Hi Oriole,
Something that might work in your setting that I have used is a structured outline over the text content. I assign a chapter or portion of a chapter for the next class. I give the students a structured outline that I want them to complete before the next class meeting. I give the professional points for completing the outline. What the structured outline is a list of the key points that I want the students to pick up on. Under each key point are some questions or sentences with blanks for words. The students go into the chapter find the high point and then abstract out the needed information contained in that main point section. This format helps them to get through the material quicker, forces them to concentrate on select points and by writing down the information increases their retention of the information. This greatly reduces reading time but greatly increases their content knowledge. The professional points give them a reason for completing the work.
Any questions on this let me know.
Gary
I agree Stan. I have found the strangest things work. I remember taking a course on sociology for my undergrad. My instructor had a section that required her to do a fair amount of lecture. She had us take notes, then switch seats and leave our notepads on the desk. Then you had to continue taking notes in someone elses notepad. We did this three or four times through the lecture. Then at the end, we had to review the notes and add/correct what we remembered from the lecture. It was a really interesting way to handle the information and I had great recall.
I try to make sure that I represent the information in many ways. I present the information in each of the four learning styles and then piece what I can together to create a presentation, keeping time in mind. I believe that repetition is crucial to information retention. So I can present the same ideas in different ways over the length of the course.
Accurately assessing my students' developmental state directed my planning and impel my teaching.I get the student involved in identifying his/her learning needs and outcomes. I also help them to develop attainable objectives.
Brandy
Hi Felipe,
You are providing a valuable resource by helping your students to identify their own learning preferences. Many students know what their preferences are they just don't know what to do with the information. For example, they know they like to listen to people explain things about how to perform a procedure but they don't know that by being aware of this preference they can increase their retention of the content as well as be able to use that information at a later date. By pointing this out to your students you are helping them to build a learning foundation.
Gary
Hi John,
I teach a six hour class from 4 until 10pm. I really enjoy the class now that I have taught it enough to where I know how to pace the lectures, class activities and learning strategies. The key is variety and pace. By keeping the students moving about with activities and projects the evening goes very quickly but I am exhausted at the end of the class because of the energy expended keeping everything moving.
Gary
Hi John,
I like this approach as well. I use case studies often and get really good results from all of my students. They really like to work in small groups on projects like these.
Gary
The most important part of changing your teaching style is being able to recognize the learning styles of the students and also getting them to recognize their own learning style. If you can get a students attention and keep it focused, you can achieve great success in relatively short time frames.
I always try to teach students how to figure out their own learning style and use it to help them get the most out of every learning situation.
I like to highlight key points on the board, then mention them in my slides, followed by offering real world examples and asking the class to share some experiences too. Sometimes a short video snippet will work too and students love them too!!
I look for ways to incorporate many different approaches to include lectures, in class discussion, and small group case studies when possible. The students like the variety and it helps multiple learning styles to achieve their goals too.
I try to make sure that each activity we do is invovled with as many of the senses as possible. For example, if the students can be listening for certain key words and filling in a lecture activity at the same time, or interactivly labeling a picture as we cover it in class. In anatomy and physiology, I make sure the students can touch the muscles and bones on their own bodies as we dicusss each one, as well as having a picture to look at and labeling as we go.
I have a 4 hour night class that drives me nuts trying to keep students and myself focused. This is my third such class and I considering not teaching anymore 4 hour classes it just seems to long.
I teach business and my classes ussually touch on economic issues, also. It is very commom and logical for these discussions to turn political. I have found by keeping students focused on course topics only enhences class participation. The trick is to keep things on topic and based in pertenent issues. If things do not get to heated great discussions can result.
I teach business classes and I have done well with problem solving based scenerios. I find current business issues through articles and groups assess the issue and find benchmarking ideas from other companies that have or are facing similar issues.
Hi Lorri,
Your class sounds like a lot of fun with all of the different activities that you are using with your students. If they aren't engaged in the learning process with all that is available to them then it is their own fault. Great job.
Gary
I spend hours browing the internet to find appropriate material or video streams. I teach nursing (medical-surgical, fundamentals, psychiatric and community health) and have found a plethera of testimonials, professional societies which have educational materials including videostreams. I will usually lecture for about 15 to 20 minutes then have the students connect to the site while I connect it on the screen for them also to watch. (the students are allowed to use their laptops during lecture at one of the universities I teach at.)
I also have used case studies with groups of students around white boards responding to the scenarios. Then each group presents to the rest of the class their case studies, the questions presented and their groups solutions to each scenario. Their classmates enjoyed learning from their peers.
I discovered these activities and noticed a substantial difference in how my students engaged and interacted with me during the lecture period. The younger adult learners enjoy the variety, while the older adult learners enjoy the traditional lecture.
Hi Lorri,
This is a good way to check for learning plus change the flow of the class. The students get to do recall while storing information in their long term memory. This will really help them when they need to retrieve that information.
Gary
Hi Bert,
Great way to keep it "real" for the students. Your field like many others is changing at a very rapid pace considering our concern about safety and security in our lives. I know each day you have some very interesting examples to share with your students. I am sure you have a very interesting perspective on the couple that crashed the state dinner at the White House. This has to raise some interesting discussions about the Secret Service and how they operate.
Gary
