Helena,
What are one or two of the things you do that reap the highest levels of engagememt?
Jeffrey Schillinger
I am in total agreement with Keith Schieffer. Keeping the students actively engaged is key.
Jason,
Being able to plan and deliver lessons with multiple activities is a key part of good instruction. Personaluty paired with methodolgy creates willing teachers.
Jeffrey Schillinger
Quality instruction comes inherently from a quality instructor, who exudes confidence and has strong inter-personal skills. Characteristics of such instructor are : charm, wit and a certain style of story-telling. Someone that can admit when they are wrong, teach one subject several ways and seek answers when something is unknown.
Thanks for this post, Jason. How do you determine if a candidate has these most important characteristic during the hiring process.
Jeffrey Schillinger
Some of the most important characteristics of an effective instructor include : a)leveraging learners' experiences, b)providing choices to adult learners, c)clearly identifying rationale's for lessons, and d)setting clear expectations.
All of the above characteristics all specifically address learner motivation and engagement which are key components of successful adult education.
I believe that the instruction must be multidimensional, and use as many tools that will capture the audiences attention, so that they will remember and utilize the information that is being presented. In my classes I ask the students to actually run the class and teach me the subject mater. The feed back from the students is very positive.
Karl,
We often assume younger students are masters of technology or that older students are not. It is best to plan time to teach information literacy for each class.
Jeffrey Schillinger
This is so true where I work. I had to explain how to use the internet to several of my students. People have no conception of what that is like, as most of us take the interwebs for granted. I had to walk these students through, bit by painstaking bit, before they could even understand what Google was.
I suppose it all comes down to the realization that not everyone has the same skills or exposure, and so one has to be patient, caring and understanding.
I agree. I think the same concept applies whether you are teaching a patient why they need to perform an exercise, or teaching a student why they need to know certain material. If a patient doesn't understand the importance of doing what you are asking of them, they won't do the exercise. If a student doesn't understand why they need to know certain facts, they are not going to study and retain the necessary information.
Aylin,
"People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care." This is an old saying, but it sure does apply here.
Jeffrey Schillinger
I agree that establishing respect, as well as trust, with the adult learners is crucial. A very important step in establishing both respect and trust is to make a real effort to get to know each student well. I find that using a confidential Welcome Quiz which asks questions about the student's prior educational experience, goals, and learning preferences during the first class is very helpful. The students see that the instructor really cares to know who they are and what they want out of their education, and they don't mind the extra credit points from the quiz.
An effective instructor must be able to create a supportive environment in which all students can learn, not just the "A" students in the front row. By determining the learning styles and personalities of their students, good instructors can vary their delivery to maximize retention of information. To simply stand on the stage and lecture for hours is not effective teaching. Getting students to "buy in" to their education and invest their own energy can help to maximize the outcome.
This is great advise for all teachers, Michael. Finding ways to facilitate activities that allow adults to "customize" the learning experience to their taste.
Jeffrey Schillinger
I teach at a culinary school, and since we spend a lot of our instruction time in kitchen based labs with our students learning how to cook and be entry level professionals in the hospitality industry, I believe that flexibility in delivery of the day's learning activities is essential. For example, a good culinary instructor knows that their students value being allowed and encouraged to exercise their natural creativity when preparing food; so while I make it clear that I expect them to show me competence in the basic technique being worked on during that class period, I also allow my students to alter non-essential aspects of a recipe in order to ignite their excitement and foster a sense of self pride in what they have accomplished at the end of the day.
Lisa,
Great advise. It is important to make sure incoming adult students are aware of the technology they will need to master. Avoiding big surprises is a key to retention.
Jeffrey Schillinger
In my experience, effective instruction for adult learners can be challenging for several reasons. I will discuss one. First, adult learners in my field, the graphic arts, are often at a disadvantage technologically. In my admittedly specialized world, artistic talent is not enough -- one must also have in-depth knowledge of at least ten software programs. My traditional age students are more used to technology, may have already experienced it in a high school setting, and tend to pick up software more quickly. My adult learners, by contrast, have had much less previous exposure to technology. So, the effective instructor of adult learners must be very patient, explain procedures slowly, and be prepared with handouts and visual aids.
Thank you for this thoughtful post, Larry. My first career college position was as a general education instructor. Adult students were resistant because they did not see the need for this type of course. I found that making sure the students knew how the course applied to their goals and finding ways for student to find early success upon which to build.
Jeffrey Schillinger
I agree with virtually all of the discussion in this thread. I find that I often have a different and difficult issue with many of my adult learners: fear. I teach math. Many students come to me with a history of bad experiences and often weak fundamentals. My goal is to share the beauty of math while fostering an environment that removes their fear. Notwithstanding this, I am charged with delivering a corporate-designed curriculum, so I must often walk a tightrope between student apprehension and the need to press ahead. Humor often alleviates stress in these situations. Also, a well-timed break where those with the greatest fear can see me for a quick one-on-one conference can defuse a tense situation.
Dr. Carlton,
Some teachers are leary of using such a system becasue they feel the technology is unreliable and/or they feel it is too impersonal. How do you make using this technology a more personal experience?
Jeffrey Schillinger
