Hi Judy,
Thank you for the kind words about the module. We are all in the business of professional development and need to grow in our abilities to enhance our skills as educators.
Gary
Hi James,
One thing you might try to get them to remember all the components of a dish or the name of it is the "loci method". I use it a lot in my classes with good results. I break my students into groups of 2-3 depending on how many students I have and how many items I want the students to remember. I have the students draw a picture of the item on poster paper. I locate the pictures throughout the room in relation to the wall, ceiling, floor, corner, etc. I then review the items with the students so they are seeing a student cartoon version of the item in a specific location. We review out loud several times and then I remove some of the posters and review then a few more until they are all removed. What happens is that by this time I can point to a specific location and the students can give me the name of the object. What is happening is the creation of a mind location connection so it reinforces the name of the item in the working memory of students.
Gary
I have enjoyed this module and I am happy that our instructors have access to such great material.
This is most beneficail becasue it allows me to get information to all of my students rather than some. I use PowerPoint presetnaitons with pictures as I talk about the concepts. I also ak questions throughout the lecture to keep the students thinking. I tell them that I am looking to see their thinking skills develop. The homework questions that I have developed are application ones, through which I ask them to tell me how certain concepts apply to their individual lives.
The brain is stimulated by many things in the learning environment, tactile being preferred in most cases. As a culinary arts instructor I am blessed with inherently interesting material with tactile friendly learning objectives. There is no other profession that utilizes all five of our human senses in task performance. However, how can I improve the recall of specific information since most tasks have multiple stages before completion? It seems that most wont forget the dish but typically forget what it’s called or some of the specific ingredients that are in it, although they’d know it if the saw it again.
One of the important elements in an online learning environment is to provide a clear WIIFM (What's in it for me?) for the students with assignments and projects that have a real life application component. This is especially important in gen ed courses as the students sometimes struggle to understand the relevance of the course content or make the connection between what they are learning and how they will use it in their current or future career. Discussions, assignments and projects that meet the WIIFM factor ties the content to prior experiences or practice for future application.
I look to repetion as my way of getting the student to learn a function. One of my chefs in the past told me that if I perform this function 5oo times. I will learn it to t5he point I copuld do it blind folded
Though I am just learning about how the brain works, and find some of it confusing to begin with. I believe that my understanding of this will only benefit me and the student; eventually providing me with another useful tool in the education process.
During the first class session, students introduce themselves and describe aspects of their previous learning experiences; degrees, work history or new experience to be at the college level. This helps me to through out the semester in tying exercises back to their experience and create a safe atmosphere for experimentaion in the studio learning environment.
Hi Lee,
Yes, I do agree. The more sensory integration we can offer students the greater the retention. In art this is even more true as much of what the students do involves creative use of tactile abilities.
Gary
Hi David,
Good example of how our brains work while learning. Thanks for sharing this with us. We are only as good the input we receive and internalize. You are right this is why "our requests need to be well structured".
Gary
Since i teach Makeup Artistry, i intend to continue teaching my students through various "Hands On" drills, coupled with lecture and drawn diagrams. I feel this will give the students both a concrete and abstract experience to learn the art form taught.
Teaching Art, i find the section of Deletion, Destortion and Generalization will be very helpful in my classroom and where to spend most of my time teaching. Since Art is the subject i feel more time should be spent with "Hands On" projects after learning that in a 24 hour period, humans retain 25% of what they hear, 40% of what they see, and 70% of what they are tectiley involved in. Do you agree?
Understanding the basics of learning will help me understand how my students learn. As a result of understanding how the brain functions and how learning occurs actually gives me more patients and consideration on the diversity of the people who take my class.
one method that I have used is to have a student "re-teach" the solution to another student.. It seems that in most cases to help re-enforce the subject matter one to both students.
On a simpler scale it's fascinating just to think the computer is based on the brain; with RAM (processing memory) acting as active and short term memory, and ROM (hard drive memory) for long term storage.
To make a computer operate efficiently, our requests need to be well structured. Similarly, structuring ideas, concepts, etc. in the brain properly facilitates accurate storage (memory) and more reliable retrieval (recall).
We choose teaching strategies where we feel the most comfort. This may not necessarily be the most effective method for the student's learning. By adapting our instructional strategy, we can best enable the students to learn, which is the reason why we teach.
In the classes that I teach, there are in any given block, at least 2 to 3 different generations of students participating in the class. As a first time instructor, trying to focus on ensuring that you were teaching to those students that learn by hearing the lecture, watching the topic being demostrated, or by instructing them in the hands-on procedure was hard enough. Now it is imperative to know how each generation views the learning process, their demands or expectations of the class; and apply that insight into your teaching. The balancing act of keeping every student engaged in the lesson of the day, has become even more trickier in today's classroom. An important factor to opening up the pathways to learning for a student is for us to perform the basic function of our job, which is to teach.
Hi Corey,
Yes, trying to deliver instruction in the different learning preferences is a challenge but in trying to do so instructors get to be creative and the course doesn't become boring. This is what keeps us coming back year after year. We get to try new things with new students and then can see the results at the end of the course or with our graduates. Thanks for the good points about how we can keep our excitement level at a high level.
Gary
In my courses the age range of students and life experiences of students will vary that benefit a Sociology course, however, the styles of learning will be quite differant. Making sure content in lectures is both textual and visual seems to be the best way to bridge the gap. It is difficult sometimes though and I am always tryijng to find new ways to connect.
