I agree that adding personal experiences gives students a way to relate to the material being presented. It's especially good if you can get a student to relate an experience of their own.
Hi Ibrahim,
Good point. You are right on with your comments concerning how to approach the classroom and keep students engaged.
Gary
I am going to make a metering device. I have the pieces and will give them to a group of students. I want to see their reasoning skills as well as mechanical skills. When complete we will be able to meter a finite amount of water through a valve. I think this is an excellent way to show how something that you can't see works.
One thing we know for certain. A teacher standing at the head of the room, talking in front of a whiteboard to a class of students, is not going to keep students engaged in the classroom.
1: Always use a multisensory teaching approach
2: Consider educational resources designed for and by teachers
3: Create technology classroom lesson plans.
4: Focus on cooperative learning classroom activities
5: Understand the role of classroom management
Engaging the students in an interactive session, changing up the tone of delivery, not being stationary during a lecture are some of the strategies I have used effectively in the past.
Once I start a specific section within a Chapter, I always ask their opinion of it or try to fuel a discussion. Especially because this course pertains to legal and ethical implications I always try to get their opinions first and foremost and also give them experiences to show examples of how it would possibly come up as a topic of discussion inside the classroom, outside and in the workplace. I also try and do games with them to be fun and less mundane as just regular spoken lecture.
I like to call on my students and make them part of the lecture, so it is more like a conversation we are having and not a lecture that they have to passively sit through.
Hi Michael,
Good point about voice levels and variety of delivery. Key ingredients for keeping the students engaged.
Gary
Hi Jennifer,
Good point. Students like instructional variety but they need to see order and sequence to the variety. Your suggested 1-3 strategies is a good guide.
Gary
Use various ways of presentation as well as altering the pattern of speech.
I have found that if you mix to many things in one class it also can become overwhelming. 1-3 strategies seems to work best. Transition is also important
I change up my instructional methods during the class period. Instead of teaching one way, I teach different ways to keep the students' attention. It also keeps them from getting bored and it enables me to address all the different learning styles in the class.
I use mini lectures, games such as hangman or crossword puzzles. Working on cases in a group.
The key to keeping students engaged is to provide multiple ways to present the information. For example, using interactive lectures and case studies will force students to participate in learning.
I strongly believe that student should attend field trips in there field of student because this will give them more insight on their chosen field
Sandra I agree with what you do in the classroom. I bring in my life experiences along with the demos. This helps the students know that you are human too and that you have been where they are at at one point in your life. This makes them feel that they can make mistakes but can also learn from them.
I try to do some role playing for that real life experience, i do some mock drills, i have guest speakers, and field trips. I try to find things in current events that go along with our career field.
Hi Amanda,
Good point about student engagement. You need to get them to invest in the course because they realize their success will contribute to their future. Once they get a hold of this concept they will put forth the effort required to meet the course expectations.
Gary
If one is to keep students engaged, students have to have a say in the process and have an opportunity to practice their skills in the classroom. The teacher should not be doing every activity and the students watching- there should be chances for students to give their opinion and show what they have learned. I 100% agree that students should only listen to a lecture no more than 20 minutes long and then do some sort of activity to develop their skills. In the classroom, this could mean listening to a lecture or watching a video and then answering questions or doing some sort of lab.
As I do more clinical hands on class, I keep the lectures short and the hands on for majority of the class. I instruct them on the procedure then let them practice in groups and walk around answering questions. Then I bring them back to a large group answer the questions that arouse for the entire class. with 10 min breaks somewhere in the middle.
