I feel you always have to adapt to the students or the material andif you can't you are not very effective
Faylee,
I agree. It is a constant effort to "read" the students and make the needed adjustments to keep them focused.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I use clickers in the classroom and find that it helps me learn what students are learning while keeping the discussion on track.
I ask the students at the end of a learning session to share with their peers what they have learned that way all of the 6 to 8 students in the group can hear a review of the discussion from different points of view. I also give me a chance to assess both concrete and abstract learning in the group.
As a nursing instructor, it is important to organize student learning so that students learn in as many ways as possible to tie concrete learning with abstract learning so that they have placed their learned knowledge, skills and attitudes into long term memory as episodic memory that can be immediately used with short term memory in working memory to solve and take appropriate action.
Linda,
I have used these as well and they are great not to mention a lot of fun to use because of the instant feedback that is given.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Linda,
Good way to wrap up a course and check for learning. Their sharing of what they have learned with the groups reinforces the content one more time for them as they get ready to exit.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Linda,
You have outlined the learning process so well. The more opportunities they have to make connections between content and their life experiences the higher the level of content retention. This is a win win situation for them and their future success nursing.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
My class is technically based and hands on with lecture. I have learned to adapt my teaching strategy as to remain partially silent about some areas. I clue students in to some fact, yet deliberately remain silent to the entirety of the concept while in lecture.
Once the students are hands on and physically working on the project I then elaborate more on the specific areas. They memorize with their hands what they hear and see.
Dale,
This teaching model increases the cognitive retention rate of your students because they are "working" for their knowledge. They have to think which is something that can be usual in a college classroom since a lot of students want to be spoon fed the content.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
It occurs to me that not only is the instructor helps students more when he/she varies the style of delivery, but makes him/herself a better teacher by relieving the boredom quotient as well.
This is a great idea. I work at a career college with a packed syllabus. Something is programmed for virtually every minute of our sessions. But, I still see the value and this and am thinking how I can make time to get to know the students better at the beginning of a class, rather than learn as we go along.
Wendy,
Good observation and a valuable one to remember. If we are not excited about what we are teaching it is for sure the students won't be either.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Wendy,
I know you will see great benefits in earning the respect of and developing rapport with your students by taking a few minutes to do an introduction session.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I agree, if you and the student can adapt to each other you will know what learning technique works best with each individual student
Sometimes I have to remind myself that I've seen the stuff they're learning a million times, so it comes easy for me. I have to slow myself down and teach them the very foundation and not jump ahead and try and show them more abstract information before they have an understanding of the foundation. This course helped to remind me of that.
Uderstading the basics of learning provide teachers with a foundation of where to start when teaching others. If a teacher is not adjusted to the basics of learning then it may cause complications when teaching students.
Erica,
Good point about pacing. Yes, it is easy to get too fast in our delivery since we know the material so well. This is why we need to slow down and occasionally stop to reflect on how effective we are in our instructional delivery and then make any adjustments we need to so we have engaged students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
LaToya,
Right you are about need to know and understand the basics of learning. By knowing the basics we will be able to customize our instruction more accurately to meet the needs of our current students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
By being able to adapt to each class/student, we can bring ourselves to them. I find talking over their heads and rattling off information I know and maybe 1 other student can follow is working against everyone involved.
We sometimes need to slow down and find different strategies to involve the whole class.
I try to deliver my lectures as though I'm one of them. Learning with them and finding new ways to connect, can make the class more comforting. This seems to put them at ease enough so they may not worry about the subject, but become part of it.
