I teach writing and public speaking courses. In order to show students the relevance of the material, I bring in outside sources discussing communication skills in the work environment and hold classroom brainstorming sessions on applicability periodically throughout my courses. I also use assignments where students practice the kinds of writing and speaking they will need in their careers.
Writing is a difficult subject because there isn't really a chance for bringing tools or watching videos, so I do as much writing in class, both personal and career-oriented, as I can. I use lecture, slides, group writing assignments, and class discussions whenever possible. In the public speaking courses, I have more opportunity to use audio and video. I always have discussions after where students are asked to apply lecture concepts to the material. I'm always looking for more hands-on activities!
Thanks for the idea, Lisa! I'm sure guided reading not only results in more active class participation, but in supporting student study skills and learning.
I teatch anatomy and physiology for medical assistants. So any chance I get we bring in the instruments they will use in a job setting. We check blood pressures, listen to heart beats and discuss what we are hearing.
Hi Robert,
Way to go in changing up the instructional delivery process. I know this keeps the interest of your students. They soon learn to expect the unexpected.
Gary
I teach an entry level course for adult learners. In that environment I use a strategy of what I call "bending and shaping" to get and keep their attention and involvement. The curriculum is set by the university but my delivery is dependent upon the group of students. Sometimes I can give a live chat lecture via my desktop and on some of those occasions I get a huge response from the group. Other times the lecture is via a PowerPoint presentation and that can be a bit dull to some of the faster learners.
Hi Robert,
You make a key point about being an instructor. You keep trying to reach each student each time you teach this is what being a professional educator is all about.
Gary
Always be willing to adapt the content so it will reach to students in the best way possible. So many students, so many different life experiences, so many ways of learning. It's impossible to achieve them all, but it is essential to keep trying.
Hi Scott,
This is a good way to create a baseline on your students. You can quickly see where the students are in their thinking and experience with this method. From there you can build a plan of instruction that will benefit all students.
Gary
I have occasionally asked the class straight out during the first class meeting. What do you know about the topic? What do you want to know about the topic? How do you plan on learning that material? Then reveal how my plan for the course relates and accomplishes the stated specific goals and more. Then why they will find the additional information useful in the field. As with any "sales" transaction, gather information from the customer about their needs, then show how your product fits into those needs. Getting them to buy into your plan makes the rest easy.
i like to divide lecture time and lab time but it also depends on the topic
When teaching a skill, lecture is directly followed by demonstration and students promptly directed to skills lab for immediate application of content.
Bringing the hands on skills into their own everyday activities, ie. bedmaking.
I am teaching computer class, so I have to show a lot of demonstrations with lectures.
This lessons is very useful that I learned a lot of different styles of lectures.
Good to know that people only can attention 15 - 18 min.
Yes, I think when I show the longer demo, my students think it is too difficult.
Plus, handouts do not think helpful.
Hi Paul,
You did a great job in responding to this question. By doing what you are doing you are appealing to the different learning preferences (I like to use learning preferences rather than styles) because of just what you said. There are so many sets and subsets of them that it is hard to target just one. By being an engaging, dynamic instructor you can spread out the learning opportunities and appeal to their preferences.
Gary
This is hugely difficult and where something like class size comes into play. With small class sizes, institutions can potentially help students (help instructors help students) by possibly grouping them according to learning styles. Of course, institutions might not be very good themselves at "diagnosing" learning styles. (Isn't there already wide disagreement on different kinds of learning styles? For every module on learning styles I swear someone adds a new kind.) So where does that leave the instructor? Well, this instructor simply tries to make compelling, fun, interactive, lively classes where students learn a lot. I know that's begging the question a bit, but I strongly believe that people will learn in those conditions.
Each class needs different content to keep all of the students interested in that course.
Show why it is relevant with the use of guest speakers from the profession or from my professional experience
What I have done so far is reviewed the lecture portion of class to tie in lab work. I will be using demonstration as well as video's to teach so that each student can learn. The next step I would use is to write out steps for completing a task and then have the students show me the steps in completing a task. This will then add several aspects of learning into the class. The lecture portion will be essential in each part of the classroom.
What I have done so far is develop the content of the course based on the lectures. I then have taken situations that I have been in and used that as a guide to what the class will need to learn. By writing out certain patterns/steps in sequence it allows me to make sure I can teach certain points to the students.
I have also asked other within the profession for any critical situation the students should learn, so that I do not miss anything. Once I complete my guide, I will all others to examine it and make corrections.
I teach a very diverse class, students that come from different countries, speak different languages, and have had different experiences. Thus, planning for my classes is quite a challenge!
What I do in the planning stages is make sure that I use proper language, one that is simple to understand by non-English speakers; I plan PowerPoint slides to make my points come to live; design group activities for the learners to participate in; and plan for questions and discussions.
There is never a dull moment in my classes.
