Relating Information
I think it is very important to relate each session's information for the students. Learning is a process; they are building on that process each time they meet for class. The connection may not always be obvious to the students or they just may never have thought about it.
Helping them to make the connection between class sessions or between different classes can often help to make the learning long-term
i think long term the students do see what they learned in sessions as helped but sometimes we look for it right away.
This holds true for most disciplines, whether it's learning a new language, a new concept, a musical instrument, etc. Theory needs to be learned first, (which can be boring and seemingly unrelated at the time). Then the application comes into play, and the puzzle pieces start to fit together. Now there is a relationship in the information. Some students seem to struggle with the interconnectedness between classes, not just within each class - viewing each class as mutually exclusive until several classes in, again, everything starts to come together and they realize the importance and significance of the foundation.
Victoria,
You make a good point about students needing help making the connection between classes and content. The more we can "connect the dots" for them the greater engagement they will have with the course.
Gary
I believe the key to relating information is through experience. If an instructor shares their experiences with their students and students share their experiences they can relate those experiences to experience and have a better understanding of what they have learned.
