Role of instructor personality in delivery selection
What role does your personality play in the selection of delivery methods for your courses?
JOE,
Yes, these and other hats are worn when fulfilling our job responsibilities. Students appreciate sincerity and honesty too. Each one has a diverse method to give advice or contribute humor into the lesson. I believe some trust by students may be lost if the instructor is insincere, or conveys that they are anything less than an authentic version of themselves.
Barry Westling
One of the best advise given to myself as well as other instructors in training was that an instructor continuously has to gauge his students while conducting class. an instructor has to play the role of a preacher, a parent as well as a stand up comedian because as an instructor you are always on stage trying to get your message across to various learners without losing there attention .
Frank,
Great! When students feel comfortable, they are bound to hear and receive course material in a welcomed manner.
Barry Westling
I have found being jovial and approachable the best way for students to become involved in learning. They tend to let their guard down and become open to the leaning process.
Emad,
Yep, trust and credibility have to be earned, and are delicate sentiments -- students stay aligned with the instructor as long as they feel they are approachable, fair, competent, and are assisting them reach their goals. If these (and others) are violated, that can be trouble.
Barry Westling
instructor personality has a great role in delivering the information to students. A careful, well prepared organised instructor will reflect his personality on his students who will trust him and accept what he is trying to deliver to them
Leonard,
I think students want and need order, and having an organized desk, classroom, materials room or lab creates the tone that this is important, and helps keep students a bit more focused.
Barry Westling
Organization is very important to me both in and out of class. I like to keep paperwork and tools in order because that will help the day go smooth for both myself and the students. They also like a class that is neat and clean.
Randall,
Good observation. We have to be true versions of ourselves, and emulating someone else can appear as insincere.
Barry Westling
I think personality plays a huge role in teaching. My first course in teaching I was taught by a very good instructor who had a way of talking very loud, to the point of shouting. This worked for him but I new right off that it would not work for me. To often I came off as a drill sargeant. I had to find my own way of teaching and getting my point across, without yelling. I had to learn to just be myself.
Graham,
Subtle cues such as the pause are great to give students a time to think, the instructor to select who answers if multiple students raise their hand, and also reinforces the classroom control the instructor has established. A variation of the pause is asking a rhetorical question to create an effect (i.e., emphasis).
Barry Westling
Being a new Instructor after 30 years experience in the industry I am just developing my delivery methods/selections.Using all the tools that are supplied to me is fine, I often find its how you say or explain the material is an effective delivery tool unto itself,a moment of silence between making a point is effective or just waiting for an answer to a question, not rushing or giving the answer yourself.This few seconds of silence makes the students think "he's waiting for the answer"so I find they are a little more attentive.
MALCOLM,
I think it's important that we as instructors present ourselves as genuine, authentic versions of ourselves, rather than an artificial version of someone else. Students detect subtle things about instructors, and to create trust and credibility, being natural works well.
Barry Westling
Michael, I completely agree with you also, it's important for an instructor to come to class prepared, and just as important for a student to come to class prepared to learn.
One of my statements/remarks on Day 1 is "I've given-up trying not to look like the absent-minded professor, because the more I try to not look like one, the more I do look like one"
Malcolm
B. A.,
Good point, and I'd have to agree. Quality is an attribute that isn't always easy to measure, but certainly there are traits that usually accompany this dynamic.
Barry Westling
Yes, adequate preparation is an absolute necessity in teaching but adequate preparation is only one component of successful teaching. I have known teachers who were and are always prepared in subject matter knowledge, hand out materials, visual aids and were not quality teachers. It takes a whole lot of parts to make a whole, well rounded, quality teacher.
B. A.,
My hope is that good role modeling will "rub-off", which unfortunately isn't always the case. But I can say without adequate preparation, it will unrealistic to expect that students will ever flourish to their full potential. And that'd be a shame.
Barry Westling
Aaron,
Right. And we want to create that learning environment where students feel they can approach their instructor and rely on the premise that their instructor is there for them to assist in any way possible.
Barry Westling
