I totally agree that different needs of the students learning wise, makes the trenches become creative on how you should delivery the material. I also believe that the course content has to have some rigor in it, otherwise it will be a boring and lame class for all who take it, except the very uneducated students.
Reply to Laura Hogins's post:
This is great advice. Short bursts to address multiple styles.
Pushing students to think about the content and how it applies is more benefical then just presenting content.
The use of mini-lectures is an interesting concept that I hadn't thought of before.
I also neeed to start using more lesson plans and giving more active demonstartions inm yclass (5-7 steps max)
I found the section on demonstrations really interesting because I don't do demos and labs in my writing classes, but we do some class activities as procedures. Getting students engaged with one another about the content leads to better, deeper learning, and students reflect on the content more. Anyway, I need to remember, from this module, to keep steps in our procedures to 5-7 step limits. One way to do this is to break an activity across two class periods. That way, students aren't overwhelmed. They've had time to reflect, as have I . So, on day two, I can also review before we proceed and make sure I cover any info missed the previous day.
Make sure the demo materials are ready so the students stay focused and don't lose interest. Put variety in the lesson so it is not all lecture in one class period.
Research, plan. practice, demonstrate the topic or lecture and then observe the students as they practice, absorb the info and demonstrate the topic. great receipe for Edutainment.
As a professor I should make the class enjoyable and make sure the learning process is percolating to the students.
Reduce your class to several 15 minutes mini lectures and in between them have activities that will bring the students to the attention of the subject matter and what they have learned in the class.
use media support for your lectures, it makes classes more atractive.
Average attention span of adults is 15-18 minutes, we retain 25% of what we hear, 40% of what we read, and listen 4x faster than we speak. Combining different methods of learning will keep students focused and interested on the lecture being presented.
Barbara McDuffie
Practice makes perfect, no matter how could you think you are.
Each student learns in an unique way and by making your lessons plans variable in learning style you can get youri nformation across better. Preparing is the key to successful learning.
Lecture notes keeps you focused on how to prepare for each class session and adults retain 5-7 things.
Vary your teaching style to reach as many students as possible. Prepare your course demo and practice it.
Each individual is exactly that...an individual. With that, one must realize the uniqueness of each and realize everyone will have their own sense of learning style, as an instuctor I have to be sensitive to each unique individual. Thus I can provide techniques to everyone within classroom.
It's important to incorporate different methods of instruction to accommodate different learning styles. It's also important to break lectures into digestable portions, especially since attention spans today are much shorter than they were twenty years ago.
There are several type of leaners and as a instructor learner your students leaner styles.
This module was a revelation to me : just realized what a great lecturer I already am.
Plan, demonstrate, mix content presentation styles. Capture student attention at all times. Min lectures of about 15 minutes have proven to be effective.
To develop a lesson plan using a variety of different teaching methods. Students have different learning styles. Delivering instruction through a variety of teaching methods also makes the course much more interesting.
