By being prepared for class, practicing demonstrations beforehand, and utilizing different learning style strategies.
You can make your lectures more effective by breaking your lecture down into small parts. Change up the instructional presentations with hands-on activities, work sheets, video's etc that support the lecture and keep the students interested.
I think you can make your lectures more effective for your students by getting to know your students and their needs, and what helps them to obtain as much information as possible.
Hi Roger,
Good way to keep the students engaged and focused on acquiring the content. Students as you know like variety in the instructional process.
Gary
One wat to make my lectures more effective for students is to bring realative personal and clinical exerience into the classroom. Student's seem to always enjoy those stories and I refer to them as a brain vacation, and students seem to almost always recall the story details.
I prepare an outline, sometimes a PowerPoint to use for my lectures. I like to walk around the room, and often I will use the student's names in examples. If I am reading from the textbook, I will only read a line or two, the rest is in my own words. I find that moving around and changing your tone of voice helps keep the student's interest.
More student participation. Providing added handouts of current events related to subject matter. Extra team and group actives.
Provide notes/handouts/demonstrate hands-on activities/provide time for question/answer/ensure understanding through doing/observation.
Hi Rick,
Yes, it is a challenge to get and hold their attention but that is one of the fun parts of teaching. It becomes a game to see what will capture their focus and then build on it.
Gary
Because of the generation that we are teaching most of them are are on facebook or twitter and much of their time is there. So getting the students involve will require us to get and keep their attention so using or incorporating this in the class will help make this more effective in the learning environment.
I use a variety of delivery methods including power point, brief lecture, the white board, group work to answer the review questions, a study guide handout to follow. I had an early morning class that would fall asleep during the power point part of the class so I stopped presenting them and had the students find the information for the study guide in groups and then present the information to the rest of the class. Knowing when something isn't working and adjusting to the individual needs of the class is very important.
Continue to vary delivery and combine methods to reach a broader base of student learning styles.
I agree preparation is key.
I like the idea of coming up with more options available for delivery options. Problem-based, case-study, and demonstrations that I feel could be incorporated more when I lecture. It does depend upon the topic being covered as well.
Hi Sheila,
It is a good strategy as evidenced by your comments. I use it a lot and have great success with it. It gets all the students involved and they enjoy their time of being the "expert".
Gary
I agree with this technique as well. I also find that students are good teachers. While a student may feel a bit intimidated by an instructor, and not understand the materials as presented, this same information can be conveyed by a classmate and the student gets a better understanding. We call this "student helping student."
I like to employ student involvement in my lectures. They are usually pleasantly surprised at what they actually retain from their study time at home. My students also enjoy real-life situations. By giving them examples of my expieriences in the field, I paint a realistic picture of what can be expected once they are gainfully employed.
Hi Charles,
Good balance to your instructional approach. You are appealing to different learning preferences with this approach. You have a high level of student engagement and this is what helps with learning efficiency.
Gary
I vary my presentations. Being both a kinetic learner and instructor, I have to move around, at the American Red Cross where I am an instructor trainer, I tell the students that a moving target is harder to hit. Plus, if the students are use to the instructor moving around the classroom, if a skill needs to be corrected it can be done discretely. If the instructor is frozen behind the podium and suddenly dashes accross the room to correct a skill check, it startles everyone in the room. Some days I will play a DVD or video; when I teach about the nervous system I teach the class how to juggle a basic three-ball-cascade explaining, "that is the same frustration a stroke patient feels when they are relearning how to do an activity of daily living (ADL)". Usually, one class during the semester or term I set aside time to let them present their research topics.
I have tried this and it works well.
Hi Crystal,
Good plan and I am sure it will work well for you. You are using a variety of activities in different settings to give your students a chance to use their learning preferences.
Gary
