I find that 15 minutes is too long, especially with the long classes at night and over meal time. It only works well when I engage the students in the lecture process. Engagement, and definitely varying the voice: speed, volume and expression, makes a world of difference in those mini lectures!
I like the idea of 10-15 min mini lectures, esp when I am teaching long night classes.
The main reasons for offering a varied instructional delivery are: 1. It reaches the students with different learning styles and 2. it keeps the attention of the students by varying up the activities, increasing the learner's outcomes and promoting a positive classroom environment
Varied Instructional delivery is needed because not every student learns the same. Some students are visual learners and require an image to associate with the material and help them learn. Others are auditory learners who learn best from spoken instructions. Some learn through demonstation and actually doing a task. And others learn by writing. Therefore, it is clear that more than one delivery method is needed. In fact, the most effective instructional method is one that combines several delivery methods in an effort to reach as many students as possible.
One of the primary reasons to offer a variety of instructional delivery methods in classes is to insure that all learning styles have been addressed in course delivery.
I have a learning disability and I can relate to my students; especially the ones who seem to have a hard time understanding. I always go through other ways of teaching ie: hands on; sometime I read to them, whatever it takes. I am a big fan of using different learning tools.
Hi Rich,
Appreciate the kind words. I know you are going to be even more effective with the instructional flow of shorter lectures and then hands on activities and exercises.
Gary
Previously, I was performing one long lecture and then having the students perform one long exercise. This class has convinced me to break up the routine and offer lectures and exercises in smaller chunks. Thanks!
It's integral to use a variety of methods for teaching because people have different learning styles. Some learn easier from seeing, others from reading, and some from doing. However, what is even more important is to encourage learning where the students can put knowledge into practice.
Having in class a wide variety of students is important to incorparate different learning strategies and styles. Using videos, power point presentations, sharing personal experiences help me to delivery the content of my lecture with diversity and keep the students focused.
Well, sometimes the course material leans toward a certain method of delivery or other times I poll the students to see what types of delivery they are most interested in. I always use powerpoints while I lecture, so that I have something for visual, written word and auditory learners. I often try to incorporate movies, videos and music into my classes as well. Whenever I can, I include at least one in class exercise that is interactive, where the material is delivered in the format of a game.
Hi Tracesea,
Good point about the need for variety in instructional delivery. What are some strategies that you use to decide which delivery methods you are going to use with different curriculum areas?
Thanks.
Gary
When you vary your delivery methods it can help keep students engaged and interested in the topic. No one likes to sit for an hour and just listen to someone else talk. When variety is introduced it increases the chances that students will retain the information. Also, when you deliver content in different ways you can accommodate different learning styles. If you can go over a concept or idea in several different manners then you have a better chance of getting across to more students. The students also have a better chance of understanding the material when it is presented in different fashions.
Hi David,
Good point about different learning preferences of students. This is what to me makes teaching so much fun. Instructors get to be creative in their instructional planning and delivery so they can tap into the different learning preferences which keeps our job from becoming boring.
Gary
Students learn in vastly different manners so having the ability to vary your style of teaching is extremely important. One student can learn better for lecturing where another would learn better from hands on tactical learning.
Hi Ellen,
This is a great and ongoing challenge we educators face. This is why we need to integrate as much variety of delivery into our classes as we can while still delivering the essential content. Tough job but one that is exciting because it lets us be creative.
Gary
As instructors, we are fighting an up-hill battle keeping students engaged and entertained in the classroom in the era of video games. People in general are exposed to so much more sophisticated games and TV shows, it is difficult to make a lecture hold the attention to even the minimum of 15 minutes anymore. By adding variety to the method of course delievery, this may engage the students to pay attention a few extra minutes.
Variety in instructional delivery not only allows you to reach all of your students, it also helps to challenge students to try learning in different ways. This may teach them that while reading is good for some studying perhaps tactile activities are more suited to other areas of their course. It also helps to keep students engaged instead of just sitting passively in the classroom.
To address different learning styles, it's important instructors vary their training methods.
Auditory, visual, kinesthetic methods should all be considered.
This is important because students have different learning styles. By having different delivery methods, you will be able to reach all of the students in your class.
