Advanced Students in Intro Classes...
I teach in a technical environment, and all of our intro classes have basic technical knowledge in them, and many of our students know it very well already. But some of our students have never seen this information before.
I have been told that using the more advanced students for peer tutoring is helpfull, but i don't think that is something that my school is looking for us to do.
This term will be the first intro class i have taught, having come from one of the more advanced diagnostic classes. Anyone have any sugestions on how to keep the more experienced students involved without taking anything away from the students that really need this basic information presented to them slowly and completely?
When I have a student with a firm understanding of the material I am teaching in a basic class I usually ask that student to sit next to a slower student to help them keep up. This is usually flattering to the advanced student and reinforces the class content. I also always have optional extra credit to an assignment for the rest of the class but I will require the advanced student to complete it.
I think the strategy depends on the specific class that you are teaching but having the advanced student sit by and help the others is one solution and is certainly flattering as the mentioned in another "reply". Most of my student want to be learning something new though. I try to find a way to challenge the students who have knowledge of the study at hand beyond what they know (developing that skill) while keeping the other students focused on attaining that skill. Either way, try to get the students to "feed" off each other for knowledge and insight into the course material.
You can use a variation of the "Guest Speaker" procedure mentioned earlier. In this case, you can inform these students that you will be calling on them to provide short, real-world examples of a topic during lecture. They also have to be informed that most question-answer session privileges will go to the rest of the class.
When you are presenting a lecture and you see a certain amount of lack of comprehension, it's considered a legitimate technique to ask the students who do understand if they can "translate" it for the others.
I like to commend such students on their prior education and experience, and try to best use their strengths in the classroom setting.
Hi Catherine,
As educators, we really should focus on our students strength. Students feel good about themselves whenever the instructor can make good use of their expertise.
Patricia
You are right Catherine. The more advanced students need to know that we notice and can use their knowledge to help the other students.
Hi Lacy,
The minds of advanced students need to be challenged and kept busy. These students serve as excellent assistants.
Patricia
Judith, you make a good point about encouraging students to feed off each other's thoughts and ideas. One method that works well with a mixed class of advanced and beginning students is to break them into small groups with the advanced students designated to be the team captains. Each group can be assigned a section or chapter to study and present to the class with the instructor asking probing questions so the entire class has the benefit of receiving the key information.
In this way the advanced students can benefit from the course, even if no new information is presented. They will gain the experience of communicating their knowledge in a way their audience can comprehend as well as leading a team toward accomplishing a goal.
