Selecting sufficient course content has been a worry of mine. But I believe there will be classes I have adequate content and others that I will struggle to have enough. I think selecting the right teaching method will help me have sufficient material. Also having worksheets, small group project ideas, and / or personal stories relating to the field will help have appropriate "filler" content.
James,
I think better instructors are always trying to find ways to break information down into digestible bits and in a way that the majority of students understand. I've heard too many times that students feel "that instructor knows the material, they just are not able to teach it to us". It really takes effort to achieve what we want for our students.
Barry Westling
Planning, knowledge about the time an assignment will take, choice of media, and the resources needed.
But trying to stay in the mindset that they don't know this and you do seems to be the major pitfall I keep running into.
Richard,
I agree this is helpful. In my experience, students will not always be honest about their past (for whatever reasons) and they will try to portray their reasons for attending school in a way they think will sound good. If we are willing to spend time with students individually, we can perceive where their strengths are along with areas needing improvement.
Barry Westling
Some of the strategies that I use in determining course content is to get to know the students a little at the beginning of a class. Taking a few minutes to assess the background of a student can tell you where they may be in relation to the course material that you are trying to relate. Those with previous experience in the field or a similar field will show that they are ready for more complicated information than someone who has no practical experience in the field that they are trying to learn. This will help to shape the way a class will function and how much more information you can relate in addition to the basic information that you have to teach. When you know what your dealing with, your job becomes infinately easier.
Robert,
We want course content that meets objectives, achieves student learning objectives, and is presented in an way that is interesting and pertinent to the course of study.
Barry Westling
geting to know your students learning traits so you can relate to everyone
Karen,
This is a good application of checking for understanding. Our course objectives define what outcomes we want the students to possess. How we deliver, present, and practice learned material determines the degree to which students have retained and are able to apply their knowledge of a given topic. Getting them to the point where they are comfortable is a great achievement.
Barry Westling
I'm an instructor in a Dental Assisting program. First I have to introduce the material in a lecture format followed by hands on experience for the students. Many times the students are somewhat lost during the lecture but once the hands on is shown the light bulb usually goes off and they get the understand the technical information that was given. If I feel the students are having a problem I will slow down and have then repeat the hands on until they are comfortable with the process.
Jan,
I look it like "what are course objectives indicating I need to cover". That's what I primarily focus on and do my best to assure I get that material covered first. All subsequent information is secondary, supplementary, and can be presented more quickly if needed, or by alternate assignment.
Barry Westling
I like your idea of making three variations on a lesson plan. It's more work to plan, but I can see how it can lead to a smoother class period if done that way. I'm going to try that!
Beverly,
Sometimes adjustments are needed and hopefully there are individuals in your institution designated to address them. Until then, I always try to identify what is most critical or essential material and try to make sure that gets covered at the least. I can then fan out wioth more as time allows.
Barry Westling
I have had class planning when there was not suffiecient material for class time and then I have had classes where the material was too much and could have been divided between two classes. We, as instructors, do not do the class plans. I think the program supervisors need to listen to the instructors and get their feedback as to what works in the class and what does not.
Dayton,
I use the course objectives, then examine which resources I have available, then look at my lecture notes. From there, I can begin to construct and select what I need to make the course excel.
Barry Westling
The most reliable method of selecting sufficient content is experience in teaching that particular course. Often, the first time to teach a course is an experiment and it gets to be more routine and well-paced with each time the course is taught. It takes time and evaluation of the students to determine how much material can be covered in a session.
KAI,
These days so much can potentially ruin a perfectly planned day of needed course material. A good back-up plan is worth it's weight in gold when called into play. Good plans can be seamlessly initiated without the students even knowing that a back up plan is in use.
Barry Westling
I really like the idea of a Plan B not only to help redirect students attention but also to have another area of support in case we cover too much material too quickly.
John-Howard,
A lot of good information that relates well to content specific to individual course topics or career areas.
Barry Westling
In most of the classes I teach, selecting sufficient course content is not the problem: there is usually overmuch course content in the first place. A two-prong strategy can definitely help with this: 1) Map the course outcomes against materials delivery; and 2) Match the depth of the presentation against the time available for delivery.
In practice [and again, this may be very specific to the institutional environment in which I work], I can usually hive the topics up, based on my own experience along with my perception of student experience, into one set which can be basically self-delivered, and another which requires instructor mediation. Of course the first set may require *some* instructor mediation as well, but its contents are generally self-explanitory.
To give a concrete example of this, in teaching networking, one important concept is how a switch 'learns' to fill out its port table, and another is constructing subnet masks. I can assign the reading and activities for the former concept to team time, where the students basically problem-solve on their own [I am just the ultimate resource pointer in this case], because the concepts involved are relatively straightforward. Subnet mask construction is one of the most difficult challenges undergraduate IT students face, so it is essential that I present this in class sessions with plenty of supervised practice time.
Sufficient course content can be selected in the case of a surfiet by whittling down history, examples, or any other aspect of the subject which is essentially extraneous to the outcome. By the same token, if it is a case of enhancing the content, either more emphasis can be placed on a potential extended aspect [e.g. supernetting] or a related aspect which is relevant to the class outcome(s) can be introduced [e.g. IPv6 extension to IPv4].
One thing which informs effective strategies for sufficent course content selection is a good knowledge base of the field being covered -- similar to a general being familiar with the ground over which the battle is fought. With such a knowledge base, understanding when and where to nip and tuck, or alternatively, permit some expansion becomes an essential bedrock for an effective content strategy.
Courtney,
Great. Even in very structured settings, we can be creative within the framework using methods you describe, along with other activities such as student engagement, participation, and other ways to involve students in their learning process.
Barry Westling
