Maintaining Professionalism
I am currently an instructor at a technical school for audio engineering. Classes are small, hand on learning is our chosen method of teaching and students can vary in many aspects.
What are some of the best ways to keep students engaged during the entire class?
It seems as though the students get tired and start to talk amongst themselves towards the end.
Hi David,
How long are your classes? I have found that using mini-lectures and then activities help to keep students interest. Since I teach in the evenings, (4-10)I have tired students from their day jobs. As the evening wears on I decrease content delivery and increase activity. This way I keep the moving more as they wear down mentally.
Gary
I think the best way to keep the student engaged during the entire class time is to find the best method to keep them involed in the what you are duing.
Hi Viorel,
What are some of the ways that you use to keep students engaged during the entire class time?
Thanks for sharing.
Gary
I agree, I also teach night students and the class time is from 6:p.m. to 9:50 P.m. and it is hard to keep the students interested. You just have to plain accordingly. I feel that they enjoy the hands on more than lecture, so lecture a little and then do hands on and then lecture a little more, that kinda breaks up the bordom of the class. Shirley Cross
Hi Shirley,
I teach from 4 until 10 and I have to work hard to keep the students engaged. I really enjoy planning and creating unique ways of delivering course content to the night students. This is what makes teaching fun.
Gary
After teaching more than eight years, I figure it out that you should be master of your subject to control and teach the class.
Class of student, size of the class and lot of other factors are very important.
Thanks
You could create small group learning teams for collaborative learning and to report on what they learned during class.
Once you see the group(s) getting off task have them report out on the concepts and principles learned. Each group can ask questions to the reporting group. You can add clarity and depth when needed.
Explain these expectations at the beginning of class for additional learning accountability up front.
Hi Walter,
Good comments. Small learning groups serve a number of purposes as you pointed out in your comments. One of the things that I like about using the small learning groups is that it involves all students. In each class there are those "silent" or less talkative students. As the instructor it is sometimes hard to get a "read" on where they are at in the course. They may be shy or uncomfortable in the larger class setting. When the number of students that they are talking to and with goes from 24 to 4 or 6 they open up and start to share. I have found that after several of these sessions they are more willing to speak to the entire class when needed.
Gary
David,
One of the things we learned at our facility is that there are 4 styles of learning. These styles are somatic, auditory, visual and intellectual. We teach to all 4 styles because if you limit teaching to 1 or 2 styles, you are excluding the rest. In essence, if you limit your teaching style to only "hands on," the other 75% could be excluded. I Suggest incorporating all 4 styles into your presentation.
Good question, hope this helps. Great site.
I find it easy to maintain my student, by having them participate.
Hi Chantal,
You make a good point about student involvement. What are some methods you use to get the students involved in class discussions and interactions?
Thanks for your input on this.
Gary
