Would it make sense when having a long class with scheduled breaks to go try to move through the material a little faster to stay in the 15-18 minutes? Some people are first time learners in my program.
Making them fun by taking small breaks & not just reading off a paper. They need to know that you are excited about what you are presenting.
You can make you lectures more effective by keeping lectures interesting and keeping the attention of the class. However, what do you do if the material you are assigned to teach is not interesting in the slightest bit? I still have to cover this information, but I'm struggling not to put myself to sleep, so I'm sure it's worse for the class.
Myrthe,
I like this approach. This way you are always fresh in terms of the content you want to cover and your students will appreciate the effort you have put into your planning.
Gary
Lisa,
Good strategy. This is a skill that many employers indicate is missing with many new employees. The more we can help our students to develop critical thinking skills the more successful they are going to be in the work place.
Gary
It is important to understand the importance of student learning styles. Note that your course will be made up of various styles. When completing and developing your long and/or mini lectures incorporate various ways to share the lecture objective/message so that all students will have a successful learning experience.
The lecture is a special form of communication in voice, gesture, movement, facial expression, and eye contact.
All of these communications can serve to reinforce the content you are delivering or greatly distract from what you are trying to do.
You must constantly read the signals your students are sending you to insure that you are adding to and not distracting from the learning process.
Don’t read your lecture, deliver it!
Prepare yourself emotionally for class. Get focused and motivated!
Arrive early to get a feel of the class for the day and to establish a rapport with your students.
Have a varied attention grabber opening segment and announce the objectives for the class.
To make my lecture more effective I make sure to read over my materials such as chapters first. I make sure I highlight important topic I want to discuss further. I also make sure I look at my syllabus every week to make sure I am not forgetting to cover anything.
I like to include some critical thinking applications after a few slides to gauge their knowledge of the material we just went over. Seems to keep my class interested.
Mary,
So true. A laugh goes a long way in learning. Even working hard in a subject sharing a laugh between and among the instructor and the students helps to reinforce the learning process and keep the brains engaged.
Gary
I like your ideas also. I am going to implement them, even to the point of having the students move in the room which would stimulate them and keep them in the game ...not out of bounds.
Use a variety of factual and then fun data and pictures. It is ok to laugh and have fun while learning. This also allows the student to make a correlation to everyday life or their own life. The student then will want to share and this will trigger others to participate also.
Jeffery,
Great strategy. Thanks for sharing it with us as well as the website. I know this will be of value to other instructors.
Gary
Keep it on a level that everyone can understand it. Be clear in the way that you present the lecture. Stop and ask if anyone is having any problems.
I like to bring my camcorder into my classroom and film my students: interviews/watch and constructively critique; Act out unit concepts in student written sketches, our favorite are field trips. I can usually edit them w/in a few days, post them to youtube, Facebook. I can promise you that grandma on the west coast seeing her granddaughter graduate college! The camcorder is such a game changer. Please feel free to view some of our wrk on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/videoaksproductions
Deliver content to real world experiences and knowledge of subject in time allotted.
I think one way to make lectures more effective for students is to be creative. Two examples that you can use are visual aids, and have interesting stories of experience prepared. Also, it is important that you have a positive attitude while lecturing because your students feed off of your energy.
Brenda,
So true in terms of helping students to understand the components of the concepts that are being shared. The Tree Diagram helps them to see the core and then the supporting information around that core.
Gary
I really like the idea of the "Tree Diagram" with the "optional stopovers". I use the "branch out and back again" every time I lecture to give out examples as I am reading text. It helps students in my opinion to focus on not just content but how it applies.
Brenda S. Jimenez
Some ways would incorporate getting them involved in the lecture, by asking question, making them read material, and by letting them give relavent personal experiences,
