It seems to help me from repeating myself and helps keep the students awake. My class is at 7:30 am.
Mary,
Great way to add variety, and make the class more interesting.
Barry Westling
Richard,
Certainly. Of course there is a core of material that needs presented, based on learning objectives. But how that gets delivered varies from class to class.
Barry Westling
I do lecture with a visual pp. When I reach the end of a section, I generally show a "review" video that I have found on youtube or another internet source. These genrally show the info or skill that I have been presenting in class in more of a 'demo' format. Hopefully, this demonstrates my words in action.
I use a mixture of media/no media to engage all types of my student learners. I am a 9 month old instructor newbie but have practiced vet med for 37 years with most of that time practicing emergency medicine. I teach emergency medicine and toxicology, right up my alley. But being a SME and trying very hard to be a IDE, it seems that I have to change proportions of the types of media to fit different classes. Let me explain that. By different classes I mean different 4th term classes that matriculate through the school each year. Do you find this to be true...adjusting media types for each group of students you teach?
Deborah,
This seems like a less than effective learning environment. I can say using another's PPT slides, even if they are from the publisher, is difficult. My suggestion is that when you reach a point in the slide you'd like to elaborate on, turn off the projector and conduct a thorough discussion.
Barry Westling
Powerpoint is selected for the Instructor along with the curriculum. I have a hard time with Powerpoint because it has limited details and I need more information to delivery the information smoothly. I feel like I'm just standing in front of a class just reading and at times. The information dosent make since to me unless I have read the chapters that are involved all the way through and I don't have time to do that. The college doesn't want Instructor's to take work home and I only have 30 minutes of prep time per class.
Christopher,
You bring up some very good points. There are several different types of learning styles just as there are several different teaching styles. Part of being an effective teacher is learning to teach to all learning styles to help increase students' success.
Barry Westling
A variety of content delivery should be chosen to ensure you tap into the various learning methods that people absorb best. Some folks are visually based, some are auditory based and some are psychomotor based. Having a variety of delivery methods not only keeps people on their toes but ensures the widest possible comprehension.
Peter,
Great! Engaging students is nearly always a better way to gather material than the instructor simply feeding it to their students. And students will acquire more of a sense of ownership and contribution when they discover class material on their own.
Barry Westling
I select media for content delivery most of the time. I try to choose a short video or power point with pictures to hit my visual learners. However, I find it even better if the students use a "treasure hunt" approach to using media to find the content first. It gets the students involved instead of keeping them passive.
Randolph,
Variety helps keep interest and makes class more enjoyable. Because there's so much varied media available, we have to be selective in choosing only that which will be effective towards meeting course objectives, and assist students learn...and understand
Barry Westling
the more I use different media I believe that it helps students to stay alert as they do not know what to expect next this keeps students focused on what is going on in the class and I may ask students to add their thoughts for further involvement
Marketa,
Great! Variety and frequent change ups in the delivery of instructional material is always received well and helps keep students focused and also contributes to a more interesting class.
Barry Westling
It depends on the course and what will be most effective. For my classes that teach graphics and BMI I use the computer and projector so student can see what I'm doing as they follow along with me on their own screens. For other courses I like to use PowerPoint along with the lecture to highlight bullet points and provided visuals along with drawing examples on the white board.
Donald,
I agree, and students usually appreciate the addition of something a bit different from just lecture and discussion. Also, I try to plan a change-up about every 20 minutes, just to help keep attention, focus, and interesting.
Barry Westling
Introducing current events or new technologies aids in class attention and participation.
Diane,
Right. Learning can come all types of resources, even the students themselves. And after all, it's the learning that's most important, eh?
Barry Westling
That is a very good idea. It also gives students confidence and motivation knowing that they contributed to their own learning experience.
Diane,
Involving students in choosing media can also be a creative and rewarding instructional experience. Sometimes, we can discover excellent teaching aids solely because we are willing to experiment with ideas produced by students.
Barry Westling
