Adult Student Strategies
I have use most of this strategies to study my self, now reading them again, helps me to improve ways to reach my studets, some times challanging..
Thank you
Richard,
This is why supports like Guided Notes can be helpful to many students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I think note taking is a very important part of school. Students who lack this skill seem to do worse.
Andy,
Right you are. By writing down key points students are creating a higher level of cognitive retention for themselves and they don't even realize it. This is something we need to work on so they will get involved in the note taking process.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I agree that note taking is a lost art. It seems that in todays world of electronics people want to simply record what is being presented and not go thru the work of writing things down. It is difficult to get them to understand that writing things down helps them to store the information.
Kristine,
Something I do with my PPs is to give the students a structured outline that follows the PP slides. This way they don't have to try and capture every word but can concentrate more on the message being shared on the slide while jotting down notes under the major headings and topic areas I have given them in the outline.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
The note taking aspect of retention is important, however, I am aware that some students are so intent on copying the entire powerpoint verbatim, or every word of the lecture, that they fail to really listen to the content. I try to pause and give time for the students to write, but also point out which slides are important, which do not need to be copied, and which ones are directly from the text. I want the students to watch and listen to me, rather than focus on the notes. Whenever applicable, I also relate "real world" application of the information on the slides to aid the students in seeing the real world value of the information, which also goes a long way toward retention of the information.
I have done the same, coming up with guided notes in order for the student to have to write it down. sometimes seeing it and doing it are not enough. being able to visualize what you put on paper is most helpful. Using association in memorization is a great skill, students tend to remember long after they are gone. Which gives the instructor a great sense of accomplishment.
Kisha,
I use them in my classes for the reasons you state. They really help my students to stay focused on the content and follow through with the key concepts.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
guided notes seems to work well because it allows the adult student to pick out whats important for their learning habits but at the same time keeping in place important key notes from the instructor.
Henry,
You make a very good point about how evaluating student skills can result in the expansion of our own skills. We need to look at each interaction with students as being a learning opportunity for us.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I agree. Sometimes evaluating your student skills can help better your teaching skills. See both sides of the spectrum.
Marsha,
Guided notes can help here a lot. The key points are included on the outline and the students then write down the supporting information as it is presented. They are doing so in their own works and from their own cognitive mindframe. This helps a lot with content retention.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Heinz,
You make a good point and this is why I use guided notes a lot. This way each student can determine what they need to put in their notes to support their knowledge base. The key points are included and they then flesh out the notes to help them retain critical content.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I agree, but students should also note what was covered (maybe refine an idea), so that when they review their notes, they don't forget that the topic they knew about is also included in study.
Every student learns different and has different live experiences. Therefore note taking will differ from one student to the next. I discourage students who already know of a topic to re-write information they already know. It would just take time away and has no need to be done.
I agree with Patricia, I have and still do use these strategies myself. I find them very helpful when I am trying to prepare for a lesson/class I have to teach!
Marsha,
Thank you for the comments about note taking. Many of my students lack this skill so I used guided notes to help them identify and then record the key concepts that we are covering. This way I know they have put on paper the concepts that they must learn to move forward in the course.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I found this section very helpful. Note taking is a lost art. So many students underline everything they read and are unable to select important concepts. Reading comprehension is a very big obstacle for many adult learners.
Patricia,
Keep up the professional growth you are enjoying. I know your students value the increased instructional skills you bring to the classroom.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
