Problem solving
Problem solving skills are part of good communication skills. Most students that do not communicate well have a hard time explaining the hard of the problem becuase they are unsure how communicate the problem at the time it is happening.
Interesting, Chad. How do you respond that that attitude?
I agree, most of the students I encounter in my profession are older and set in their ways. I am a younger person and I get a lot of "what do you know as young as you are"
I start when I first meet them, I tell them what I did & how I started as a tech. like the good times and bad , I let them know what I expect from them and show them I was just like them. when ever I see any of my students in the hall I greet them and ask them how they are doing in there present class, I found out a long time ago if you show an interest in them that you care, people will open up and talk
Sounds simple enough, Richard, but how do you get them to talk?
good communication is key if you can get students to talk it can make a hard problem much easier to deal with.
I struggle with this at times because I want to guide the student to stay within time boundaries. This is not helpful to the student soi have asked the student to stay after class or see me at break so that I have time to really listen to their concerns or needs.
i agree as well. If you don't listen, you cant help to solve the problem and keep your own judgement and feelings out of it.Its about the student not you.
Many people prefer not to face their problems head-on and think if they avoid a situation, it may go away. Encouraging your students to call out when absent teaches them to be responsible and helps alleviate the fear of calling out of work or school. I love your examples of encouraging positive communication!
I agree and listening is a skill many people don't have.
Most of our students have proven to run away from problems; struggling in class, not catching on with skills, life issues, etc...instead of communicating the need for assistance, instead they go MIA. This is difficult to categorize as to why but we know that most of our students struggle with communication; Hence, encouraging them to call out when absent, initiate the need for make-up assignments, presentations monthly, etc...to encourage communication.
Communication plays a great deal in success
That is a tough one, each student is different; therefore each student is taught the basic part of communication listen fist respond to the question ask. Always stay in the Adult mind set when speaking with one another. Child to child communication is anger communication nobody listen to the other person. Therefore we fail to communication effectively so all student need to learn the basics everyone has a opinion
It is also of benefit when students feel multiple people care and are concerned about them. The student will work harder to resolve their issues as they dont want to let all of those people down. It is easy to quit if they think no one will care.
Problem solving is everyone's concern - admission rep, teaching staff, student services, dean and campus president. When the student realized that everybody is on board, he/she will feel belong and would start to communicate.
Ferdinand
Patricia, do the students evaluate themselves for participation in the problem solving exercise? I would imagine that some students are stronger than others.
In a class that I teach students about special needs patients I try to go over the material that the students are suppose read ahead of time and put them into small groups to come up with a plan to discuss and demonstrate how to teach the SNP home care or demonstrate the correct method for caring for the patient in the dental chair. I usually set a 10 minute time limit for group discussion and a plan before them demonstrating it to the whole class.
Gina, what's the setting for the student to demonstrate proficiency of a new topic? How often are they unable to do it?
Yolanda,
I am with you on this topic. We have students which I always try to continue to utilize critical care thinking in their clinical rotations with problem solving with patients as well with equipment that the student is utilizing.
Comunication skill is the key and start by listening.
I will often ask a student if they understand a new topic. If they say yes I have them demonstrate, without judgement. If they try to demonstrate and cannot, we work together. I also tell them to let me know if they understood me or if I confused them. I want to help them open up to me and ask any questions, as no question is stupid or insignificant in learning. We all learn something with every mistake.
