Keeping it interesting
I have been trying to brak up the instruction into small sections making sure to provide practice time for the students, thus reinforceing the verbal, and demonstration instruction. How ever my time is very limited so this becomes interesting at times!I have a bit of a delema, to much instruction and not enough time! Can anyone tell me how to slow down time?
Hi Michael:
Your efforts are well founded. For adults, the attention span is 30 minutes or less. So, breaking up your lesson material into small bits probably helps information retention by your students.
Regards, Barry
Delivering presentations in a variety of ways promotes the "spice of instruction".
Hi Luis:
True, true. Mixing things up keeps things interesting and therefore contributes to students retaing valuabble and needed information.
Regards, Barry
you know the old saying, it's like trying to
pack ten pounds of material into a five pound bag!
sometimes a review of then material with fellow
instructors can help
Hi James:
Keeping necessary information to just the approved student learning outcomes (SLO's) will diminish excess time and effort.
Regards, Barry
I HAVE FOUND THAT GETTING MY STUDENTS INVOVLED HANDS ON WORKS GREAT!
Hi Wilma:
Besides hands-on, many students find stories (good and bad), special techniques, specialized or varied multimedia presentations (video, PPT, etc), guest speakers.
Really, anytime you can get the student actively engaged and participating, they are much more lkely to remember what you're want them to remember. So, engaging students improves retention of knowledge.
Regards, Barry
The students respond more when I break up the lesson and do something else for a while then return to the power point. Sometimes I will change the discussion or ask the students to read out loud from their books just to give them a state change.
Hi Michael:
Good idea of mixing it up. Variety helps keep interest, students active, and more participatory in their learning.
Regards, Barry
A colleague of mine maintains that his math students have an attention span of seven minutes.
Hi Larry:
I've heard that for adults, 15 minutes is the maximum. Makes you wonder how someone can sit through a single media form for three hours and feel like the time flew by (i.e., when they've gone to the theater to see a movie they like). Must be something about what they want that stimulates their attention.
Regards, Barry
Hi James:
Try to consider essential elements of the course, unless you're under a rigid syllabus from your institution. I find that I can reduce some elements from my course. But understand that what I usually omit is supplemental not essential. For instance I use, maybe, three recipes from one category of food product. Under time constraints I will consider dropping one or two.
Hi James:
Try to consider essential elements of the course, unless you're under a rigid syllabus from your institution. I find that I can reduce some elements from my course. But understand that what I usually omit is supplemental not essential. For instance I use, maybe, three recipes from one category of food product. Under time constraints I will consider dropping one or two.
James:
Seems like great sugesstions and applicable to the trade.
Regards, Barry
James:
Seems like great sugesstions and applicable to the trade.
Regards, Barry
I have found that when we play games to review material, the students LOVE it and learn A LOT!!! Because I am a new instructor, I am not familiar with websites that suggest different types of games to play. In my class, we have played crossword puzzles and a Jeopardy type game. Any other suggestions?
Hi Laurie:
1. Stump the instructor
2. Guess the questions that'll be on the quiz
3. Overhead matching
4. Students teacing a segment of class
5. Test each other
Regards, Barry
I like to present some lecture, apply it to a "real" work experience I have had & then let the students discuss how they would handle that situation. I find it not only keeps it interesting, but when the student is involved they LEARN!!!
Hi Candy:
Involving students in discussions allows them to demonstrate their learning, perhaps do a bit of critical thinking, question, or answer one of their peers, all the while while you monitor, correct or clarify, and fill in missing or essential parts. The trick with discussion groups is to insure they stay on task and avoiding a socializing activity vs. a learnming activity.
Regards, Barry
