I like to stop at mid points and ask them for any experiences they have had at clinicals and would like to share with the class, that has to do with the content we are covering. Some of the stories are positive and some are negative, but they seem to remember even eachothers experiences later when the content comes up again.
Breaks to review and reinforce.
when teaching about the muscular system, I have found it helpful to color code muscle groups: ex. blue for antagonists of an action and yellow for synergists. Color coding seems to help the students retain the new information and makes for easy retrieval come test time.
I don't really struggle with the long time span of hands on content. I struggle with having time for the hands on portion because of all the content to fit in. I do two hours of lecture and two hours of hands on, however I do think with the great ideas you have given me I could do better to incorporate more creative hands on. My current lectures I at least have examples of what I am talking about, but now I have some ways I can incorporate a game into my lectures. Thank you!!
The blocks would help to clarify for the visual and kinesthetic learners the more difficult concepts of catabolic and anabolic methabolic reactions. Thanks for sharing this idea.
Being creattive as a teacher for me is the most difficult tasks. Therefore, your suggestions are excellent resource for me to try with my students.
Lego Blocks. I recently used Lego blocks in order for students to demonstrate catabolic and anabolic metabolic reactions. I think using the blocks helped students to really comprehend the content being discussed.
Kyla, I like the way you are planning to adapt this idea to meet the needs of your class. You know what will work with your learners and what won't fly. Hope these ideas are helpful.
Hands on instruction should be progressive, so after a break I'd have everyone start from the beginning again and go through the steps up to where we left off. Provides an excellent review as well as ties the concepts together.
Rebecca, any ideas on how I could may this work in the clinical setting. Thanks
Rebecca, I'm sure this is a successful method for reinforcing terminology. Keep up the good work!
Pictionary. The students get into 3 or 4 teams. The best drawer goes to the board and draws a cell or instrument or organ. The other teams guess. The team with the higest score get a prize or bonus points on next test.
I agree, each interactive learning activity should have a purpose and a tie to content or it is not the right thing to do.
If we are just creating busy work, I feel that MY adult learners will resent it and "shut down".
I like to apply the material to real life situations and involve the students in the discussions. I find that making them see how it applies to them or someone they know helps to solidify it more for them.
That is a great analogy, Martha. Thanks for sharing!
I try to relate medical situations to what they may have seen in their life experiences. When discussing muscles for examples and the importance of warm up exercises, I talk about a water hose. When in the winter and it is cold the hose is not flexible, but when the temp is warm it is very fleible, such as the muscles become after warm up.
Colleen, thank you for sharing this great idea. I will try it with my learners the next chance I get!
I have used M and M's for a dosage calculation class and they have to calculate the dose and show me how many M and M's they would give. Then they get to eat the M and M's
I try my best to try different approaches to help refocus learners.
We have a practice dummy in the classroom that I try to use often. After a lesson plan if the dummy can be utilized then I will do an activity involving hands on training.
Also I try to mix up different learning approaches by introducing different activities or games. One of their favorites is my version of Jeopardy.
Anything to take a break from the lecture and see it first hand I try.
