I find it is hard for the students to see the big picture. They forget what they are going to school for. I try to give them real life scenerios to keep up the excitement of why they are here.
Hi Jason,
Good point about helping students see the "big picture". They often miss the real reason they are in the training program they are in. It is for their future. Anything you can do to help them with the vision will be helpful.
Gary
One way of motivating students is to find personal intrest in the student and try to link it with the class corse.
Keeping the student active , both in the class room, with pass around parts, ect., and using the lab for demo and examples seem to work good. I also enjoy sharing my life experience in the field that is relevant to the topic at hand. Last, but most important,I try always to show them the passion I have for both teaching, and the subject that I'm teaching!
Breaking down my lectures into smaller inqrements seems to keep my students attention a little bit longer and they show much more interest in participating.
Hi Luz,
This form of instruction is called "chunking". Breaking down the content into bit size nuggets of information. It is much like answering the age old question. "How do you eat an elephant?" "One bite at a time." We need to always keep this in mind as we plan our instruction.
Gary
