Get Your Students Hired
I have a problem winnowing down the amount of support materials I hand out to my students. I find that I have so many great resources available to supplement the required texts, etc, that I can't resist sharing most or all of them with my students. I'm afraid I overload them with information, leading to a less in-depth understanding of the material, versus my intent of showing them the material from multiple different authors/perspectives. The problem is my students just don't seem to have the time, and they want me to give them "just the facts, ma'am" that they absolutely need to know in order to pass the course. I believe students need to have multiple resources to really absorb material well, but I see the point of having too much "stuff" to filter through. How do I approach this appropriately?
I liked what Dr. Meers said in his reply. I would also add mixing up the format/presentation of the support materials. I know that when I give a bunch of handouts, they tend to water themselves down overall because of the quantity of material. I don't always follow this advice but, I've found that if I can present support materials in different ways, each piece has a better chance to be noticed/absorbed. I'll email a flash presentation to all the students, or have a "fact-finding" treasure hunt/research project online, or have group discussions online, or make materials interactive in some way (Q&A, role-playing, etc.)
This isn't always easy and can take time but I agree with your idea that support materials are an important part of the learning process, especially for career college students.
Hi Mary,
There isn't a real clear answer to your question because it is hard to determine just the right balance between what is needed and what is supportive.
I would look at each section or topic of the course and then decide that you are going to share 5 additional resource materials to the students. Look through the materials and select those that provide the targeted content from your opinion. After sharing the material have your students give you feedback on how the material was of help to them. This will give you a picture of how the material is being used by the students. Then you can add or drop material as you work through the feedback given throughout the course.
Gary