I like the concept of memorizing things by thinking of them in terms of Washington is rowing his way out of the corner etc. As well as a lot of the other tips incorporating all or some of these could sure help.
Using these organizers in my class help students to isolate and easily find pertinent information for study. By highlighting the important points and placing them in color coded organizers it reduces the time(of finding the material) for busy adult learners to study.
Using graphics makes abstract ideas very clear--when I try to explain the difference between hearing and listening, for example, I use a basic picture to do so. Students often think hearing and listening are the same thing. In order to illustrate the difference, I draw a simple picture: a person's head with very large ears and some squiggly stuff for the person's brain. All I have to say is, "We hear with these" and point to the ears on the picture, and "We listen with this" and point to the brain. And almost instantly, students see that hearing is a physical process whereas listening is a cognitive one. They understand and remember the difference.
If you break things down into smaller pieces, the amount of material doesn't seem so overwhelming. Sometimes looking at the whole is a deterent as evidenced by students saying, "I'll never remember all of this." If they say it enough and start to believe it, they are already on their way to failure.
With that being said, I like to look at the goal, look at the steps to achieve that goal, and a simple execution is all that is needed, for that particular goal.
Now they have one process, so we move to the next process, and the next, and when they have tham all put together, they are starting to master the subject matter.
All's fair in love and learning . . . use whatever technique works for you to remember the key points.
Do you remember the baby toys made of plastic, different shapes and different colors, with an open end on one end and a connecting piece on the other end? My physiology instructor used these simple toys and showed the class, one color and shape was one amino acid, and how they were put together in a sequence to make a protien, and then of course disulfide bonds were used to transform it into a shape, and as I said before, shape defines function.
Ted,
Thank you for sharing your success and application of graphic organizers. This information will be of help to other instructors as well.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Teaching culinary there are many concepts which can be difficult to explain but extremely easy to understand when shown. Using graphics helps the student to grasp what might otherwise be a complicated topic. It also helps to break up the type of information being presented so that multiple avenues to student understanding can be followed.
Aaron,
They really are a great resource for students as they help them to see the parts of a concept as well as the whole. Graphic organizers are guides to follow to help students to expand their abilities as problem solvers.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Agreed, In my setting I have found that many of my students are visual learners. Graphic organizers really help them grasp and understand the subject being tought.
Dawn,
Glad to hear about the value you see in using graphic organizers. They are helpful for student that are need of developing their note taking skills. As you mention once they get the system down their confidence soars and they don't have to depend on the organizers quite as much.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I had never heard of graphic organizers until recently. However, I discovered that when I take notes, they are structured in a graphic organizing way.
Graphic organizers are a great way to help students weed through wordy explanations, pull out key words, and come to a concise statement of a concept. Eventually, they will start doing htis automatically whenever they are reading for content.
I like using handouts of my power points with room for students to take notes or explain concepts. I also like to have questions built into my power points to check student's grasp of the material. I believe it helps to keep them active in the lecture.
Olmarys,
I agree and this is why I use them frequently in my classes. They help my students to see parts as well as the whole in sequential ways.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
In like graphic organizers as it helpsd students look at content in a more broader margin and helps them with memory
Irwin,
Thank you for sharing the application and benefits of using graphic organizers with us. They serve so many different purposes in helping students to stay in the content and see how it is relevant to their future.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Graphic organizers are a wonderful way of isolating important information. When a student constructs a graphic organizer, it requires the student to take what has been learned, identify key components of that knowledge, and represent it in a meaningful way. Concept maps, for example, have been shown to be effective means by which students can demonstrate understanding of complex relationships between ideas. They can also serve as useful assessment tools, and afford educators a different option to the traditional examination.
Paul,
This is when teaching is really fun. I like it when students start to take over their own learning processes and seek to develop a way of taking in new information in varied ways. As you are using graphic organizers you are getting these types of results from your students. This has to be exciting for both you and your students. Keep up the great effort of bringing out the creativity in your students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
We use graphic organizers to help students learn how to organize themselves. Students use the examples from class and develop their own graphic organization skills. I have had students that began writing their notes using pictures instead of words. They have also become better presenters once they were given the freedom to use graphic representations. Students have taken very complex concepts and broken them down into amazing bits of material using the graphic organizing process. They were able to explain ideas in ways that would never have crossed my mind.
James,
Yes, they do. I use them a lot in my teaching for this reason. They help students to see the parts as well as the big picture of what we are studying.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Amie,
Thank you for sharing with us examples of how you have used graphic organizers. I know these ideas will be valuable to other instructors that are considering using them.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Dr. Faulk,
Thank you for this excellent example of how to engage and challenge students. You set such a great case study up for your students so they could see themselves developing such a campaign. This is what application learning should be about.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
