Hi Frances,
Good point about needing to help adult learners integrate technology and new applications into their learning methods. This helps them to bridge the gap between when they were in school and now.
Gary
When I am teaching my scrub techs, I implement real world surgery scenarios so that I can pressure them here so that they will understand what it will be like in the real world when there actually is somebody laying underneath the drapes.
It can be difficult to accommodate for the adult learner, but to carefully make instructions as to things which may be new to them such as media, Internet, and Web learning.
Thanks Gary for the feed back. Student now days are so in-tune to what is real and relevant or not. If they feel as though the information is not valuable then they will tune out. Thanks for the MaxKnowlede course, it's been a pleasure. James
Hi James,
Great story about how you were able to use your training and skills to provide a service and comfort to a client. Then you connected what the students are studying to an outcome-money. This connection really helps the students to see application and relevancy to what they are learning.
Gary
To keep the course content relevant, I relay my current real world experience to my students including how I reached my goals and invite them to write down there goals. We then discuss the steps needed to reach them.
As a teacher of massage therapy, I was able to tell my student that just yesterday I performed a house call and massaged a client. I really enjoyed reliving their pain and discomfort. Following the massage they paid me $x including tips. I then said this will be you soon. This inspired many specific questions from my students regarding steps they need to do.
Teaching in a culinary school really gives me the opportunity to implemet relevant course contents by demonstrations. Showing the student how this would correlate in the real world, and not just describing the exact way to do something in text they are providedis 90% of how I teach.
I've had to learn this over time..I try to make it slower but not to slow and give more time for questions.
I find that understanding a students background and using that as a foundation to build my course material upon really makes for a more interactive and involved learning experience.
I will accommodate different learning preferences by starting out the lecture and walking around the room to see who needs extra help. I will help those that need extra help. I am also available after school two times a week.
Hi Stephan,
Good way to introduce variety to the learning preferences of your students. This way they will remain engaged because of the change of pace and variety of media being used to deliver content.
Gary
I personally try to use a variety to teaching methods. ie power point , lecture, reading assignments, field trips.
During the first day of class I like to discuss the learning preferences and for the most part my students learn by demonstration. I like to go over the lecture in segments and between the segments we apply what we learned.
Depending on what field of study the students were in. In my clinical rotation class for nursing students, I find them very eager to learn at bed side with patient after giving them mini lecfures of what needs to be learn in actual patient care at the bed side. After which, I give them post conference to better assimilate what has been learned in both mini lecture and actual patient care. To evaluate if the learning proccess was effective, a structured quiz that is patterned and similar to their upcoming board will be given the next day. This will add icing in the cake, as they will learn more after we discussed their mistakes in their short quiz.
In my class prep I always make sure I use some power point presentation, lecture, and require note takeing. I use video and writing assignments.
This is sometimes challenging, especially if you have many students. I try to change my teaching format to accomodate other learning preferences every few class periods.
For one class, I may use Powerpoint presentations, another class we will read through the text together and answer questions. Another class, I will focus on class discussions. I try to promote variety in addition to the lecture format.
As a new instructor, I realize that a huge part of my own learning curve in the classroom will be trial and error regarding what teaching methods will work the best for each individual class. I am really interested to try some of these ideas, and work to see what helps the students in my classes retain the most information. Thank you everyone for posting your wonderful ideas and experiences.
I begin by making sure all students understand the objectives for the day, and how we plan to accomplish them. For example, the objective of the day may be to learn how to create a patient record for a course named "Medical Records". After discussing what a patient records is, we discuss how this is important in the field. We would then move forward with the actual recording of a patient record through role playing in a lab setting.
Hi Marie,
I have my Jeopardy game on my computer so I can load in the questions and then project them. This way the class can see them and my teams ring in with the answers. Students like the graphics plus they enjoy playing the games. You are right about the need to adapt your instructional delivery to meet the needs of your students. Thanks for sharing your strategies with us.
Gary
Hi Marie,
Good comments about the value of understanding differences between and among learners. By planning for these differences you are going to be more effective in your instructional approach and your students are going to be more engaged and focused. A win win for everyone.
Thanks for sharing these thoughts with us.
Gary
