I agree with the idea of a taking an additional course or courses to expand on the instructors base knowledge. Any information gained can be utilized in the classroom or lab or in clinical settings.
Allow and encourage learner interaction in the classroom. Promotes development and use of critical thinking and problem solving skills.
Be smart and uptodate with latest research and trends in your area of study. Listen and share your experience with other learned educators
First step I believe would be to assess my strengths and weaknesses. I then would review how they would translate to my teaching. Training would be the next appropriate step. I would attend seminars and classes that I thought would help educate me in being the best instructor that I could be.
Make sure I do a checklist before each class.
Get all students involved in discussion in class.
Change my delivery style.
There are many ways to expand instructional abilities. One way is to observe other instructors and learn from them. Taking courses on new software and learn new instructional material from the publisblisher. These are all good ways to help expand your instructional abilities.
Mary,
Good point. Be like a sponge and soak up information and strategies from everyone you can.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Learn from your students and your environment. You can also gain additional abilities from other instructors who have taughts courses before you in the past. Learn from all directions, then see what works best for you and your students.
Dorothy,
I like this method myself. By observing others I can see how I can expand my own expertise in the area of instructional delivery.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I seem to learn the most just by watching other teachers, even if its clips on Youtube! Reading theories and ideas from books is helpful too, but for me learning by seeing has affected my teaching the most.
I can expand my instructional abilities by reading articles from industry magazines so that I am current in my field. I can also come to class prepared on a daily basis, making sure that I have all of the tools needed to present to students. By delivering information to reach all types of learners, I can improve my abilities. It is easy to deliver to the student that has a similar learning style, but is necessary to move outside of my comfort zone in order to reach all students to the best of my abilities.
I like to involve the students in lectures/discussions. T-E A-M:together, everyone, achieves, more. I find that students learn better and are less stressed when they are a part of the instuctional process.
Margeaux,
I use problem solving and case studies to show students the need for the content I am sharing with them and then we explore the critical concepts they need to have be successful. This way we build from the ground up and not from the top down.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I feel that expansion of one's own instructional ability can be facilitated through observation of other instructors. It's much easier to critically evaluate instructional methods when you're on the receiving end of the information (ie, was it easy for me to retain the information?) Furthermore, our perception of how we deliver information isn't always accurate, because we "hear" ourselves say what we're thinking -- that doesn't always mean that we're effectively communicating what we're thinking. Do you have suggestions for overcoming the obstacle of "top-down" processing when teaching?
Thank you Dr Meers I look forward to learning more about how to become an effective instructor and learning other stratagies.
Teach students at different levels in your program. Teach students in the theory portion of the program as well as in the clinical setting.
This was very helpful. Making sure to start on time, preparing for the course, and knowing it's ok to make mistakes.
Julia,
These little changes are so valuable in establishing rapport with students as you have probably seen. They really help students to get settled into the class.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I agree with many of the posts. I think that one must explore their strenghs and use those strengths to their greatest advantage. I think that one must also explore their weaknesses in order to gain insight into what it is that you need to work on. Part of being a good team player and instructor requires you to be a well rounded individual with many different skills.
I usually have a few students who arrive early for class. I'll ask them what they thought about something we did the day before -- did they enjoy the format? How could we make it better or more interesting?
Debra,
Thank you for the kind words about the course. I am excited for you and your students as I know you are going to continue to expand your expertise as an instructor. Keep up the good work. I wish you continued teaching success.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
