keeping the students involved
When i am giving my presentation i ask my students questions about the subject, what they think about the subject, and what are the correct answers to the subject. Keep them involved.
I like this idea. I have a coworker (an instructor)who has started doing this and the students are responding very well to it. He leads and/or participates in the discussion. Have you done both and which do you find most effective?
jean,
the real life stories & examples are a great way to reach the students & engage any audience.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I.too, teach in the healthcare field- students love real examples of my experiences with topics - they tell me repeatedly how much the stories and examples help them understand, learn, and recall items for an exam- it works well for me and the students I teach because I do not teach many hands-on courses- mostly theory- so any examples really do go a long way.
Suzie ,
this is a great way to keep them engaged & to solidify the learning.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
We have found that having the students follow a learn, do, teach format and having them present on something they researched helps them learn the material better and keeps them more involved.
James,
this is a great way to set the expectations & the parameters for the class.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
i like to start the class by having some questions on the board, give them a few minutes to work on them then go straight into talking about the questions, give them the answer for them, and then go straight from there into lecture, or lab.. (the questions i put on the board always have something to do with the lecture for that day.)
James,
this is a great strategy. I have found that when I can engage the audience in talking quickly, they are more engaged throughout the presentation.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
starting off with real world experiences is always a very good thing, also i ask if any of my students have had any of there own experienced in the subject at hand.
I like to get there input from the begining on the subject 1st to get them involved, and 2nd to find out what they may already know about the subject. i also like to ask questions throughout the presentation to keep them alert. this seems to make them feel more a part of the instructional portion of the presentation.
I'm in the career services field for online and as with teaching courses in this type of environment, it's always challenging to gauge a student's reaction to our presentations. In addition to the chat box and encouraging questions, we also ask "attendance" questions to ensure the students are still with us. For instance, in the beginning as a sound/media check we might verbally ask "What is your favorite food?". Then at some other point in the presentation we might ask some other question to see who responds. It allows us to see who is truly engaged in the presentation and who has just logged in but isn't watching.
William,
yes, sometimes we view prework as a negative, but I have found that it really does help prepare the audience better.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Your methodology is extremely successful especially in the culinary environment. From practice I have found that the lecture/demo/practice to be the most effective as the students get to review a skill see a skill and practice the skill. Obviously the extent of involvement brings about a spirit of camaraderie in the classroom and laboratory and additionally we see students helping students to understand the principles being presented on that particular day
Student involvement is essential to the success of any presentation and as with any type of involvement one needs to have read materials so that they cannot interact acceptably in a social situation. One of the best techniques that I have seen is that when a guest speaker is coming to a particular college of the topic of the presentation is published as well as a synopsis or brief overview of the presentation. That automatically limits the audience to those that would be interested and would be properly prepared to become involved in any questioning process. Asking someone to immediately respond to a concept that they have just learned, may be actually unfair in that they have not had time to process the key points being illustrated. Also we do have to keep in mind that many individuals do not like to speak out in group environments and those are the individuals that will seek out the presenter after the presentation has occurred and then ask their questions directly.
Agnes,
and it's also a great way to show that you appreciate & value their lived experiences.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
As an instructor of primarily adult-learners, I have learned to elicit information from our students by either asking them about their direct experience in a certain area and/or relating classroom material to current events. This helps students stay involved while simultaneously enhancing their confidence academically.
Ariane,
the ice breakers are a great way to grab attention & engage the students/audience.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I understand what you're saying. I'v had this problem in larger classes. Recently, though, I've exclusively had smaller classes, so it is a bit easier to get and keep the students interested.
I usually don't lecture very often, but if I were to, since the class is small, I would start off with an ice breaker/game for my hook and then ask them questions throughout my presentation. I think the subject that I teach, English as a second language, allows for a myriad of interesting hooks/games/ice breakers.
I begin with a story from experience and ask for student related experiences. If the students can in some way own a piece of the objective through real life they tend to be more participative in the discussion from the beginning. If the instructor can identify a problem solving technique to the community of the students the conversation will grow.
