I already use various methods to teach students, such as visual aids, hand outs to take notes, lecture, hands on projects, etc. I do see that I need to do a little more review in class then I do currently.
In large class is a melting pot of sorts. I used to require that all students take notes during skills labs, but have found that it is difficult and sometimes impossible for some students to digest what they see and take notes at the same time.
i encourage my students to use flash cards for memory as well. a lot of my courses have a large amount of terminology that they will need to apply in the field and i will even block out class time for them to make their own cards so that i know they have them as a study tool.
I usually have them read a little information on the upcoming subject for lab class/ I then proceed to hand them a handout and talk about what we are making(along with traditional photos of the finished product). When I get ready for my demo, I ask the students what components belong where and If i have any volunteers to come do a "student" demo as I am reiterating what he student is doing.
I loved this section of the course. I plan to use several of the components in my next class:
1. writing objectives on the board
2. creating a user guide - the students have the resource material (textbook) but it can be overwhelming - chunking it down into a user guide should help retention of the subject matter and applicability of that information
I think by emphazing what is most important as the 1st thing and incorporating emotion and uniqueness would work. In teaching psychology it is easy to add emotion to the topics, although it does have to be done carefully. Also I try to have students relate the topic to their own live.
Variety is the only logical way in a large class setting. One major reason is because not everyone thinks the same or at the same pace.
Penelope,
this is a great idea to maximize the retention & to also develop strong critical thinking skills.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Do simulation exercises with students and then have them do one of their own based on a product they are designing.
Thomas,
this is a great way to keep the information fresh & ready for the students.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
constantly test for knoweldge throughout the the course
remonica,
yes, flash cards are a great way to help with the memorization of certain facts, ideas, etc.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I'll try a different approach in the PowerPoint class by introducing a template with some of the color and font changes from the default and see if the students can duplicate it when they build their first form.
I will use the memory principle of primacy more effectively although I have always felt that memory, especially long term memory is most effective when it has emotional content attached to it. "You could walk through a doorway a hundred times and never remember the doorway, break your nose walking through that doorway and never forget." However, I think that I could use the principle of Primacy more effectively particularly in getting the objectives of the day across to the class. I plan on writing them on white board everyday before students arrive to class. I will also try to implement primacy by hitting the most important parts of a lecture/discussion/ lab demo first, whenever possible.
I think flash cards are also a good way of memory enhancements.
mohammad,
these are all great strategies that really hit on the various types of learners.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Depending on the type of learners, I ask question on the last topic was discussed to assess the learning process of the auditory learners. Second I try to write a question on the board to see the memory of the visual learners. Lastly I ask the student to solve a problem to test the memory of the kin-esthetic learners.
John,
this is a great strategy & it helps the students stay connected & see where they've been/are going.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I think I will work on giving more strong visual preferences added with emotional responses that bring some laugher. I like the idea of tweating the class until the retention of subject matter is achieved.
I'm going to post the agenda for each day at the front of the class. On day one I'm going to have each student write what they want to accomplish during the course. Then each day I'm going to start each day with a review of the objectives for the day and finally at the end of each day I will end with a wrap up of the objectives and what we accomplished and how they tie into their individual objectives. This way I will not only use Primacy, Recency, and Visual, but most importantly I will get personal buy-in.
