G,
Not exactly sure what you mean by technical competence but based upon my understanding I would suggest you show the use of technical competence in practical ways. The more relevance and application you can show the greater the buy in will be by students.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Daniel,
Been there as well. The teach out was a very difficult situation to say the least for the reasons you mentioned. The good thing that came out of the situation was that my students and I really gelled together since all of us knew we were out the door at the end of the course so we formed our own support group.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Debra,
Good approach. I am sure you have had enough experiences in your nursing career to this point to be able to give an example or share a story for each and every part of your course. This helps to make the course real for the students as well as focuses them on what they are training to become.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
By remaining open to new ideas and methods of instruction, one can enhance the entire classroom experience. Choosing those methods that are the most relevant to your students will attract their interests the most.
Arrive to class 15 minutes early, every time. Often times I am the Instructor who walks in the door at 3 minutes 'til and am unpacking while starting the class. I always felt my technical competence and other professional strengths would counter this lapse of professionalism. Now I see, it may be one of the single biggest facotrs affecting students percepetions.
Does anyone have any suggestions I can employ,
in better relating to the students the importance of technical competence?
Utilize video feeds from around the world to give students exposure to musicians from different cultures. This can be accomplished through scheduling and skype video cam calls. Also broadcast classroom activities to livestream or ustream so students have a sense of performance exposure.
This was a continuous problem that we all had to deal with. The biggest problem was keeping the students (and myself) motivated once it was announced they were eliminating the degree program.
I have been a nurse for about 27 years and use examples from real life situations in my classroom. It also help me to set the stage for discussions when I can present actual facts
Sharing information that they can relate to is always helpfull
I like to engage my students in activities by teaching to all 3 learning styles. Each student can have a different learning style, so I try to assess this at the beginning of the first class, then teach to each learning style. I think this will reach each student indivudually and make for a better learning environment.
Daniel,
Tough situation to teach in. I commend you for your creativity because you kept the interests and needs of students foremost in your mind as you worked around the lack of instructional media support.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Research. Always know the subject matter in and out to be able to answer any questions thoroughly. Practice your lecture as well. Students will be more comfortable with you as a teacher if they know that they can count on you for accurate/precise information.
I try to keep a journal of each day so I have some reference material to go back to and say "well, that didnt work so well, or hey that was awesome lets try it next time!" Kinda keeps me on my toes
Absolutely! I guess we have to remember that many of our students have not been in school for years, and many have only attended high school. As a result we have to put this into consideration. We as instructors have to be creative in our method of delivery.
Marie, when I was at Everest Institute, I experienced the same thing. Our overhead projectors would often be broken and I would have to abandon my power point presentations and just use the white board. Then they were talking about going over to a smart board. That was a laugh as they could even keep the overheads working, how were they going to maintain smart boards. That gave me an idea to do a poor man's version of the smart board. I would use the white board as the screen, where I turned the passive power point (not a big fan of power point up till then) into the backdrop and drew on the slide to show a point in discussion. This worked well for algebra, physics, chemistry and pharmacology. The big problem then was having markers that worked, an eraser that didn't trash the "screen" and a working overhead.
Marie,
Tough situation to teach in. I admire your ability to overcome adversity and make sure you have within your control the resources you need to be successful in your classroom. Your students I know appreciate your dedication to helping them learn in the best supported way possible.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I too have found this works very well. I taught algebra and the students were terrified to go to the board. I turned it into a sporting event where the students could select their help and then they could "elect" the next student to the board. It was fun and they learned by seeing, doing and then teaching.
Sanford-Brown Institute is lacking when it comes to technology. there is no consistency from classroom to classroom re: DVD drive on computers, functioning projector, fast internet connection and network connection. This has caused me to look unprepared and unorganized when teaching with multi-media. I have learned to not assume that anything that was present and working in one classroom will be in another classroom and to always have a backup plan and my own needed supplies like my own laptop, storage, staplers, speakers, white-board markers, etc.
In my field of fashion, I teach fashion design, so, most of my classes are in a sewing studio. I found that practicing/preparing a demo several times before demonstration to the students, helps me to: look and feel more confident about what I am instructing, it gives me more room to make additional comments, side notes, or even share with students past experiences with customers, or my previous boss, or creating a collection of garments.
It also gives students the confidence that they are learning from someone that knows/has real industry experience.
Another key comment I always make to my students is that "there is no such thing as a stupid questions". This actually makes them ask questions no matter how silly it might sound, but I let them know that I'm there to help.
Scott,
The more connection you can create between the course content, in this case accounting and their lives the greater the engagement will be. If you can come up with case studies or exercises that do this you will be able to help the students see value and application of what they are being taught. A competitive game or activity will help as well, anything to get beyond their negative thinking that "I am here only because I have to be.?.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
