In our field (HVAC/R) graphics are a necessity.
However, I think this puts a new light on how they are presented with the content of the text and different uses of these graphics.
Christopher,
Good strategy. It is working for you so keep using this method and continue to enjoy teaching success.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I like the idea of graphic organizing. I have been using it without knowing its full potential. I encourage students to make charts that show relationships, logical next steps. and so on. I tr to incorporate this whenever possible on exams like graphically diagramming blood flow to the heart or pressure in and out of the lungs
As an MA instructor you can use graphic organizers all time, and this is very helpful for the students to remember the content.
Graphic organizers are amazing ways to help students break down complex concepts into simple basic building blocks. This really helps me a lot in dealing with hard concepts as it keeps the students focused on whats really important and makes it much easier for them to recall the information in application.
Sheila,
Thanks for sharing how well your approach is working with your students. The key is for them to be able to select content and apply it. This method enables them to do such.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
In clinical dental hygiene courses, students are taught early on the cycle organizer - assessment, planning, intervention, reassessment. Using this strategies assists students in catorgizing skills into groups that lead to a total pateint care process.
Henry,
They really do. They can see segments and then the big picture of what they are studying.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
It helps them map out and visually see what they need to learn to perform well in the course.
Charmian,
They are so valuable this way. They greatly reduce my time spent in explaining how the segments fit since the students see them graphically and that increases their content retention.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Tony,
This has been my results as well. They are so valuable in helping students get organized and seeing the big picture of what we are trying to do in the course.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Using graphic organizers help break down larger concepts into smaller segments making learning and understanding concepts easier for the students.
Graphic Organizers are great for students because they give the student a visual that will help them later in remembering the information given by the instructor. This is very helpful for the type of students I have that are very creative in the graphic arts field. It is a great association tool.
Ted,
There are so many uses as you mention. They really help those students that have been out of school for a while and have forgotten how to take notes and put concepts together.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Emily,
They never seem to leave us even after many years. A simple yet highly effective low tech way to learn a lot of technical content. Good point.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Graphic organizers can help students organize their learning efforts by helping them see the steps or sequences of steps and the parts of a learning problem. It provides active involvement with writing & diagram completion. This may help them see the relationship of the steps involved.
Graphic organizers help with memory & recoding of the information being learned by breaking it into sequential, small steps.
I agree, as I first learned the term in elementary education courses; even so, it is beneficial to adult learners, as well.
Shannon,
Thank you for sharing this outcome of using graphic organizers. I have had the same results and am a big promoter of them to my students. They really help them to see the critical segments as well as the big picture.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I find that graphic organizers help the learners separate out certain scenarios, and what steps can lead them to the optimal results. I teach an introductary course to a very technical field, and find that when the student uses a graphic organizer for a technical situation, the concept is retained longer, which comes in very handy for later classes.
Sharon,
I think you will really like the results you get from using graphic organizers. They really help students to see how the segments of the course or a concept fit together while giving them the big picture.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
