Susan,
Good strategy to follow. The more you know about your students to more accurately you can plan your instructional delivery to meet their needs. I like to come to class early and chat with the students and have them share a bit about their lives with me because I can get a feel for the mood of the class during this time. Having a feel for the class is important on how I will start the class and which direction I am going to take the discussion.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I use various strategies to convey and hopefully cement key concepts, primarily those that are learner driven.
I use small group discussion of case scenarios as well as group projects, and collaborative exams to augment lectures.
Nancy,
I use this format as well. Small groups working on case studies help to get everyone involved and talking, sharing and interacting with each other. In addition, they help with the development of critical thinking skills.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Being that about two thirds of my classes are ex-combat vets these days, brings a new challenge and dimension to the learning process for these people. Emotional, mentally and physically most of these boys have been shot to pieces with demons that run wild under certain sights, sounds and smells, and can come out and show itself in the classroom environment. Being an old man now, Viet-Nam was my test of battle and to this day haven’t forgotten myself. But due to my own experiences have given me other tools in my toolbox.
Some of them have had their “hard drives†fragmented due to post combat stress syndrome and their normal thinking process have been overwritten by a rather long list of bad memories, which in turn can derail the normal learning process. Any good educator worth their salt understands that many times we are called upon to fix or repair the human before we can really teach them something that will serve them the rest of their lives. It’s a challenge but a rewarding one.
One of these tools allows me to spend some time with each one of them and talk about their military history, but more so their earlier days of their lives and the happier ones. Such as their first car, first kiss, or the day they helped win the football game. During complex accounting procedures that require a great deal of math memory recall, having the student assign theses math formulas to the good memories they remember allows for easier recall of the information. More than one time during a test when it is quiet and I can watch students randomly, every now and then I see a small smile from one of my challenged students where they have pulled a good memory along with the accounting requirements attached to it. Their test results bare out that the read/write abilities to the “hard drive†are healing and getting better. I hope one day to see some of their names in the Wall Street Journal.
Garry,
Thank you for these excellent comments in relation to the student population you are serving and how their past experiences are impacting their learning today. I commend you for the "hooks" you are helping your students to use as they learn the complex applications of math and accounting. I know seeing them smiling and/or recounting a positive experience in relation to what they need to remember on a test is what keeps you coming back to the classroom on a regular basis. You are impacting lives and leaving a legacy.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
You must apply many forms of teaching each day to get your students to relate to the subject at hand. We use hands on, theory in both practical application and through research. students apply the knowledge gaining hands on experience. Then the students research the techniques they applied and report back with research papers that summarize the historical and present uses. It is invigorating to read the theory that enlivens the students abstract thinking which pushes the students to creative use of their newly acquired skills.
Albert,
This is a good way to use the different skills and preferences of your students. You have them working, researching and learning in many different venues and formats. This helps to keep them engaged because you are offering variety to the learning process.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I try to give my students real life experiences to relate to the subjects being taught. I teach in the dental profession, so my students are hands on. They absorb and retain the most from the actual "doing" then the "hearing about it"
Donna,
The more realistic you can be the better. By doing so you are going to ease the transition from school to the workplace for your students. In my classes I do this by enforcing workplace behavior in the areas of being on time, working with others, dress, language and conduct. This way they can step successfully into the positions with minimum disruption.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Recognizing that students have different learning styles, I administer a learning style inventory on the first or second day of class to establish a profile for the class. I also use electronic responders during slide presentations to reinforce the students understanding of the material, or provide instant feedback of misunderstandings.
Unfortunately, as a math teacher with students from various majors, it is difficult to make the important concrete connection for all students. I try to do as much "hands on" in class as possible, ie. in class practice with immediate feedback, and I require portfolio work that gives students options to connect math to their major area of study.
By understanding how the human brain stores things, will help me in my future classes. It is also interesting to me to know when the "growing spurts" are in the brain. Some of my students are young enough that they may be in that 25-year-old category.
By understanding the basics of learning will help me formulate my teaching strategies.
Sherry,
Glad the information was of help to you and that you are able to use the content to develop your lessons to be more targeted on the learning needs of your students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I now have a better understanding of the many variables involved in effective learning. I always thought of learning as the 4 learning preferences, but now I realize this is just one aspect that needs to be considered by the instructor. I like to use repetition to help students become comfortable with a challenging concept. Now each time we repeat the activity, I will try a different approach. We can do the activity as a class, break into smaller groups so peers can assist each other, or break up the activity into different stations where students need to move around the room. I will also like to try to think of jingles to help the students remember the "rules" associated with the concept.
E,
This is exciting to hear in terms of the different strategies you are going to use with your students. These types of variety in learning are engaging for the students and they illustrate to them how they can learn the material in different ways while expanding their skill sets.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I can see now why pulling in student experiences and using exercises promotes learning better than using just readings or lectures. I knew this was true based on personal experience, but now I understand why.
Readings and lectures involve just the semantic aspect of Long Term memory as new information is formally introduced. Any use of episodic or working memory is accidental or incidental.
But pulling in student experiences to provide context for new information involves both the semantic and the episodic parts of Long Term memory.
And exercises require students to blend and synthesize information in the Working memory.
The more aspects of the memory we stimulate, the greater the chance that the learning we are trying to promote will take place.
David,
Your points are right on in terms of why we need to strive to make more episodic connections for our students as we teach through our content. These connections increase both application and retention of the needed content.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
By understanding how the brain works and knowing the age group of the students, it will enable me to apply different techniques to enhance their learning. Teaching math is a good example. I have many adult students who can not do basic math. I use everyday life examples to teach the concepts such as money, balncing the check book, etc.. which seems to work very well. It's applications they can relate to and want to learn.
