I like to instill in my students that the classroom is truly safe. That wrong answers to questions can be a very useful learning tool and that what is said in the classroom stays in the classroom
You're right Susan! Guess some things never change ... (Oh, except no nap-time in higher ed!)
Susan
Hi Susan - Thanks for your post to the forum. Yes -we have that problem in our computer hardware lab. all those parts and pieces can make a real mess! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
I feel it helps them to feel more confortable and open to learning.
I also work at a vocational/technical school. We have "props" or things that we use in our field of study EVERYWHERE. I use them to demonstrate or illustrate things when I lecture. I don't view them as distracting...they are actually good for the students to use as reminders of things we've talked about! BUT all this stuff still needs to be arranged in an organized and pleasing manner or it just looks like clutter.
I work at a vocational facility, I think the enviroment does need to be clean and organized, and free of distractions, But I do think the room can also be without any semblance of what they are there for. so I will use props to redirect wandering eyes and minds. is this a good tactic?
I think that some people, perhaps the written word learners, need an environment without much visual or auditory stimulation. They are concentrating on interpreting the reading that they are doing. However, the visual and auditory learners would need that stimulation in order for them to integrate the new material into their minds. It almost seems as if you would need two different classrooms but I think you could arrange the classroom so that there was a quiet area for the written word learners and a more interactive area for the visual learners, plus an area where auditory learners could use headsets to listen to information. Thinking back, this is what pre-K and Kindgarten classrooms are like!
Sometimes having the students close their eyes, take a couple of deep breaths, and focus on clearing their minds is a good way to start my graphic design classes.
It encourages the students to participate and level of comfort which promotes more involvement.
Hi Delores - You are obviously a very empathetic instructor. Being able to learn as they work in the clinical setting is great, but as you mention it can also be scary. Susan
Working in a clinical setting in a hospital is my class room. I cannot control the enviornment, so the students are exposed to a similar but different "class room" every day. Giving the students a good explanation of what is expected of them for their tasks, helps them create a good enviornment for themselves and the patients. If they encouter something disagreeable I always try to enter the situation with them, working along with them helps them adjust to the enviornment.
i think organizing and being prepare add life to a students learning ability make sure your on time and you leave late be there for your students at all times
Some students work well in a quiet setting. Others like noise and would work better with music going or talking with classmates. Others need a lot of visual stimuli to help them concentrate. I prefer a quiet, dim room, with few distractions. I can't concentrate with a lot noise. Everyone is different.
Hi Ron - Thanks for your post to the forum. Although I do not teach any computer applications type classes, I do run into some of the same issues when we are running orientations that require students to login to the network and learn to check email etc. It does get a bit frustrating even doing it occasionally! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
The students need to be in a comfortable setting that is set up for easy viewing for visual aides and discussions.
My course work is directed to use of the Microsoft Office suite of programs. Classes are held in "comptuter labs" that typically have eighteen work stations grouped in three units on eight-foot tables. Students sit on individual "office chairs" having caster wheels and adjustable heights.
The majority of students "follow along" the lecture demonstration (which is projected on a screen), using their own work stations and then procede to do an assignment exercise, again on their own work stations.
I have noted the following impacts on student learning style that are tied to my classroom setting.
The projection screen is legible at the back of the classroom only if used at a lower resolution than typically employed on the student monitors. Thus the lecture screen usually has a slightly different layout of icons than does the student comptuers. Students with a pronounced "visual" or "reading" learning style have a harder time following the lecture than other students. I attribute this to the fact that the presentation on the screen is visually different from that on their own monitor. I sometimes counsel such students to not try to follow the lecture exercise on their own machine, but rather to sit back and absorb the material by only watching the presentation.
A second set of factors comes into play during assignment exercises. If the work is "from the book" the visual or "reading" learners again have trouble because there really is not enough room on the desks for their textbooks to be opened fully and not constantly moved around by their classmates. That situation can be alleviated (if enrollment is light) by only having two students sitting at a single table. It also helps to not have two reading-oriented students sitting next to each other. Except for these problems, the "reading" learners often can be left alone during assignment work, because they are able to absorb the information from their texts without instructor interaction.
The "tactile" learners in a computer class just want to jump into an assignment and thrash their way through it by trying this or that until they get something that works. They don't usually get frustrated until they have done something several ways without success, and they often have learned more than the "reading" learners simply by their mistakes. But when they get frustrated they often will just drop that part of the assignment and not come back to it. If I can get behind them and guide them to the correct approach before that point, things work out well. That is where desk spacing is critical. I have slide in behind one or two other chairs to get to a person sitting agains a wall, and if the desk spacing is too tight, that is a problem. The tactile learners, in particular, do not want to call an instructor in to help them. They want to do it on their own. I wantto simply show up without any fuss when I see them in trouble, and that requires the desks to be spaced a bit further apart than might seem necessary.
Hello Nicole,
How do visuals within your classroom affect your students? Do they prefer the clutter as fashion design students or do they like things to be organized?
Hi Andre- Thanks for your post to the forum. You are obviously a very emapathetic instructor and very attuned to your students! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
When a student initially enters the classroom basic aspects of the setting will consciously or subconsciously affect their disposition. If a visual learner enters a classroom that has just a podium and an instructor standing behind it, they may experience anxiety towards that class and may tune out during the class period. Whereas if they enter the room and there is a power point presentation, a podium, and a model it may reduce the overall anxiety regardless of the student learning style. While the instructor may not rely solely on one learning style it will, at the very least, address each learning style to a variable degree.
We as instructors should also take into account the way that the classroom is initially organized. If the desks are arranged in a manner where students who are strangers will have to sit next to each other, it may cause initially anxiety which will lead certain students to tune out. If there is an intention to divide up into groups, it would be better to give each student their personal space at the beginning of the lecture. Once students are warmed up to the content, then you can divide them up into groups—thus reducing anxiety.
Hi Nicole - thanks for your post to the forum. You put it very well - Students need to feel comfortable in our classrooms if we expect them to perform to their potential. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
