Instruction without lecture
I am new to teaching and havent had to do any lecture. what I teach is 95% hands-on. I like to have fun with it though and ask questions throughout the evening and during classroom clean-up to ensure they are grasping each days lesson. I am finding that every new rotation of students that come through I automatically pay close attention to what I do that works and if it doesnt I do it differently the next time until I find something that captures their attention more.I am a big fan of utilizing "props" you might say to give them more visuals of what we are working on.
Hi Steve,
Absolutely! The visual has to have purpose, and the purpose of the visual should be to enhance the learning objective.
Patricia Scales
Hi Rose,
It would be my opinion that props or pass arounds or visuals are great as long as not sent and forgotten. In other words as you discuss a prop or send a pass around, periodically use direct open questioning to draw out understanding and verify that it is being effective for what you are trying to achieve.
Hi Chrystal,
Even in the MA curriculum, you can use variety with teaching methods. Trying role playing, case studies, simulations, group projects, guest speakers, sceanrios, games, trials, etc. Youtube is a great resource to get ideas from.
Patricia Scales
Hi Martin,
It is amazing how the medical field has come to the "light side"! My medical instructors can really monitor students' progress with ease based on today's technology.
Patricia Scales
Marty,
I am in the opposite end of the pool right now teaching only "front office" MA. My curriculum is approx 95% lecture based information. I use alot of discussion and have begun to really rely on the PowerPoints as a jumping off point even though they are written in full sentence form.
I have been trying to find more ways of sims and such. Today I am going to demonstrate mind-mapping and ask them to break into small groups of 3 and create, then share. I am hoping this goes well. I am anxious though.:)
Yes, this has always been true in the computer field, so I am very pleased to see other fields coming over to the "light side"! Newer programs make it easier to monitor student progress quickly so I can give a helping push were it is needed before they fall behind.
Hi Martin,
Hands-on learning is the best! Most people learn better/more by doing. There are a lot students that are kinesthetic learners, and in order for them to understand they must perform the task. Courses that are computer driven are not very heavy lecture based. I typically lecture computer courses for an hour, and the students have an hour of lab time to apply what was taught.
Patricia Scales
I have been teaching the same basic kinds of courses my entire career. They are basically hands on learning (computers)thus I have found myself doing even less lecture over the years. My `lecture' mostly consists of an introductory overview of the course expectations. Since the time structure of the class on average is 8 days consisting of 30 classroom hours, I give definite dates of the evaluation tests. Each student copies to their USB drive the instructions for the evaluation and an example of what I want. Two of the four evaluations give the student the ability to chose a subject that is of interest to them.
I am not going to get into a long winded explaination of everything I do but I also make sure they use all the "tools" they are provided including an in class homework assignment where I give them specific questions to research in their reference book including filling in the page numbers where they find the information I requested. I do give them subjects I know they will encounter in the course material. I started this practice because students were complaining about purchasing a book they never used. There are no longer complaints on this subject and I see them using the book a lot more often now.
I use a program that has training then a quiz. I get reports every two hours that gives me a good indication of their progress.
Since I get students that know very little about the subject, students that think they should not be taking the course and various levels in between I do not grade on the quantity of accomplishments but I rely on the QUALITY of the accomplishments. My goal is for everyone to learn even if they think that there is nothing they can learn about the subject. I also have created a survey that the students can fill out on the computer that I use to determine I am reach them plus they are given the opportunity to give suggestion of how they think the course can be improved.
So basically I can sum this up by stating that I really never did give much value to lecture as opposed to hands on learning in my field. I say "right on" to active learning.. except for the group projects which do not work out well for my course. The biggest thing I learned from this course was the "buzz words" associated with what I already do.
Hi Rose,
Continue to be a big fan of props. Students love visualization. Most of our students are visual learners.
Patricia Scales
