Retention
I find that I have to reinforce information repeatedly to emphasize the importance of the subject. In most cases it's because they just learned the information long enought to take a test but never really learned it. I have had some students that do not care about the subject at hand and they will not remember the information if they do not care about it.
Cornelius,
Well said and so critical to the success of our students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Mentoring is the key to retention. I let students know in advance that you only get out of a class what you put into it. The harder they work the more they will retain and the more competitive they will be when pursuing a job opportunity.
Peggy,
Learning can be and should be fun and you are providing your students with opportunities to make learning fun. Keep up the good work.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
As I talk or show students a procedure, I try to be animated and add humor, hoping they will think back to the discussion and remember some of my mannerisms and with that what I had said. Drawing pictures, have them explain procedures, and review, review, review.
Michele,
This is such a good way to let your students demonstrate their competencies not only about the content being assessed but how they communicate their knowledge. This will serve them well when they are in the work place.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
In addition to guided notes, all test answers must be written in complete words or sentences. I discourage the use of check the bullet or fill in the dot multiple choice (a,b,c) tests. I have found that the students retain the vocabulary better when they have to write the words.
As an instructor is aour responsability keeping student's retention by motivating them and providing good resources duing class.
Dana,
Yes, it is. If they can't decode the content as you know they won't be able to recode it into any kind of personal understanding of what has just been taught.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I agree decoding and recoding is a big part of retention
Cory,
This is critical. They have to see value and relevancy to what they are learning if they are going to stay engaged.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Applying relevance is a good way to keep them focused. Show them how the information they are receiving, can be used in the future.
Sometimes, the students might be interested but need extra help that day to learn because they are overloaded, distracted by concerns regarding survival or home life, not feeling well, ect.,,....
I find it helpful to connect with that student if I can and find out what's up with them and how I can help them learn and to what extent that day. Often just showing interest and concern helps connect them to the class at hand and improves their ability/desire to try to overcome obstacles/put them on hold and learn.
Christina,
It is such an important connection to make. This helps to build the confidence of the students and help them realize that they can be successful in the course through effort and their previous experience.
Gary
I think connecting prior knowledge to the new knowedge you want students to retain is critical for several reasons
1. It identifies any misunderstandings or misconstructions in knowledge they may be building upon
2. It determines what they found interesting enough to remember
3. It determines what they THOUGHT was important to remember
4. Of course, it lets you know how much information they have on a topic
Colin,
Thank you for the supportive words about valuing educational opportunities. I came from a very poor background and education has enabled me to be successful and help others. So when I have students that don't care about being in school I try to help them see how they are being given an opportunity that many others will never have. I wish you continued teaching success.
Gary
I think your point of relating to students the privelege of an education and the responsibility that they possess to make the mostof it is excellent. It's absolutely true that there are countless people in the world that would do anything for the opportunity to participate in a program such as the one in which I teach, and making my students aware of this may prove useful. Thanks Doc!
Colin,
I am always surprised when I encounter such students. I, along with many other instructors in career colleges had to work numerous jobs, juggle our schedules, and overcome obstacles for the honor of getting to go to college. When I see students that are paying to come to school and they only want to scrap by I just wish they could talk to individuals that want badly to go to school and can't. There needs to be valuing to what they are learning and it is up to them to see that value. We as instructors can aspire to inspire but we can only do so much.
Gary
i agree with the stories the last class a had asked me every day to tell them stories about when i was in the field
I think all instructors experience this phenomenon at one point or another. I work in a culinary school setting where students pay tens of thousands of dollars to learn a new craft and build a new career, yet somehow think it is acceptable to make the barest minimum effort to succeed. I agree with others here that say that, as instructors, we are tasked to not just instruct our students but to inspire them. This is all well and good, but it can also prove very difficult when some students bring so little effort and inspiration of their own to the table.
