Overcoming Practical Barriers
I teach Anatomy & Physiology and I have such a limited amount of time to get a vast amount of information to the students that I am not sure how to implement activities without leaving out important material in my lectures. My lectures are very active (I don't just talk behind a desk) and I try to engage the students as best I can but I just wish I had a little more time for some "fun" learning interaction. Any suggestions on short active learning strategies?
Hi Teri,
Great idea! I love coming up with various hands-on activites pertaining to the lesson to engage students.
Patricia Scales
to engage students in my lectures I make a powerpoint with matching, or naming activities in it and have students participate in the activities
Hi Jeaneen,
These are fun activities to help students learn. Learning becomes really exciting whenever fun is involved. I like to use guided notes to help when there is a time factor involved.
Patricia
I find that in classes such as this, (where there is a lot of material and not enough time), playing games, group activities, scavenger hunts, and puzzles are all great ways to get the student involved in the learning proccess. It also helps to cover the material, because they are so excited that they want more and they start to look for more than you asked for, which starts more dicussion.
Hi Jill,
A pleasant experience and having fun are key to getting students to remember what they have been taught.
Patricia
I agree- students seem to retain more of what they learn if they associate it with a pleasant experience. I have notcied that these activites help "break the ice" for shy students, or a new group on the first day fo class.
Hi Jill,
Fun is key! Students love learning while having fun! Great activities to stimulate great interest from your students.
Patricia
I also teach Anatomy and Physiology-I have had students use other students as "subjects" and put them in "anatomical position", and have had students demonstrate directional terms, body planes, abdominal regions, vertebral sections, etc on each other. With basic biology, I have brought in eggs to simulate a cell- with cell membrane, cytoplasm, and nucleus-having students label on the "cell", and define/locate the mitochondria, lysosomes, DNA, semi-permeable membranes etc...gets a little messy, but fun!
(and eggs are realively inexpensive for lab materials!)
Hi Alicia,
Some students are very creative, and they work hard to do a super job. I imagine you get some quality work from these students presenting. Most students do try to model their instructor, and most of them do a fantastic job!
Patricia
Kim,
I also teach this class and I have ran into the same problem. Each time I teach the class I try new methods to try to cover all the material.
One method I have tried and students seem to like is: I have gathered random photos of the diseases and disorders and I attach a brief description of the photo. I place them on the student’s portals, in order for students to complete the assignment at their own speed. I assign a two page research paper (which is also a requirement). This allows the students to do some learning on their own. I review the papers and write in anything extra that I wanted them to learn but was not mention in their papers. During the final week of class, I allow the students to present their information to the class. You'll be amazed at the things that they find special and they why the try to present like the instructor. They love it and so do I.
Hi Kim,
I understand that time is of the essence. You can have your students partner with each other and use stickys to label the various parts of the body. Students normally enjoy this activity.
Patricia
