Hi Maureen,
Great job of bringing the latest and most relevant content to your students. This way they can make application between the classroom and what is going on out in the field.
Gary
I agree with your points. But, sometimes a mistake can lead to some good learning if you capitalize on it appropriately.
I never lecture from the text and believe that it is inappropriate to do so at the college level. However, I do insist they read the appropriate chapter(s) before coming to class. Then, I involve them in many problem solving exercises that make them applied the material they read.
I think moving around the room is a great idea. It breaks the monotony, allows you to monitor what the students are doing more closely, and discourages them form doing something other than participating in the class. Sometimes the classroom layout makes this difficult. In our classrooms, if I wonder too far, I must constantly run back to the front of the room to make notations on the white board. A few weeks ago I learned that a few students in the back of the room were playing computer games rather than participating in my classroom activities. These same students failed the mid-term exam. If I had wondered about the room more frequently, I may have kept them involved in the class activities and thus prevented these failures.
I think this is a great idea, especially with the adult students I work with. I frequently forget to take advantage of this idea and thus miss some great opportunities I'm sure.
I think the best way to make my lectures more effective is to keep the students involved in the process. I ask them a lot of questions: some asking them to recall basic information or definitions they should know, some asking them why this is true or not true, some asking them what the benefits or disadvantages of a given approach might be, some asking if they think a concept is a good or bad idea. I also like to introduce many problems that require the students apply the material they are trying to learn to solve the problem. We work through the problem solving steps as a class, discussing the relative merits of various alternatives as we proceed, and final discuss the quality of the solution once we derive it.
I approach lectures in the culinary classroom as delivering a performance that matters. I take the time to understand the details the students must remember to achieve mastery in a subject and then focus on how it is relevent to them now as students and later as professionals.
I research to link classical procedures to current trends and why they remain important. I come up with a list of leading questions to have the students discuss what is important in the procedures they are about to learn. In those cases where the students do not feel the information is timely or relevant, my research usually yields an illustration as to its value. If my research doesn't yield that answer I ask the students to offer their thoughts and do additional research for extra credit.
When I lecture I use a combination of delivery. I like to get a lot of interaction from the students. I need to do a better job of asking questions that create a better discussion. I have to ask the same question in several different ways to get the response that I need. Once again I know that in order to get the result that I want I need to change things up at least every 15 minutes.
An instructor should spend time developing lectures and other modes of instruction that each student can benefit from. Students need more than just notes, they need a road map which outlines exactly what they need to learn. The college student today plays so many roles outside of school that we need to be as specific as possible on the information they are responsible for.
The classes that I teach are anywhere from 3.5 to over 4 hours long. when lecturing I need to plan an activity every 10 to 15 minutes. I can see that this would be a great way to keep the students interests. I do change things up, however I don't do it enough.
While lecturing, I try to engage the student at appropriate times. The downside of this is you may lose control of your class if you don't pull in the reins on the discussion.
To keep the attention of students from wandering, perhaps dividing a long lecture into several mini-lectures with a problem-solving break between each. As an alternative, since some students are reluctant to ask questions in class, perhaps a brief question-writing session during which they can write questions in small groups for me to answer.
Shorten your lectures into smaller chunk lectures, and between them try to add a little humor to keep the interest of the students.
Hi Mark,
Right you are about the need to create a clear connection to the course content in relation to stories that are told. Stories can be used to show application and relevancy to the current content and as a result content retention will be higher.
Gary
only lecture in increments of time and have demonstrations
Storytelling is a great vehicle for grabbing and holding attention. This attention often optimizes retention by creating an emotional and meaningful bond. Make sure your story has relevance to the content and that the linkage between the moral or message of the story is clear to the students.
Making sure you have all the material and subject matter you need for the course you are going to be teaching. Do some student participation to better motivate them and make sure they are better understanding the material.Offer positive feedback throughout the lecture. At the end of class have a quick overview of the material to make sure the students comprehended the lecture, similiar to a train the trainer session.
Hi George,
I am sure that at the end of a class session your students will have been given extensive content that has been illustrated and reinforced in a variety of ways. You have a clear instructional path and you are providing your students many opportunities to follow that path. Keep up the good work.
Gary
I agree with a “mixed bag,” Vince, and have found that PowerPoint allows that….
I have always liked the lecture method, online and in brick and mortar classrooms. I say I like the method, but I always incorporate multimedia material, especially PowerPoint, to get and keep students’ attention. It assists me in reaching the different learning styles of students and provides memory aids for my own benefit. Graphics can be used, of course, but video and sound bytes can also be used in PPT presentations that make for a dynamic presentation. Whistles and bells are not the goal of presentations of course, and I believe that constant evaluation of the effectiveness of the presentation is important. I do this during the presentation by asking students questions when material will transition to another topic, and invite discussion as a form of evaluation (of understanding) and review. After the presentation I like to give a short quiz (verbal) to again review key points of the presentation.
