Different levels of students
In my classroom there is a very different level of student's all seeking to achieve the same degree. Some classes are a lot faster paced than others. Morning classes require more exitement than noon classes in my experience even when the subject matter is exactly the same!
Hi Carlos,
Right you are. We have to "read" our students and then use the instructional delivery that will keep them engaged and moving forward with their learning.
Gary
I think both class times demand equal excitement to maintain attention. The morning class needs to "wake up" and the afternoon class has many times had a heavy lunch, also needing to "wake up." Active student participation & questioning by the instructors is just as important in the middles of the day.
There is the demand that the instructor be more animated & not just droneing on.
Hi Sriram,
This is a tough one when teaching online. We are still working on developing strategies in this area. One thing that I do with my online students is to have them read and respond to content for a period of time and then as a part of their assignment I have them do activity based projects. These can include a doing a job shadow, interviewing a professional in the field, or some other movement based effort that relates directly back to the content.
Gary
Hi Sriram,
Good approach in making it real for the students. By using the review approach and then applying the content to their personal/professional lives they can see relevancy to what they are studying.
Gary
Gary,
I concur with this observation. Just like our module discussed about instructional style, students have learning styles. Some are tactile, some are visual, and others are auditory. In an online instruction, instructors can relate to the visual and auditory learners with power point slides and audio recordings. But, how would an instructor best relate to the tactile learner in an online enviornment. I am wondering if you could share your insights.
Thanks.
Sriram Rajagopalan, PhD, PMP
I complete resonate with these observations. Today's student community is made up of working population balancing work, family, and education. So, naturally, when they take classes when their energy or motivation level is down, it is fair to expect the same.
But, as instructors, we do have the obligation to the learning objectives. So, what are some of the techniques that people have used?
My technique is to spend the first 15 minutes of the class time having them summarize their previous class experience and relate to one event in their personal or professional life relating to the earlier discussions?
Please share any other techniques that you have tried.
Thanks.
Sriram Rajagopalan, PhD, PMP
Hi Henry,
This is good advice for instructors that teach at night. Since I am one of them I appreciated your comments about needing to adapt your instructional delivery to the mood of the class. I teach from 4 until 10 pm and each time we meet as a class it is different depending on what has happened through out the day. The key point is that you accomplished what you wanted even when you had to make modifications to meet the learning needs of the students.
Gary
My experience teaching students at night is to try and adapt to the students each night, since each night can be different. I may need to adjust my instruction one evening because some students had a hard day and do not seem to be getting the material, other days we may move quickly through the material. I have found that being flexible each night and willing to adjust my instruction based upon the mood of the class is very helpful and somehow i have always gotten though all the material at the end of he course, maybe not on my time line but on a time line that benefited the students
Hi Mark,
Good point about the ebb and flow of the class and how students are receiving information. This is why instructors need to be constantly "reading" their students so they can act on their needs.
Gary
What I try to keep in mind is that within each class there are different levels of learning skills that the students bring with them. Some are more visual, some more text oriented and thus the teaching techniques vary not only from time of day but within each hour.
I have a similar problem where my night class moves much quicker then the morning class. We are a very hands on school so if there is more time available in one class or another I also let students try to help each other with the extra time.
I have the same problem. I have night classes and daytime classes. Usually, students at night time classes are tired since they worked a whole day already. Even in the same class, students have different levels. Sometimes, I let students help each other in class. That helped.
When first planning your course objectives and assessments I feel preparing for the different levels of students can be challenging. It is impossible to prepare oneself for every problem that may arise. The ability to adapt and make changes is an essential skill.
