Gary,
For sure. That is how I learned my craft and it has carried me through my career. Having both the knowledge and skills gives me a lot of confidence when faced with a challenge and this is the same for our students.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
There use can help students see the connection between different concepts. For example, in our culinary school I can use graphic organizers to show the connection of the different stations within a professional kitchen.
Hello, Dr. Meers,
Every teacher in the vocational school setting must at times teach methods. Students who have a way to organize the steps into a method, and remember most or all of that group, will have a high chance of success at doing the task as well. -- Gary O. Ackerman
Thomas,
Good point for helping students to see the big picture of the content. They need to see how the segments come together and complete the effort.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
By looking at graphic organizers the students can see how the subject material flows and is used from one point to another. This in turn may help speed up retention of the lesson content.
Keelan,
You might want to look at using them as helpful learning tools for your students. They really help students to stay on target when they are learning new concepts.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
im not sure we use graphic organizers in my field of training
Ron,
Using a visual method like this really helps the students to move the new information from short term memory to working memory. With the graphs they can see the information in their minds and then pull it up for use as needed. Good idea.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I use graphs to breakdown mother sauces into small sauces. I think it works well!
i think graphic organizers are a great idea
Ramon,
Thanks for sharing these strategies with us. I know they will be valuable to other instructors as they work to devise methods that will help students to become organized and retain the critical course content.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I generally use a couple of Mnemonics which I stress throughout the course, I think the key is not to use too many because then you have created a whole new set of vocabulary words to remember which seems counter productive. Mnemonics I think have to be witty and fun to say or remember like a Dr. Seuss Book. I can see this possibly being the place where graphic organizers will be better suited, when there are too many words or variables to work into an acronym or I want the students to follow a logical sequence of steps to arrive at a successful solution. The wheels are already turning, I have created a device ( a scaffolding ) to help my students to compute. We have trained using the device but I have not in the past provided them with a flow chart or a graphic organizer to help them remember the logical sequence by which to use the tool. I have written directions but perhaps circles and arrows will be more logical to some students.
Diane,
As I am a logical sequential learner myself I understand those students that like flow charts to show them how they progress from one point to another. Many learners of this type need to see how the parts fit together in order to be able to see the big picture. Good point, thanks for sharing it with us.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Glenda,
I use them a lot in my classes for the reasons you mention. They get order to the collection and then use of the new content that has been shared.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Many of my students like flow charts to help them understand the large amount of information given to them. They can use how all the info is organized and what the key points are ( anatomy).
graphic organizers could help a student isolate important information from the lecture, gives them a visual point of reference of the lectured materials, it also helps them to breakdown the lectured material into smaller parts for memorization and recall.
James,
I use color coding as well and have great results with this method. It parallels the success you have had. Color is a memory trigger for cognitive processing as well so knowledge retention is higher when color is used.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Colleen,
Good way to reinforce the key concepts of the course. Graphic organizers help the students to connect the dots between content, knowledge retention and application.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
This pictoral method of showing relationships really helps student understand how one thing applies to another. Students who are very visual learners really can be helped with a classroom that has a lot of graphic organizers.
The different colors used in this approach help students organize and group information effectively. Grouping also helps students retain information. The colors help them recall the information by memory.
