Our course are structured to folllow content that was written for the courses. However I do like to include real life experiences to share with the class. I am a hands on kind of guy.I don't really need the students to memorize drawings of piping for different systems but I do want them to have the understanding of how things work.
Hi Emma:
These are good ways of approaching course content.
I think a good basic foundation for any course would include a course description, Student Learning Outcomes (SLO's), learning objectives, daily lesson plans, and finally assignments, kind of in that order because each one requires the next higher one in order to be complete.
Like planning a trip, I believe we can think about where we want to begin, and where we want to end up. Usually a course will have essential instruction that must be covered to be thorough. To me, these would be the SLO's, because they state what learning will be achieved if we are successful. To me then, the "what" are the SLO's that state what the student will know or be able to do if successful.
The course objective define the "how" we're going to go about meeting the SLO's.
So, we begin with with what will be taught, then move to how we will teach it. That leads into the daily lessons or activities, wfich consist of all the different activities, media, and resources needed to teach the class.
In a brand new class there's bound to be some trial and error. Sometimes scheduling and time allocations (limitations) determine what and how the course is taught. And resources seem to play a big part in assuring students learn what's necessary.
New course development is not an easy task, really requires experienced individuals with expertise in this activity, and good SME's to effectively carry out the completed plan. A lot of time, effort, planning, and creativity must be provided for better classes to come into fruition.
Regards, Barry
Having the right amount of course content is always a battle, especially when you are unsure of the how quickly the students will finish. I start off by determining what the learning outcomes are and assign projects for each learning outcome and take it from there, I look at how much work they have and adjust accordingly.... does it look like too much? Maybe one project can accomplish more than one learning outcome? Is there not enough, maybe throw in another project that combines a few of the learning outcomes already accomplished in other projects. Sometimes if I feel like the work load is too heavy I might also assign them to work in teams to make the work go faster or vice versa to give them more work I'll take away some of the team work and focus more on individual production.
Hi Tracy:
Good thoughts. I think as teachers, selecting sufficient content and "appropriate" content have different goals and purposes. Suffient may be just enough to get by, or may be so broad that it fails to target one group, or may be purposly designed to provide minimal instruction to gain the greatest return on enrollment.
Contrasting suffient is appropriate, which takes into account the needed student learning objectives, course outline, course objectives, and necessary resources and mnedia delivery requirements. So, two courses, side by side, one wholly meets the needs of the students while the other missed the target nearly completely.
Course design is something that lots of time and effort should be put into in order to achieve the best student outcomes.
Regards, Barry
I beleive that a variety of course content is the key. I try to mix it up with group activities and videos. The students seem to really enjoy this and they are learning in differnt styles. Depending on what the content is that needs to be covered a beleive the "variety of content" is the best way to teach!
Thank you,
Tracy Longfellow
Hi Courtney:
Boy, I agree. Whenever the opportunity presents, I think students like it when they have a choice in the educational process. They are more willing to do a better job when they are part of the decision making. And, studies show that when students are more engaged, they learn and retain information better and longer.
Regards, Barry
Hi Robert:
You've got a logical plan there. If there are student learning objective (SLO's), I would also examine those to measure if the other steps you outlined will produce this outcome.
Regards, Barry
I find that students like to be involved in making some of these choices, that is within reason of course. If there is a lot of content for a particular class time I make a list of the things I feel must be explored and the remaining items I will give the students an opportunity to select from or select the order of. This way I know I am using the time to best reach the topics that the students are struggling with the most.
This does not work with every course or every unit but on occasion it helps focus the content of the unit to best suit the students needs.
Courtney
1. Question students.
2. After looking at course objectives and finalizing the exams, determine how the instruction will get the students there.
3. Analyze curriculums in other venues to determine how they did it.
Hi Detra:
I think discussion activities in any class is more meaningful than many other busy type activities. Assessing and determining what the student's learnming ability may a bit more difficult to define. Matching course content to abilty is definitely an asset though. Sometimes, it's not until the middle to near end of the course that this information is reevealed.
Regards, Barry
Some of the strategies that I use for selecting sufficient course content are:
1. Ensure that the content is relevant to each student's ability level and meaningful
2. Try to focus on content that leads to discussions that add value to the course
3. Make sure that the material selected is not just "busy work" and use appropriate pacing to maximize class time.
Hi Gregory:
One technique is sort of like going through the material a second time. I'll start off with, "so let's review the important items". From there I'll essentially teach the class again, but using different media, examples, and labs (if applicable). I'll try to get the students to teach some of the "review".
Although this works, rarely will I ever have too much time, it's usually too little and I'm scambling to get throgh the basics of the lesson.
Regards, Barry
It amazes me how fast I get through the material sometimes. What seems like it will take 10 hours to complete actually takes just over 6 hours. Now I'm stuck with the "tap dance" for 4 hours. I try to insert activities along the way that are optional and depend on whether we are ahead or behind schedule. It seems to help tremendously.
Hi Dixie:
Balancing these diversities takes an experienced juggler to manage effectively. Sounds like you know how to juggle! But your method moving ahead or staying on track is a good technique in and of itself. It's a pacing thing. Sometime, we need to make adjustments in that pace. Timing of delivery of content and keeping all engaged and participating would be a hoped-for goal. Agreed, it's not always easy.
Regards, Barry
Hi Dixie:
Great. When students can relate to current events and situations they have some knowledge of, they're halfway to understanding and retaining the content point being made because they're already familiar with the premise. I'll put post-it notes alongside topics in my curriculm binder to remind me what was relevant this time - maybe it will be relevant next time or not, but the post-it helps me remember. Kind of a form of tracking events in a journal.
Regards, Barry
Hi Gregg:
Your situation described is unfortunate. If the course is correctly outlined the approriate level of content should flow with that, and all roads will lead towards that end.
Regards, Barry
Generally, I know what I plan for the next class, and if I finish this class's planned material early, I move on into the next. Then I can adjust the next class period's plans by adding examples or exercises or by shifting the whole scope of the class, if it seems warranted.
The tricky part comes when we're teaching multiple sections of the same course. Sometimes that means the "slow" class gets only a taste of the enrichment module we did for the class that finished the planned assignment in half the time. However, to hang on to our sanity, it's important to keep the multiple sections at roughly the same pace.
I like this notion. If we stay alert to current events, we can always find applications to our classes. Anything that makes a connection between course content and the world our students know is bound to enhance learning.
Know your syllabus. Know the abilities of your students. Give the pretests mentioned previously. Know what the required course content is and adjust your materials accordingly. Don't offer basic instruction in a subject to advanced learners...I was once asked to teach a course called "Advanced Excel '07". The course was actually an introductory level course. One irate (and justly so) student never came back after the first session. I was put into the situation by politicians who were my supervisors, who themselves had little experience using Excel. I was embarrassed by the title of the course.
Hi Gail:
My suggestion is to get your students doing some or all of the teaching methods you described in your post. When students are engaged and are participating, they learn and retain more. The downside is that this takes more time - but in your case, that would not be a problem. You can always follow up with added or missing material. But for the students, the experiences will be memorable and longlasting.
Regards, Barry
