When preparing a lecture, I try to organize the information I am about to present by making sure all the information is up to date, easy to understand and interesting (overall). By the time I am ready to present my "masterpiece," my students may not be ready to receive the information, due to distractions, such as questions they may have for me from a prior lecture, etc. This is a good opportunity to review some of the information from the previous lecture topic, and it helps to remind the students what they just learned and how it will tie into the current topic.
I totally agree with retaking a moment to review what was covered last time and then reviewing today's goal from lecture. And at the end, tell students what they should know for the next week.
Jozanna,
You have a good blend going for you. You are engaging the students with the delivery while helping them focus on the content as a result of the career experiences you are sharing with them.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Becky,
You have a good model working for you. Change of pace and instructional variety are two important ingredients for teaching success.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I feel that to make your lectures more effective for student you need to use visual as well as a practical approach. You have to add animation and humor to you lecture. It give the student a feel that you are human . Make sure you add in your experience with the field also help the student to feel that they can relate.
I try keeping students attention by frequently changing the way I deliver the information, and believe by corrolating the information, to how it will affect each of them personally or professionally, sparks their interest and inturn make it easier to learn. Lastly, incorporating students with "hands on" learning whenever possible always seems to work the best.
Angelia,
Good point about how to keep students engaged. Students like to have change of pace and variety in their instruction so the more you can offer both the more engaged they will be.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Making lectures more effective would be to cut those lectures into more than one. Lecturing and then hands on activities involving the lecture. The adult attention span is short so by lecturing for no more than 15 minutes and having student act on the lecture has been very benefical to my students. I already implement this in my classes.
Lectures that are enhanced with videos and video demonstrations have proved to be very effective for students. This provides a different method of reinforcing the information.
William,
Body language gives a lot of insight to the climate of the class. We need to read our students so we can continue what we are doing or make the needed adjustments to keep theme engaged.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Margaret,
Your last sentence says it all. Going into a class unprepared is an awful experience for everyone. It is so much easier to prepare and then go into the class and enjoy teaching. This is what makes the job rewarding.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I focus on body language and eye contact of the students. If a quick scan of the room reveals a lot of slumping shoulders or averted gazes, I pause the lecture and ask the class if everything is clear or not.
By being prepared, having the lesson plan done pryor to class, utilizing lecture, hands on and getting the class to interact. In other words not being prepared and winging it is not an option.
Yes. I'm fortunate to have a subject conducive to this end.
Sophia,
Variety and change of pace are two essential components of successful instruction. Your comments are right on concerning the need to varying the different delivery methods.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
David,
You have identified a nice flow to how you present content. You are showing your students the value of the content as well as application of it. This sets the stage for content retention and student satisfaction.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Vladimir,
I like your approach because you are showing your students the value of the content in relation to their career goals. These connections are very important for students to get throughout the learning process.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Vagif,
Do you have some examples of this you can share with us?
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Varying instructional methods gives all students the opportunity to learn in a way that is more condusive to them. Varying these methods also allows students to become more engaged.
Begin and end them with references to how the subject is relevant to the profession as a whole, following a thread that goes from the general to the specific, and back to the general.
It's also good to ask questions and encourage the students to ask questions.
Mirror the phraseology of your students. The more similar your own speech patterns are to theirs, the more effective you're likely to be.
Limit your discussion to as few new facts as possible.
