As a nursing instructor, it is important to organize student learning so that students learn in as many ways as possible to tie concrete learning with abstract learning so that they have placed their learned knowledge, skills and attitudes into long term memory as episodic memory that can be immediately used with short term memory in working memory to solve and take appropriate action.
I ask the students at the end of a learning session to share with their peers what they have learned that way all of the 6 to 8 students in the group can hear a review of the discussion from different points of view. I also give me a chance to assess both concrete and abstract learning in the group.
I use clickers in the classroom and find that it helps me learn what students are learning while keeping the discussion on track.
Faylee,
I agree. It is a constant effort to "read" the students and make the needed adjustments to keep them focused.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I feel you always have to adapt to the students or the material andif you can't you are not very effective
Irina,
Good strategy and one that I know your students will value. The human factor in teaching is as important as the content delivery for many students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Ross,
Great to hear about how you are integrating both kinds of teaching into your courses. Foundational knowledge is created with semantic/rote memory and then application is made through episodic connections in memory. You are doing a good job integrating both for your students. Pharmacology is a course that is enhanced when both are used as you are finding out. I wish you continued success in your teaching.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Rita,
Good way to approach the instructional process. Learners like variety and change of pace as they move through their coursework. You are providing both with your adding of or mixing up of your instructional delivery along with the integration of activities.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I change my delivery method when I teach my evening class. I work with each individual student based on student's needs and situation.I am trying to create a very comfortable learning environment.
Being new to the teaching world. Not only am I giving education but I am getting one as well. While I did not know about episodic teaching from a definition standpoint it turns out I have been applying that at times. I teach Pharmacology so there is a lot of semantic/rote memorazation teaching as well but when I can use real life examples from the students lives and from my own I feel they retain more of the information for sure.
Ross
Understanding how we learn helps me because I have learned, mostly through trial and error, that not every student learns in the same way or responds to a particular teaching method in the same way. I myself have had to adapt to this so that I could make learning more rewarding for my students. I used to be primarily a lecturer; now I tend to "mix it up" a bit more and relate course content to "real life."
I think that by lnowing how the brain works and the type of students we have we can determine individual expectations. Everyone is different and identifying those differences are key to that students success. I try to learn the students needs and gear my lectures so that I am reaching all of my students and if something doesn't work I discard it.
Susan,
You make a good point about matching the message to the students. We all respond to messages in different ways so the more variety we can offer our students them more information they will be able to glean from our efforts to share content with them.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
You can match the message to the students learning stage. As most students are in the late teens, early 20ties, I will know that have not yet reached peak learning age. Also take into account their past experiecne if I have this knowledge of this on how they might be impacted by a certain style, treatment or message
Daniel,
I think your plan will be very effective in getting the students to think through possible options as they deal with patients as a result of being exposed to sequential learning approaches.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I am going to add more concrete and abstract applications to the administrative section of my program. I use a lot of "how did you feel when..." discussions when presenting patient relations scenarios and feel the concrete/absrtact approach would personalize the material for each student.
Agreed,
You need to learn to change your delivery method depending on the class dynamics as well as each individual student.
Kelly,
You do have a challenge with both the volume and type of content you are teaching. With the ideas you expressed here an a positive approach to your instructional planning you will be able to support your students in their learning efforts.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Eric,
You make a good point with the snowflake example. We need to remember this as we do our instructional planning. When we do we will be able to educate the entire class of students but in a customized way.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Ted,
Good points and the validate why we need to offer our instruction in a variety of different formats. The more senses and learning preferences we can appeal to the more our students will be engaged.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
