mini lectures
I am impressed with the idea of mini lectures. I'm with my students for 6 hours a day Mon. through Fri. Mini lectures would prove most useful in this situation. This is a new concept to me and I will have to carefully plan them out on a schedule but I believe it will improve my classroom learning environment. One of the biggest problems I run into is keeping the students attention, especially since they are in class for 6 hours a day.
Christina,
I think you are going to really like the results you get with mini-lectures and activities. You are going to be able to keep your students engaged and focused for longer periods of time with a greater retention of content.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I also really like this idea of mini lectures. I'm a new instructor in an exciting field, but some of the foundation classes have the potential to get a bit boring and/or overwhelming.
By incorporating mini lectures with variation in the way the material is presented, students will be able to stay focused, learn as they go, and have what they learned reinforced during class.
Earl,
You will like the results your students have by using mini-lectures. They are going to be engaged and focused as they learn and then apply content throughout each class session.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I like the idea of mini lectures. This will be a good way to keep the students engaged. Having mini lectures then lab will be a great way to bring course material to life.
Carolyn,
You are welcome. I know you are going to like the results you get with mini-lectures and activities. You will find that you will be able to move your students forward in their learning while reinforcing the content through activities like small group, case studies, role playing, etc.. Keep up the good work!
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Gary,
this is very new to me. I'm used to lecturing for 3 hours with a break every hour. This explains why my students are still dying for more breaks! Knowing that the adult attention span is 15-18 minutes, it makes so much sense to break up the time with different activities. Thanks!!!
Mark,
Good luck with your efforts. As a veteran 6 hour block instructor I really appreciate your comments and challenges. It takes a lot of planning to keep the class moving forward and the students engaged for this length of time. The mini-lectures and varied activities really help to make the class flow and learning occur.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Karen,
Great strategy to employ. Your students are going to be engaged throughout the class session as a result of your efforts.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I too am lecturing for 6 hours per day and find that I need to use many different statagies to keep my students attention. If indeed the average attention span is 15-18 minutes one can imagine the gravity of the task. I try to break up the material into segments that can be easily digested and I tend to mix in digressions from my personal and professional experiences as well. But, alas, I still find heads bobbing and eyes twittering before me on a daily basis. I may try to utilize the concept of mini-lectures in a more deliberate and structured fasion in the future to see if I can keep the eyes wide open.
I teach in lab setting, so mini lectures work great for me! I talk, demo, then let the students practice for 15-20 minutes. Then I start the process again. Slower learners can go back and faster learners can help others.
Jessica,
Keep up the good work. Using the mini-lecture format helps to speed the time along for the students in addition to keeping them engaged for the duration of the class. Students like variety and change of pace in their learning and you are giving them both which increases their learning opportunities.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
My class lasts for two hours. It's hard enough keeping their attention for 2 hours, let alone for 6. I always use mini-lectures because I know that the quickest way to put them--and myself--to sleep is to drone on and on about something. Also, since the students have so many different learning styles, I try to lecture for 10-15 minutes, then incorporate videos (usually from YouTube), as well as written activities, and mini-presentations given as groups. It tends to work pretty well.
Brandon,
I teach from 4 until 10 pm and I use the mini-lecture format to keep my students engaged for the 6 hour duration. By rotating between content delivery (mini-lectures) and activities the evening goes fast. You are right about the planning but if you think about it a little you will see how the activities you will conduct fit nicely between the mini-lectures. I do a mini-lecture and then have a discussion session, mini-lecture and a small group learning activity, mini-lecture and a Q&A session. What I do during the activity session is to reinforce the content that has just been covered. I am showing my students how they can apply the covered content and the relevancy it has to their career goals.
I wish you much success in using this format. Let me know how it works for you.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
