Andrea ,
I agree. From my experience, older or more "seasoned" students tend to take a career-oriented approach with attending school and are driven by their personal productivity in the class.
Tremayne Simpson
Hi all
And use different strategies to manage time in the course, including common assessments as quizzes, or tests, projects, researching a topic online and exposing it by working groups, and also interrupt the presentation of the class power point constantly to link content with the day to day experiences of students, I do it as a conversation with them.
Rasiel Matos
The weekend students are also more motivated because they tend to be older and most of them are going thorugh a career change.
Andrea ,
This sounds like an effective schedule for keeping the students engaged. Also, I am sure that the "weekend" students are naturally motivated, because the modules are shorter than the other available shifts.
Tremayne Simpson
Edward,
I agree with not listing definitive times on the board. The students should be aware of the class structure, however it is important that they do not get "caught up" with exact timing for the class agenda. For instance, an excellent discussion could be "sparked" from the lecture, which could alter the agenda.
Tremayne Simpson
The ultrasound program at my campus has three different shifts. Monday to Thursday 8am-2pm and 6pm to 10 pm respectively and Saturday and Sunday 8am to 4pm. The weekend classes are longer hours but shorter modules.The program is also divided into lecture, usually on a Saturday and lab, usually on a Sunday. The labortory portion of the class is handon so there is not much to do to engage the student. They are given a protocol of the organ to be scan and time aframe in which to completed it.
My canned routines are based on my work experience in the field. I always try to make the lessons relevant to the field. I teach masssage and have many years experience to give back to the students. I also try to teach from the book but also get it into terms that everyone can understand and relate too. This usually adds some time too.
I will put an itinerary on the board without any definitive times next to them, so they have an idea what we are covering today. Well timed breaks also help me avoid "lecture fatigue" by the students. The way the classes are structured, if I am running short on time, I can work it into the next day.
Andrea ,
I am not familiar with many campuses offering classes on Sundays. Do you have trouble with engaging your students, for eight hours on a Sunday?
Tremayne Simpson
My class time is eight hours Saturday and Sunday and the material has to be covered within a nine week module. I timed the powerpoint, the most important part of the lecture, before each class and I also have addition materials,such as question and answer, visual aid and in class assignment, prepared in case there is excess time left. Also there is alway more material prepared than is needed so there is always room to cut some of the information in the event I am running out of time.
I am big on reflection coupled with student surveys. I can look back each term and see what caused any time management issuus and correct them or what was working, see if I can utilize more, etc.
Students can use, and do, fill out their student survey and will usually let you know if they didn't like the flow of the class and why. Knowing is half the battle and with their suggestions or comments, adjustments can be made to make the flow (time management) more effective.
I am big on reflection coupled with student surveys. I can look back each term and see what caused any time management issuus and correct them or what was working, see if I can utilize more, etc.
Students can use, and do, fill out their student survey and will usually let you know if they didn't like the flow of the class and why. Knowing is half the battle and with their suggestions or comments, adjustments can be made to make the flow (time management) more effective.
I use chunking, where every 30 minutes I do an activity that supports my subject.
I actually have a script that I use to keep pace. The class is broken into different sections such as discussion of yesterday, what will happen today, demo, application,assessment and review. Any time left I go over tomorrow and answer any relevent questions.
I plan my class out and between the break I see how much more information is needed to cover. At this point, I might start class back a little early but always inform my student about the situation
I have been teaching for about a year and class time is 50 minutes with student interaction. It's pretty much the same each week. I watch the clock to make sure I'm not getting too far off track when introducing something new or trying a new technique and to make sure the students are getting the most out of the session.
I agree that materials should be in line with a well-planned sequence. I also incorporate Q&A sessions. I find them helpful because students often have questions and when I do not build them into my plan, I sometimes do not get a chance to complete what I wanted in a given day.
I extremely agree with the adaptable and flexible policy as you described and I follow it which helps a lot.
David:
I have the same issue with political science. Most students are not well informed or just don't like politics so I have to start off slow.
I make sure that we complete the content in each class, if the class is moving slow it's usally because students are having more difficulty understanding the material so we have more inclass discussions, but this is great because the students motivate each other. If the class is moving fast and student retention is good I will bring in related material to the content which stimulates more class discussion..
