24 students split into 6 groups has always worked well for me. After three weeks with these students I have noticed that even the ones without the initial motivation to learn a new tool eventualy gain motivation to learn being surrounded by real learners.
kenneth,
Research indicates students teaching each other results in students retaining 90% of what they learn.
Ron Hansen, Ed. D.
I agree with Steve. I teach in a similar situation. We have a mentor program where certain students are allowed to help those students that need a guiding hand to complete the assigned task. I find that both mentor and mentee benifit from this process.
Students working together are learning together, I put two or three students together in a lab whenever I can, having my student work on there personal cars I feel it helps to keep them motivated.
All car in the shop not owned by rhe school have a disclosure waiver and repair order including mine. "If you have to do it I have to do it."
Christopher,
In a shop or lab setting this "I show you, you show me" cycle helps the student retain what they are learning and allows the instructor to check for understanding.
Ron Hansen, Ed. D.
I work at a recording school, I have often found as an example, giving a demonstration of how to safely set up a every expensive Microphone then letting the students perform the task with the other students watching and trying to pick out what they are doing differently than how I did. Gives them an encouragement to try to perform the task, while keeping the rest of the group engaged. I also encourage that mistakes are ok since they are at the school and not on the job and that they are being supervised.
Steven,
Students working together are learning together. Research indicates students retain 90% of what they learn when teaching each other. Certainly this can happen in group work.
Ron Hansen, Ed. D.
Bruce,
It does give the students greater ownership of their work. They do sign a disclosure that they perform the work at their own risk?
Ron Hansen, Ed. D.
I teach automotive and whenever I can have my student work on there personal cars I feel it helps to keep them motivated.
I put two or three students together in a lab group. I try to put at least one really ggod student with others that understand but have trouble with application in a rael world type environment. This seems to work out weel as they learn from each other.
Steve,
Do you pair students or have them work on groups? This provides support for the students and they also learn from each other.
Ron Hansen, Ed. D.
To train students to work on a certain project, I show them a video clip a the procedure to perform the task then give them a demo. on how to perform the task safely on the actual equipment that they will work on. Students will then take turn to perform the task that was shown. As they perform the task, I would make suggestions and/or corrections to ensure that they thoroughly understood the procedure. Sometime I would pose questions on a certain procedure and see how they respond then correct them if needed. They will then work on the project themselves and I will go back and check up on them until the project is complete.
Roger,
How do you assess the comprehension through the hands on?
Ron Hansen, Ed. D.
