Thanks Ben, excellent point, mutual eye contact, as well as other forms of body language, can really say a lot about a student's level of interest and understanding - an additional benefit is that it makes the classroom or lab much more personable.
Jay Hollowell
ED106 Facilitator
I have learned to watch the students watch me, then I can tell which ones I need to make more eye contact with. Also direct some of the questions to them.
Hi Phillip! Thanks for your comments regarding eye contact. As you referenced, an instructor who is a good observer, can usually tell when a student is "not getting it" and perhaps too afraid to ask a question...moving your visual contact around is an excellent approach.
I have often mentioned the "pulse and pace" concept where an instructor gets the pulse of a classroom by watching students' reactions, eye contact, body posture, etc. and then paces his or her presentation/lecture/demonstration accordingly. Without a doubt, eye contact is the best visual cue.
Sometimes I have gotten each student in a class to write down a question or two (without the student's name) and hand it to me. Then we have an interaction from there; it takes the pressure off of students who are intimidated by speaking up in class.
Jay Hollowell
ED106 Facilitator
I've found that if you stay focused on one person too long, not only do you make that one person uncomfortable, but you miss others expressions of misunderstanding. There will be times when a student has a look of question, and when you don't recognize it they move away from the experession by the time you see them, and you don't know that there may need to be further explanation or clarification of a topic. Many students are afraid to ask questions or feel that they don't know the right question to ask to get the information they need. Moving around with your eyes makes the whole class a part of your vision and you see the group as a whole instead of the one person that is actually getting it.
Hi Samuel and thanks for your comments; you're right, eye contact is one of the stongest communicative tools: I also observe students watching me to get a handle on their interest and comprehension levels.
Jay Hollowell
ED106
