The Lecturer Vs. The Engager
I can't help but notice that the great majority of my past professors were skilled at presenting lectures but lacked the essence of what I believe makes a professor/instructor really stand out: ENGAGEMENT.
I can count on one hand the top professors that I have had throughout my college career that have mastered this skill. They are the instructors that make you excited about coming to class. They get your wheels turning upstairs, and you leave simply blown away by how much can be taught in one hour!
As for the others…resorting to expensive coffee with extra shots of espresso and plenty of doodling scratch paper are mandatory to make it through. Going through the same bland PowerPoint lecture class after class (that could have been printed out and studied outside of the classroom) is mindless.
Variety, passion, excellence, drive, enthusiasm, these are just some of the words that come to mind when I think of the very few professors that stood out as master-classes in instruction.
Rebecca,
Get students involved in the application and interaction phase of a class is a challenge. Through the use of activities like learning groups, role playing and case studies students will become involved in discussions and enjoy learning from each other.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
It is easy to stand up and talk; not so easy, sometimes to get students to participate in discussions.
Lori,
Two things I like to see when I am in a class is instructor passion and enthusiasm. Passion for one's field shows dedication and pride in the field as you have indicated in your love of nursing and enthusiasm for being able to share your knowledge with your students. With these two elements in the classroom and lab you have a win win for everyone.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I also like those words....I hope that my own excitement and love of nursing will be a motivating factor for my students. I truly love to teach and learn. I hope that it will be contagious for them as well. The nursing career offers so many different opportunities to help patients and families....it is truly an honor to be that person that is allowed to help those in need.
I like the words Sarah used: passion, execellence, drive and enthusiasm. Enagaging in a relationship of learning, requires all of the attributes from the instructor. These attributes are absoluteky necessary to build the trust of involvement, involution or particiaption from the students. Displaying these attributes "naturally" reinforce and legitimizes the trust that you are 100% investing in them and their future.
Cynthia,
You have a good start on developing your expertise as an instructor. Knowing the models that you are striving to emulate is a great foundation for your professional development. I hope you are experiencing a wonderful time teaching and are developing ways that you are going to expand your instructional effectiveness even more the next time you teach.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Sarah,
Thank you for the comments about the key word for all instructors to remember, engagement. You are right on with your remarks because with student centered teaching instructors will strive to select instructional strategies that will get students thinking about and delving into the content being shared. They will bring relevance and application to what they are teaching with passion and enthusiasm. This is a goal all of us educators should strive for and work toward.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I have to agree with you. When I look back on my college career (both grad and undergrad), the professors I learned the most from were the engaging ones. I've had several professors who were absolutely brilliant in their subject matter, but rather than engaging the class, literally sat behind a desk and recited facts and figures from the textbook -- forget a PowerPoint!
I just recently started my first adjunct position and in order to calm my nerves, I reached back and thought of the professors that I learned the most from and, sure enough, it was the engaging ones. So I try my best to base my lectures on those models. I continuously ask questions to get my students thinking about the concepts we are discussing and have even brought in some "real-world" examples from my daily job and asked them to apply the text book concepts to the experience.
I would much rather engage my students and have them think something through, than have them simply memorize slides from a PowerPoint and spit back the information to me. That to me is a waste of an education.
