[General Strategies for Student Retention]
I find that sometimes the instructor is so focused on getting the material to the students that they forget how important it is to have the students involved. Lecuring for hours at a time gets very boring for the students. We must always keep in mind the human factor of the students. I always try to put myself in the students place. If the material is not presented in any exciting way then the instuctor gets bored and if the instructor is bored the students are most definetly bored.I also find it very important to give positive feedback to the students on a daily basis. This keeps them positive and focused.
Hi Francesca,
Good way to offer variety and change of pace in the learning flow for your students. I am sure this helps them to stay focused on the content with this strategy.
Gary
Hi Andrea,
Good question. I teach a 6 hour block class and use the method you describe in your comments. I have found if I make the lecture sessions shorter in duration with the small group sessions, discussions, case studies, etc. then the students are easier to engage again in the next lecture block.
Gary
I do 20 minute lectures every hour. Then i have the students do activities based on the lecture. Then they lecture to show me how much they retained from my lectue. sometimes they ofer to take my place in the front of the class and use the chalkboard.
I lecture in 4 hour blocks for my class and in one class in paricular the amount of information is dense, but necessary.
Currently, I lecture for 1.5 hours at a time with a didactic discussion period where students research information on specified topics in groups, in between lecture "blocks".
Would it be better to have shorter more frequent discussion periods in order to better involve the students?
Hi Karen,
You make a good point. The push to deliver cannot overshadow the involvement of students. If it does they are not going to buy into the course and as a result not acquire the knowledge they need. They need to be engaged throughout the course and involvement helps them to be such.
Gary
