Some ways to make lecutres effective for students is to make sure the material is relevant and up to date, use good examples, and limit the lecture to 15 minutes.
Ways in which I engage my students is by incorporating things such as lecture, demonstrations, videos, computers and hands on in all my lectures. I find that this keeps the students from getting bored and address all the learning styles.
Kristina,
I have thank you for your honesty. My concerns are very similar to yours, fear of forgetting information, which leads to the lack of confidence in the room. I like your suggestion of opening up and being yourself. Sometimes I feel that I have to be in complete control and ridged and forget to relax and have fun.
Thanks for your post.
Bonnie
Preparing:
I use an outline. My outlines when I first started teaching were very detailed. I tried to think about anything and everything that might happen. The more I taught the less detailed they became. I got to know the students and this would dictate how much prep I needed. With my out line I attached notes and concepts that I might have trouble remembering. By doing this I was able to keep myself on track and field questions as they came.
I'm very comfortable in front of the class and have been since day one of my student teaching. Nerves were never an issue. It was content and my remembering what and how I wanted to say things. I lacked confidence and did not trust myself (my memory). So outlines and lesson plans is how I prepared. I try not to highlight in the book because then I have to teach from the book and it makes you look like you are not prepared or don't know you subject (boring).
I found being my goofy self and using silly movements or phrases got my point across and held attention. Walking around the classroom and making sure even the quiet students couldn't get away from not participating made the classroom more interesting. Doing silly labs (candy cell lab)on a college level worked well becasue everyone needs a break to have a little fun(if your learning and eating candy why not).
I take a personal interest in all my students and I make sure they know that. This helps becasue on the boring days (topic is bad)they tend to tolerate better.
Many students are visual learners so the use of (power points)can be very beneficial as well as giving out a lot of hand outs!
Tell jokes. It forces them to listen. Use puns. More listening. Always (almost always) look for the possible humour. It's not something they expect, and that's a good thing. Smiles are antidotes to laziness and slumping in chairs.
Theresa,
I agree that mobility is a strong method for improving for class room facilitation. I teach both on ground and online.
Does any have any ideas how to improve the facilitation in the on line environment? It seems that in an online environment where your voice tone and voice reflections become a critical element for the knowledge exchange.
You must vocalize your words for the student to feel what is being said. It seem that online is a two dimensional environment. Online, walking around is a mute point. Does anyone have any advise to enhance online presentations?
The instructor must be well prepared long before the start of class. There is no substitution for the lack of preparation.
If the instructor has no experience in the subject, he/she should volunteer in the industry to gain valuable insight. Become current to new industry trends. A student can detect the knowledge and skill level of the instructor. I teach in services classes at my job, although I have a wealth of knowledge and have been out of the field for a year and a half, the students can detect that I have been absent from the field.
No matter the knowledge, skills and experience, the instructor must read and update their knowledge base. Attend self improvement classes. Learn how to properly delivery a verbal presentation; find a toastmasters meeting to attend this will help in your verbal presentations.
When you speak well, you will capture and perhaps captivate the audience. Prepare your presentations and review them before class. Know your presentation resources and be able site them during class. Practice speaking the student names. Learn the difficult names and memorize what name applies to whom. Be friendly but not a friend. Do not focus on a student because of looks. Use effective eye contact.
Walter Clement
I lecture, but also write my lecture notes out on the white board as I go so students can listen and/or read and write what is covered. I also interupt my lectures frequently with critical thinking questions about the topics covered.
I think the key is knowing the course content. I prepare ahead so that my lecture runs smoothly. Because I am teaching on line, my students do not see me, they only hear me. They are in their own environment which may have its own distractions. Therefore, I need to keep their attention. Pauses in lectures delivered this way are more distracting than they might be if the lecturer is in front of the class.
Some of the ways to make lectures effective for students include providing an overview of the topics of discussion for the lecture, including visuals, asking questions, placing activities at 10 – 15 minute intervals throughout, and assuring that the lecture stays on track. Checking on students by asking questions is a primary focus when teaching online as you cannot physically see their reactions or responses.
Phyllis
This is a great idea. It involves the students so much more than just listening to the instructor (no matter how great of a speaker the instructor may be!) It also helps students identify what their area of expertise and interest are and provides them with an opportunity to dig deeper and learn more so they are able to talk about it!
Hi John,
Good strategy for laying out how you are going to approach the classroom and the sharing of your course content. You have a great grasp of what you want to do in the classroom and this is going to help you to be an effective instructional delivery expert.
Gary
While I'm new at this, my intent is to draw on my field experience to relate stories of problem solving or time saving that are based on a fundamental understanding of the systems that they will be diagnosing and repairing.
Step by step flow charts or trouble trees are great tools when they are required, but being able to cut through some of the clutter based on clear understanding is what I would hope for my students to aspire to.
Some problems simply don't have a text book solution and those that can solve those types of problems will be the ones that move ahead in their careers at an accellerated pace.
Attempting to tie in how lecture material is delivered in way that the students can clearly tell is related to your desire for their success should keep them engaged.
I think by having interactive lectures and engaging the students make it an effective method
Hi Dana,
Good strategies for getting the students to think and become engaged in the course. Thanks for sharing these ideas with us.
Gary
I teach an Ethics course and give Power Point lectures for each chapter. These Power Point presentations cover the major theories addressed in each chapter. At the end of each chapter, I also do a case studies presentation. These case studies present an ethical dilemma, which vary from important issues to mundane, everyday issues (e.g., "You ask your friend, Sam, if he'd like to go for pizza. Sam says he would, but he doesn't have any money."). First I ask students for their own response (i.e., "What would you do in this situation? Why?"). Then I ask them how a person adopting the ethical theory from the chapter just covered would respond (e.g., "How would a reciprocal altruist respond to this issue? Why?", or "How would an egoist respond to this issue? Why?"). This really gets students thinking about the ethical theories covered and prepares them for the group exercises, which further foster their learning.
I like this idea. I will use it in a business communication course I am teaching,
vary your delivery methods to keep students interested and focused.
Find ways to make the lecture interactive with the students, like Question/Answer, or asking them to give their personal critique on some of the work you're presenting to them.
