on their own. You can also let students know the class before that you plan to get them talking about certain topics, this way it still lecture like, but they are involved and it is more discussion based.d
Would it be possible to emphasize the important info in the chapters thru a game, such as Jepordy?
I look forward to incorporating the mini-lectures into my course format. I often have to cover alot of material in a very short period of time. It is not uncommon for students to feel overwhelmed. To help vary the students learning experiences I have incorporated article discussion, case studies, etc. Knowledge of adult attention spans, mini-lectures and other concepts gained through this lesson now give me a teaching "timeline" in which to operate.
Hi Namrata,
Look for ways of offering the instruction in alternative methods or format. Mini-lectures can be targeted concepts coming from the text and then a brief discussion time. Then back to the text again. Mini-lecture times mean that you take approximately 15 minutes on a topic and then take a "break" like having students do a worksheet, ask questions, etc. This gives the students a "break"from concentrating on getting the new information down on paper. Even though there isn't a formal break at this time there is a "think break" that lets them refocus and get ready for the next instructional component.
Gary
