Growing Yourself as a Learning Facilitator
How do you balance the need to learn more about the topics you teach with your need to develop new ways of teaching and your classroom time?
I look to involve the students as much as possible. I have to understand that with a swipe of a finger, a student may have access to the same knowledge (or even more) than I do about a topic, but knowledge alone doesn't mean comprehension. I love working with students to find the information themselves, and help them to apply that through real-life case studies and exercises. In addition, it is my job to find as many places that may hold kernels of knowledge that may be helpful to my students. Thus, I may scan the Wall Street Journal not just to learn something new myself, but also to find an article that could demonstrate application of something we discussed in class.
I teach pharmacy, which is a is a lot of theory until they are able to use the skills in the field. One of the ways i keep the students from memorizing is to give multiple hands-on simulations of the field using the subject matter in a lab practice or research format so they have to make it their own. I have found when I do this test scores improve without as much direct study, and questions that come from the students become more relivent to the course.
Any other suggestions are welcome.
Steve,
Yes, there are many tools & resources that we can find free of charge & get some great ideas.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
In the automotive field, we have constantly evolving technologies that require constant updating to my presentations. I make it a point once a course to bring up something new in the automotive field and how it applies to their future careers. I aim toward one of their main reasons for wanting to become an autmotive technicican and point out that knowing the information will put them in a better position financially.
I bring up discussion about new case law. As a result, I am able to stay updated and provide useful information to the students.
Juggling the time between teaching and keeping up with ongoing development is a little tricky. I find it beneficial to pop into another instructor’s class periodically and watch his/her presentations and try to pick up an instructional tool or two to add to my class. This can prove to be better than sitting in a formal classroom or taking an online course. It is helpful to take staff development courses occasionally to review material that we somehow have forgotten or to add new techniques.
When ever I prepare for a class, I review material,always a question has come to my mind which then leads to another deeper question and deeper into the understanding of the material,either as I teach it or how it is applied to how the student will use the information.
I learn more until I run out of time, which is he limiting factor, and a balancing point.
As a Medical Coding Instructor it is absolutely necessary for me to be learning continuously in order to teach my students to code correctly and accurately.
I like to go to continuing education courses on the topic. The are required for licensure anyhow and often I am able to see a method or technique that helps me learn the material and teach the material.
As an instructor, we can always learn from anyone...even our students! I am constantly hopping on a search engine to find out new facts in my field.
I don't really balance my time if a subject is brought up I will a lot time to study and learn that subject if needed. Sometimes in class most times outside of class.
Juan,
this is a great idea as the automotive industry is constantly changing & so this is a good example to the students of how to stay up to date.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I find this to be a huge obstacle!! I am still struggling with this each day. I wish I had an extra hour each day. :)
How I try to bring a balance in to the class is by having the students research new products in the field which I teach then give me the information.I do learn by this and it gives the students sense of accomplishment.
To keep update I am member of several professional organization, and I subscribe to several professional journals for information on update technology information. I also purchase and read book by subject experts to keep up today not only with career field update, but also on teaching strategies for providing better instruction.
I watch many Youtube videos of other math instructors covering the same material. I learn new methods from them as well as seeing bad habits in myself. I read widely in the field and related fields as well. Brief anecdotes can add color to the presentation.
I find that I need to spend a bit more time teaching in a way that the class understands than learning about new topic matter. I am always reading about the topics I teach about in periodicals or in training classes I take so I don't seem to have a problem doing that. I have always enjoyed learning about topics that interest me, so that seems very easy to me. Adapting the way I deliver that material to vastly different learning styles is what can be difficult.
I like to read up on new materials,go to continuing education courses and then share a lot of the material with my students,we then discuss the different things we have learned.
Courses like these MaxKnowledge courses allow myself to spend some time developing as an instructor. Outside of work, I spend time developing myself in my field. It takes some time, but ensuring that I know my material and am confident in my skills as an instructor are important.
