Visual Aids are great. However, one must be sure to try and assist the students in pursuing other forms of learning. For example, listening to comprehend, writing to comprehend, as well as seeing to comprehend.
Hi Deborah,
Visual adds clarity. Most students need to see it, to get it.
Hi April,
It is extremely helpful for students to get a visual as to what is expected. Nerves are put at ease after being shown an example.
Patricia
Hi David,
Clarity is key whenever assignments are given.
Patricia
Hi Marc,
A syllabus is a great tool to refer to. Students can always revisit the syllabus.
Patricia
Hi Marie,
It really reduces students nerves/tension when examples are shared.
Patricia
Hi Evan,
Competition can be a good thing! There is nothing wrong with trying to top the best...
Patricia
Hi Deborah,
Yes, and they know where they will end up. So clear....
Patricia
Communication in a clear and concise format is the key to a sucessful learning experience. Let them know what is expected and also something to look forward to. A well prepared syllabus is the best method and tool avaliable to an instructor and student.
Students must also know what is expected of them preventing any future misunderstandings.
Hi Mark,
Make it known to students from the very beginning why they need to know it, you will automatically gain interest.
Patricia
Hi Jan,
It is certainly motivating and self-confidence building whenever examples are shown to students.
Patricia
Hi Jeremy,
I concur. Students have a better idea as to exactly what is expected of them.
Patricia
You must have a goal .It should be attainable and achievable.
Nursing students have to do care plans, which can be baffling and completely foreign to most. (They were for me!) I think that showing real students' examples would make a much bigger impact than just the ones in the book. To know that real people, real students, are actually doing this too would make it seem more doable.
I teach business and one method managers use to control business is to benchmark one company standards with another. Therefore, by showing the standard of anothers work the instructor can help students better visualize the needed expectations for the desired grade. Thanks.
Like a culinary teacher we always to have to make demos for everything (hands-on).Before they have to learn the course with "home work". They already know the subject
It can serve the purpose of motivating them to learn something that they had not previously ever imagined themselves doing. You are telling them that it is a goal that will be achieved.
I think that students become more comfortable with what will be expected of them when they are shown a perfect example. When a student turns in a perfectly completed assignment, I sometimes ask them if I can keep a copy to use as and example. Students often do wish to look at those to answer some questions about what their project should look like.
Using pictures of work that previous students have done is also comforting to some students because they see that someone else in their position was able to produce high-quality work. Now students will start to visualize themselves doing the same and be ready to get started!
I think that it helps to demonstrate the instructors knowledge of the course materials and it also demonstrates the application of the material to the students. One the most common questions I get from students is "why do I need to know this?"
I teach a pastry class that includes cakes, sugar work, and chocolate showpieces. For my class, I find that showing examples of student work serves two purposes. One, it shows the students specific examples of the types of things that they will be creating over the next three weeks of my class. Two, it serves to boost their confidence; many students come to my class saying they have no creativity, no artistic skill, no cake decorating talent. By showing them beautifully finished projects that other students who felt the same way have finished, I find that many of these doubting students leave my class on the first day feeling, "maybe I can do it, too."
