I dont teach, Im a Registrar. But what I have seen is students start off perceiving that their goal is obtainable, then have self doubt because of various obstacles (personal issues as well as learning) and get unmotivated. It takes a good instructor to notice and help the student get through this time
Herman (Lonnie), great observation. For some students their personality traits are more introverted versus extroverted. Not all students like to be the focus of attention or to even be noticed by their peers. Critical for instructors to take such matters into consideration when developing their lesson plans so they can appeal to a wide range of personality traits. Keep up the great work.
James Jackson
Nicole, typically the more technical the course the more complex students feel the material will be to understand. A good practice is to remind them that many other students have come before them and were able to do well in your course. Trust in your methodology and proper study habits will lead to a full understanding of the materials and passing of the course. Keep up the great work with your students.
James Jackson
Prairie, great post and I am one of those students that would benefit greatly from your class and your techniques. Breaking down the barriers to learning a new topic or better understanding a misunderstood topic can be a challenge. By showing your students the basic building blocks and steps they can take to review their own work you provide them the tools they need to become successful. Keep up the great work and let me know if you ever take your class online, I would be most interested. : - )
James Jackson
Ron, great job. Students sometimes do not realize that being confused and not feeling comfortable is part of the learning process and feelings shared by the majority of their peers. When they can hear the instructor share their own experiences the instructor becomes more human and the challenges of the course become more manageable. Keep up the great work.
James Jackson
Thomas, are there other exercises you offer those students that may not like being in front of the classroom? For some students bring the focus of attention can be a frightening experience. Thanks for anything you can share.
James Jackson
Salvatore, the technique you are describing is called scaffolding, see this article by Jamie McKenzie (http://fno.org/dec99/scaffold.html). By using a building block and creating a structure upon which to build you allow for a prolonged period to continually allow students to gain self confidence and enhance their learning opportunities. Keep up the great work.
James Jackson
Their will always be students that feel inadequate and not up to par in a classroom and my job is to get them up to speed and in the flow with their class mates. These students are usually bright but just shy or not as experienced on socialization.
The subject I teach, Sonography, is very different for most students. Most enter the program because they want to be in the medical field. Once they start classes they quickly learn there is more to it than human anatomy and pathology. After a few classes I start to seem them glaze over and become overwhelmed, especially when they start ultrasound physics. After many pep talks and constant motivation they start to see that they can comprehend the subjects and are successful. With the Physics courses it helps to let them use the machines and let them apply what they are learning. They always smile when they understand why they have learn a difficult subject to support their area of study.
I teaching writing, and many of my students come into class on day 1 and tell me that they are bad writers, or that writing was never their forte. They set themselves up right away for that negative self-perception to persist. I try to shatter that idea right away. I think one of the reasons students feel that they are bad writers is because writing, for many, seems to be some kind of esoteric activity with rules that are confusing. I spend a lot of time showing my students how to fix typical grammatical or mechanical problems. I show them that there are, in essence, formulas that they can follow to fix the problems that frequently pop up in their own writing. Once they see that they have the tools to fix what was wrong, that self-doubt slowly diminishes.
I love this one! Nothing is more rewarding as an educator than to see the light go on in s students eyes when they learn. The trick is learn to reconize when a student is stuggling, and deliver the teaching style that student needs to (get it)
I relay lots of stories about my own learning challenges when I was in their shoes. I tell them techniques that helped me. When I share my failures I also share how I felt, how I had doubts just like they may have. I get lots of head nodding, then I tell them to look around the room, they then see they are not alone. We then have a discussion about how we are going to get through this "together".
I have experienced students with self doubt learning a trade and after much practice finally grasp the concept and seen the confidence rise by the smile on the students face. That is the reward in teaching.
I try to inform the students that in this trade you will make mistakes and then give them an example of something that i have done in the past
I believe this is one of the most well-defined statements that I have read. Students struggle with many issues; however, self-doubt is probably one of the most debilitating issues that a student can confront. Many adult students come into the "educational scene" with many hopes, but shortly realize that they begin to doubt themselves and question if what they have decided to study is really for them. This is the moment instructors must take control of the situation, sit down and have a talk with the student, point out his/her strengths and weaknesses, and help the student discover his/her potential in spite of issues of self-doubt. This does not mean that an instructor should "force" a student to stay in a chosen career. It simply is an indicator for the instructor to take some "quiet time" and sit down and discuss any self-doubts that any given student may bring to the classroom. I like to call this: Truly caring about the student.
In the case of students that have doubt about thier ability I will sometimes choose one of them to help me with a demonstration. I will have that student do the demonstration with my direction and guidance. When the demo is over we normally have a student with a big smile on thier face. I belive this helps the student and the whole class gain some self confidence.
i have helped many students over come the fear of being away from home for such a long time and get them back on track to being successful.
I find that self doubt can be crippling to some students' education. To help students feel more comfortable, i emphasize that the learning environment is a safe place to ask questions and learn from mistakes. I ensure that the whole reason for being in school is to practice for their chosen career.
To help diminish self-doubt in some students, I often ask them "Are you sure?" when they are correctly answering questions but don't appear confident in their answer. This helps them realize that they do have the knowlege of the material they've studied. Another point to this is that as future health care professionals, they will be challenged by their collegues if they make a decision based on their expertise. They will need to learn how to be confident in themselves to prove their competency in that type of situations.
student come to me wanting to stop comming to class, its great to help them overcome there fears and continue on to be successful.
