use a bunch of props too make the lesson more intresting
I have noticed that students respond and retain better with visual props.
Hi Talin,
People retain 25% of what they hear, 40% of what they read and 100% of what they feel. We have to be able to involve the total person in the learning process so they will retain the needed knowledge and skills for career success.
Gary
In my field, I find "hands on" is the crucial.
Many of my students tell me (I'm sure you've heard it), "...I"m a hands on learner...", or "...I can't learn in the classroom, I'm much better at hands on...".
Dan.
Hi Dan,
"Hand on" learning is the center of much of what we do in career colleges. By engaging students in hands on learning we then can back them into content, theory and application. As they progress with their hands on they see that they need to learn more content and it keeps buidling from there. If we reverse this we in many cases may have them drop out before we ever get to the hands on part of the course.
Gary
I always try to have "the tools of the trade" handy while lecturing. Just listening to someone talk or reading isn't really the best way to involve the students in the subject. For my subject, audio production, I always have equipment at hand in the class room. If we're talking about microphones, I have several that I pass around, as well as some that have been taken apart so they can see what makes them work.
I too agree with/like/ and understand the need for hands on situations. I find the hard part is balancing the amount of time students need between lecture and lab time -
One problem is that we have a great deal of content to cover and very little time allowed during class for lab time. (the time they have outside class for lab time they have no guided help)
Additionally it takes to long to get going in the lab during class for short blocks of time. Because they are new to it all, and are slow to troubleshoot, it is difficult to get set up and we need at least an hour for them to realize what they are trying to accomplish (theory and application) and what they don't know and why they need more lecture. (content)
- Mark
I do the same sort of thing. The most fun I have is when I have students try and lift a fingerprint off an item by dusting it. They realize it's not as easy as what is on TV.
