I really like the idea of using case studies to spark interest and engage students in an open discussion. These will work great as time fillers when necessary.
Case studies and having people come in that work in the field really helps as well!
Time management is essential to be a good instructor when prepare your lesson plan you should always incorporate extra activities to ensure you using all you time allotted
I typically try to ensure I have 50 minutes of PowerPoint presentation, with all the basics covered on the slide. Where time management comes into play is spending more or less time on individual slides, and giving more or less additional information on those slides.
We use slide shows so I can tell if I am on time or not by what slide I am on. If I am ahead I find relevant stories from the field to tell. If behind leave a little out
I always have activities planned and discussion time allotted. The activities or discussions are sometimes extra so that they can be used as fillers or omitted depending on whether we run short or long.
Gordon,
Does the 50 min. time allotment include student discussion, regarding the content? In some cases, students can spend a great deal of time discussing just one slide from the presentation.
Tremayne Simpson
I typically try to allow for some discussion in the 50 min. class session timeframe, but typically it does tend to go beyond. In general I look at that time allotment as representative of the general timeframe of learning, so when it comes to discussion after the fact that typically is in addition to. At that point however it's typically the students break that is affected and those that want to stay and ask do, those who do not tend to excuse themselves.
I am in the process of teaching my first class, and one of the strategies I use to ensure that I am keeping pace, is to break up my lecture into segments. It is a 4 hour lecture class, so I try to plan a certain amount of time per segment. That way if I am way ahead or behind schedule, I can change my pace up to get back on track. Or plan a break, or activity to help correct the pace.
I carefully plan out each lecture, paying careful attention to how long each segment should take. After teaching certain classes for extended periods of time, I have extra materials to enhance their learning if I go too fast.
As a teacher with almost 20 years experience, I can attest to the fact that time management is a critical consideration. Case studies, expert advisors, and various forms of ice breakers are very effective tools.
my classes are very long - 4 hours - and require strong time management or I run the risk of alienating/losing my students...
I like to alter tasks between lecture/demonstration "instructor-centric" activities and more hands-on/discussion "student driven" activities...
I have a specific set of material that MUST be covered, but find the students better engage the material if they have a "stake" in it...this also helps to facilitate leadership and ownership of group projects - upon which most of my classes are based
at four hour, judiciously placed "study breaks" also come in handy!
Since I teach in a dental hygiene program where students deal with different needs and medical histories every day, I always have case studies available that we can discuss and disect. Case studies facilitate learning by fostering the use of critical thinking and drawing from gained knowledge and applying it to different situations.
Mahnaz,
I agree. Regardless of subject-matter, case studies are important because they enable the students to have to apply their knowledge and further understand the discussed concept/topic.
Tremayne Simpson
There are several time manangement strategies that I use to ensure that I am keeping pace with my lesson plans. At the beginning of class I normally put a schedule on the board with the times allotted for each assignment. If we complete the assignment ahead of time I normally use that time for discussion. Should we go over the scheduled time whatever we didn't cover is normally carried on into the next class.
I normally see what I need to cover and then review at the end of my day to see what I can eliminate or compress the following day so I can catch up. Sometimes it takes 2-3 days to finally be at the place I should be.
While open forum and encouraged participation is always nice, those things can take up a lot of time and can ruin the pace of your lesson plan. I try to field one of two opinions per round, and then keep on moving forward. If the debate is ripe and it is a learning experience, I may allow it to continue and scrap some of my plans
I utilize a written bullet-point timeline to establish a tangible pace for my classrooms.
Based on previous experiences, sometimes students ask a lot of questions, thus relieving the need for extra material. But on other occasions, the lesson has run shorter than the allotted time. When this happens, I try to use additional study & learning materials.
I plan ahead and have a group of activities in case we finish early. Some of these are take home exams, in class assignments including having them do a minute paper on what they have learned. I always have extra activities in case I finish early. In the unfortunate circumstance of not covering everything on a certain day, I simply have to cover it the next class and make sure I stay on track.
