I am relatively new to the teaching profession and wish that I would have had more of this information when I began. Although most of my time was spent just developing curriculum early on this would have saved me some reworking of my methodologies toward welcoming students. My experiences in industry gave me credibility with my students and they were eager to absorb what I had to give them. Fortunately they were all good about my circumstances and maintained some flexibility. Much of this seems like common sense but it is nice to have it down in a structured format to review.

I have just begun implementing a simple version of critical thinking into my curriculum. I use the critiques of assigned design projects to try and get students, (and myself), to approach a viewpoint by looking through a different window of analysis. The window may be one of economics, or it may be the window of manufacturing processes or politics etc. It may also be the window of the end user. Most of what I use is based on Bloom's Taxonomy. Bloom and his colleagues (1956) produced one of the most often cited documents in establishing educational outcomes: The Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain. They proposed that knowing is actually composed of six successive levels arranged in a hierarchy: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, Evaluation. Research over the past 40 years has generally confirmed that the first four levels are indeed a true hierarchy. That is, knowing at the knowledge level is easier than, the level of comprehension and so forth up to the level of analysis. However, research is mixed on the relationship of synthesis and evaluation; it is possible that these two are reversed or they could be two separate, though equally difficult, activities (Seddon, 1978). I find many of my students come with preconceived notions or "correct thoughts" about many things and do not have any reasoning behind what they say except possibly their own limited life experience and scope. Any thoughts,imput or experience you have had in this regard would be appreciated. Take care, Andrew LeRoy

I have been teaching anatomy for a post secondary school for over 6 years...I have more in my head than I could ever possibly write in an outline...I now have more administrative duties and find it hard to relay information to the new instructors...the most important aspect, I feel, is to be animated in the classroom...monotone just won't work...I wish every student (and potential instructor) had one of the teacher's they remember as being "out of the box" and made learning fun...as well as making education important

This has really helped me realize why diffent techniques have worked in the past and others have not. Not being prepared has always proved somewhat of a disaster in the classroom. But Ive found in this course that there is alot more as well. Very helpful!

Hi ED101, A couple of things I'm always looking for on the first day of class are 1) are there any "ringers" in the class 2) what is the motivation of each student. Ringers to me are students who know alot about the subject already, or at least think they do. So I need to find out who these people are and how much knowledge they possess. That way they don't become a distruptive influence. Motivation of each student is finding out why they are here. Some students only want to learn very specific things, while others are happy to absorb as much as possible. Knowing this I can give the former group what they want, even if I have to add some content to the course to do so. This makes the class a success in their mind. This is especially true for "ringers" so you can make them feel the time spent was worthwhile. Doing this kind of recon starts on the first day. I make sure I am there early to greet each student coming in, that way I can find out a bit about why they are attending this course. Next, as the students introduce themselves, I ask them to tell me abit about their experience and what they want to take away from the class. Finally while we are covering the syllabus / course outline I ask lots of questions (Socratic Method style) to find out people's background knowledge. These are critical pieces of info for me to make the class a success. Anybody else have other techniques for "recon"? Jeff

how do you deal with two or more students with bad attitudes? At that point they can become a major distraction to the class.

I'm in a dilemma about the use of electronic material vs traditional hard copy versions in our courses. As an IT school, we tend to use mini-lectures and lots of hands on computer time to re-enforce the topics covered in those lectures. Books are rarely used during the actual class time, and support materials are used occasionally to reference tables of information or clarify a topic. Our textbooks are used by the students outside of class to look up ways of doing things but are not generally read cover to cover. So based on this I feel we could successfully incorporate electronic materials into a lot of our courses. This allows the instructor to easily add extra material, internet articles, update material as software changes slightly etc. Plus electronic material is easily searched to find the applicable information. But a majority of instructors are against its use, saying it is difficult to learn from. I would agree if our courses were highly re-enforced by reading the text, but again I don't believe they are. Comments? Thanks Jeff

One technique I have always try to incorporate into my teaching style is using questions as a way to lead students to my point. Instead of using queries solely as a review, use them to illustrate reasons why we need to do things in certain ways, or to have them get their heads into a new topic. So I would be curious on how other instructors use the Socratic Method in their teaching, when is it appropriate and when is it not, and student responses to it. Also I found this article to be a very interesting test of the Method on younger students. Let me know what you think. http://www.garlikov.com/Soc_Meth.html Jeff

I find that when students answer a question on a written test, that answer takes on a quality of being "right", even if it isn't. The longer the interval between taking the test and getting the graded paper, the more solidly that initial answer gels, until it is almost impossible to change. Which is a very good reasonn to return test papers ASAP. In one of my classes, which meets only once a week, I use my lunch hour to grade the papers so students can get the corrections immediately.

One method of assessment can be done as you teach. Observing student body language (are they slumped in their chairs or sitting up straight; are they making eye contact; do they take notes when you make improtant points) can clue you in to how much they are paying attention. The number and speed of hand-raisings when you ask a question provides a similar measure. The advantage is that, if you find you have lost the students, you can stop and reteach immediately, rather than waiting unti you mark the test a day or more later.

What do you do when you ask a question and get... deathly silence? You could, of course, asnwer the question yourself, and sometimes it may be the quickest way to keep up your momentum. But answer too many questinos yourself and you're teaching the class that if they sit silent you'll do all the work. A technique I have used is to rephrase the question to make it easier to answer. Simpli-fying is one way (instead of asking for all four vital signs, ask for just one). Or association ("we did this on Monday just after our review"). Or connecting to TV shows they have seen ("what do they do first when an emergency is brought into the ER?"). Or focusing on a clue (" what word do you see inside "electrocardiography").

What sometimes gets lost in discussing learning styles is that (with a few exceptions) we all learn through all our senses. It's just that the message is stronger when a preferred modality is used. And it's not an either/or situation. I find myself preferring the written word, but also respond well to visuals and (a bit less) to kinesthic. My weakest area is auditory. Perhaps we should think of learning styles more as a ranking than a single choice. And we should plan to appeal to as many senses as we can when planning our lesson. Write what we say and say what we write. Pass around anything that can be touched. Diagram wherever possible. When it comes to senses, more is better!

Another kinesthetic approach I have found effective is what I call "pass-arounds". In a class on setting up an IV drip, for instance, one teacher passes around actual IV bags. In itself, there is little more to learn by touching the bag than by seeing it, but she finds that retention is increased significantly. And not only for the "kinsethetic" student, but for all.

I wonder if we aren't missing something by limiting our definition of learning styles to sensory modalities. It's not only the intake mechanism that is involved, but the mental organizing of material. Some of us, for instance, tend to prefer to think inductively - from specific instances to a general rule. Examples and anecdotal strategies work well with these thinkers. Others think better when you give them a general rule and let them work out specific instances. Guidelines and principles often work better with these.

This is so very true and soemthing I think a lot of instructors miss - esp. in online courses.

Lectures, as noted, need to be limited to about 15 minutes to keep the students' eyes from glazing over. However, many topics require expositioins longer than 15 minutes. One way I have found to break up a lengthy lecture is to periodically ask questions of the class. If I have just made a point, I might ask if anyone can think of an example from their own experience. Or, if there is a connection to something previously learned, I might ask them if "this sounds familiar?". Or I might probe for rationale by asking "why do you think this is done"? By doing this, other voices are heard. And student minds shift from passivity to activity.

Students' life experiences often contain elements that parallel class subject matter. Introducing the concept of electricity, one teacher asked "have you even walked across a rug and gotten a spark when you touched something metal?" Another teacher started a lesson on Taking a Patient History with the question: "What's the first thing you're asked to do when you go to a doctor's office for the first time?". By linking coursework to student life experiences it not only involves them, but makes the class more meaningful.

Some students are very good with practical application but struggle with theoretical principles. Some complicated matters can be explained with simple analogies causing the light to come on. You need to use examples that a particular student or group can relate to.

From my experiences as a trainer, i have seen many contract trainers just come in and teach and deliver a very BORING class. Boring as in just coming in and doing whats required as far as delivering course material. I guess for some instructors, they really dont care if the students are learning/enjoying what they are being taught, but it would drive me nuts to know that a student thought my classes were boring and i was uninspiring... My keys for motivation: 1. Encouragement: always keep your students postively reinforced. 2. Mentorship: make these students think "man, i wanna be like this guy." 3. Energy: Come in charged and ready to go..if you're not pumped, your students sure wont be either. Maybe a Redbull before class :)

Is it safe to say that as much as you stress to your students to read ahead to be prepared for the next class lecture...you're always gonna get some that don't? Besides "pop quizzes" on reading material...any other ideas to get students to read?