Katherine,
I use them a lot in my classes as well. They really help to show students how to work through learning sequences and complete projects.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Graphic organizers guide students to the important, key concepts and/or features of the instructional material.
Chuck,
The more visual cues you can give them the greater the retention will be. You are using a very good strategy with this method.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
In my field of instructing electrical wiring, I find that the visual use of a "Pie Chart" is very beneficial in explaining the relationship between Voltage, Resistance & Current. The use of different color segments enhance the importance of each.
Isleen,
Right you are. This is what makes the learning process more concrete for the students.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Well using pictures to depict what their learning helps them in seeing what they're actually learning instead of just thinking of what it is. So, if they can see it, then they can organize the order of how it should go and that will help them in learning it more efficiently.
Diane,
Graphic organizers are a valuable resource for student use. We, instructors need to use them to keep our students engaged and moving forward toward their career goals.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Information Technology affords instructors with many opportunities to use graphic organizers. While teaching networking one might want to see the relationship of standards and protocols with the layers of the communications protocol stack. When developing an application a programmer would show the flow of the interaction with the system in a diagram. There are many instances where students gain a better understanding of the concepts through the use of these graphic organizers.
Jane,
They are reminders of the necessity of sequence and order for students. By using them throughout their career training they will have ingrained the content and procedures in their working memories for use when they are in the real world.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Graphic organizers can give students a step-by-step guide to an end result. In hair styling you have finished look you want to accomplish. You have to follow a roller placement plan and comb out plan to get there. But first you have to know how to properly place a roller.
I get my students to research You Tube Videos on the particular topic covered that day and critique the video. These videos are normally only 2-3 minutes long and the students enjoy the process and it aids understanding and retention.
Frances,
I tell my students that we are going to trying and answer the question--"How do you eat an elephant?". This always gets their attention because we have so much material to cover in our course as well. They wonder what I am talking about. I then give them the answer which is "one bite at a time.". Meaning use any strategies, methods or organizers to break the content down into manageable segments. I give them tools to help them create their learning segments.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
There is just an overwhelming about of information in nursing. Using these types of organizers can certainly highlight pertinent information from volumes of words. Anything available to make the information usable for the student, I am all for!!!
Dr. Kevin,
You have to have a back up plan because as we all know failure is a part of technology. With a Plan B ready when something happens we can adjust and keep the class moving forward.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Deanna,
This is a very effective use of them for students that have the challenges you just listed. They can see how the parts of what they need to learn can be put together by following the organizer steps.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Cecilia,
Thank you for sharing a good description of how graphic organizers support learning. They help to "connect the dots" for a lot of students because they involve them in a tactile way.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I think that using technology (e.g. PowerPoint) in the classroom is a great way to bring this element to lectures. Of course there are those time in which technology doesn’t quite work as it should. With this in mind, having a backup plan would be helpful to still get the points across.
I beleive that this is a good way for students who aren't great note takers. I can see the use for those who English isn't their first language. It could speed up thier note taking as well as to organize the information.
Graphic organizers help organize information for students who are predominantly visual learners. They are a kind of short-cut to understanding complicated material. Also, something visual to look at occasionally during a lecture gives the mind a break and exercises other ways of learning. I personally get excited when graphic organizers are brought into lectures. Oh boy! Something to look at!
The use of graphic organizers reach the visual learners in the class.
