James,
This is the model that many of your students will be using when they are out in the workplace. You are getting them ready to work together toward a common goal. The more skill they develop in this area the more successful they are going to be their careers.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Cynthia,
Repetition is a powerful learning tool and you are using it in your class. The part that helps it to be effective is that you are using a variety of ways to get the students through the same material. After a few sessions like this the content will start to become a part of their working memory bank available for recall as needed.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
When teaching technology, students learn more completely when they are able to make mistakes and observe the consequences. This is best accomplished in a team environment where problems can be tackled together.
In the field of radiography, a great amount of information must be remembered and practiced.
I use lecture for the key points and them go to the lab to demonstrate. The students then demonstrate
back to me and each other. At times, I ask the other students to help critique each other.
Billy,
Relevance and application needs to be seen by students. When they see these two elements they become engaged in the learning process and excited about the knowledge being acquired and skills being developed.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
By making the lesson tangible and providing illustrations. Learning to incorporate participation and student experiences goes a long way.
Viviana,
I want your students! You have such a dedicated and focused bunch of learners and I commend you for your efforts to get out of them the maximum effort. By them all earning As you are preparing some well qualified professionals that I know won't have problems in securing employment and are going to enjoy very rewarding careers. Keep up the good work!
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
In my dental class, first I will either tell them of a procedure in which a certain medicament will be needed and why, or show them a video of an actual procedure, then go into the bookwork of what they need to learn about the product. Then, which is of course the most favorite part, apply them in the lab to typodonts or each other if it is a procedure the school allows. All A's are the grades for this class, although I do my best to make the quizzes and tests hard. I just can't seem to stump the students. :) It's great.
Brady,
These are all great strategies for getting students engaged and learning the content. They are also fun for the students to participate in and that increases their desire to be active learners.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Maurice,
There are so many different ways to offer repetition drills that are fun for the students and are valuable in helping them to retain the needed content. The value of repetition is that after a while the students internalize the information to the point it becomes a part of their working memory and they are able to recall the information with ease.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Using good analogies, exercises and realistic case studies. Put the students in the roles they would play in a real environment, and have them apply their new skills. Have exciting (this is key, it goes to back to the Human side of our equation) people from the business the learner is getting into speak to the course. The more the student gets to put the cognitive and physical aspects to work, the more likely they are to retain it.
I believe Repetition is a way to help students retain and apply new information. Multiple task can accomplish the same end result and used in the proper manner. Remind students that what they are learning is important to the success of their new career.
Brian,
This is such a practical and direct way to provide instruction to your student. You are helping them to develop their problem solving skills via direct application. In addition you are increasing the value of the course for your students because they get to see how they will use these skills out in the work place.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I teach 1st & 2nd term nursing students and have found that the curriculum does not include practice procedures early enough for the student to become confident in performing simple tasks such as checking for swollen lymph nodes or how to auscultate the abdomen. In the anatomy & physiology class, lectures are broken down into the body systems. For each system I try to incorporate an examination procedure that they should know how to perform when they graduate. Through this they are able to see first-hand how the lecture is applicable, and therefor important, to their career. It also has the added benefit that their skills might be somewhat better than students who have not practiced the development of the techniques required to properly assess a patient. If they never listen to a hundred normal abdomens there is no way they will catch an abnormal.
Paul,
You have a real advantage with your field because you get to teach not only content but also application. Your approach is one that enables your students to see the relevancy of what you are teaching them. I am sure this increases their level of engagement.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Working in a trade school has the advantage of providing projects for our students to do that use the information taught. There are various formats that improve the student's understanding. I have had the best results by presenting the basic information, then doing what I refer to as a board demo, (showing how to do the project by diagramming the process on the board) and then doing a physical demonstration of the project at the machine. I have found that I can makes sure they understand the concepts by asking them what they would need to change if the project was modified in various ways.
In College Algebra class, solving Word Problems and being able to Graph a relation or function are probably the most useful skills and concepts that are uncovered. They are also the most disliked, generally. By practicing, showing different approaches to them, and breaking them down into small bits they are usually better understood and less feared.
To help students retain the material covered in class it is useful to have a lot of practical examples where students can apply the concept just learned in the class. Practical application is a good method to make student use the new skills.
Brandon,
Good list of instructional strategies that can be used to share content. I am a big fan of note cards myself. A old fashioned form of real basic technology but still very effective in today's learning environment.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
New information is another key point when teaching a class. Most of all material will be new to the student one way or another. This situation is important to discuss in the classroom with all students. There are so many different ways each student learn the best. Some ways of providing and helping with new information could be: (to name a few)
• Discussion questions in class with the students
• Rhythm, rhymes, or games
• Examples: real life situations
• Research and writing assignments
• Note cards ( I am a firm believer in using notecards)
