keeping the students involved
When i am giving my presentation i ask my students questions about the subject, what they think about the subject, and what are the correct answers to the subject. Keep them involved.
This is great. The more we can engage the listeners with the content, the more likely they are to pay attention.
Ryan
Agreed. My class is all lecture with almost no hands-on. It's hard to keep the students engaged sometimes. Asking them questions and also adding personal stories/experiences will help them stay engaged and paying attention.
So true. I've also found that case studies can help keep them engaged. I'm don't know your subject matter but giving them a real life scenario to discuss & analyze is a great way to keep them awake & connected.
When instructing my students in electrical troubleshooting I have found that by asking them to explain what they did helps their retention.
I really try to use traing aids and visuals to keep my students engaged. I like to have pieces and parts to hand out so they can see what it is I'm describing.
Another way I've found to keep my students engaged during a presentation is to pull out a service manual and hand it to the closest student. I then ask them to look up a specific point in the manual and have them refer to it when it comes up. Then they pass the manual to the next student and I ask them for the next piece of information.
I pretty much do the same thing. When we talk about certain perameters or measurements, I hand out catalogues so they can see where the different companies use these measurement options.
Another thing I like to do is hand out assemblies, and have the students compare different types. When they are done, we discuss the different types, advantages and disadvantages. This seems to really make it sink in.
This is one of the few ways I can make a presentation more hands on for those that are tactile.
I like to give my students information above of what we normally discuss. Then try to inform them the importances of that information.
That has worked well for me also. I try to balance "talking head time" with hands on reinforcement activities to keep the students interested and also to allow them to apply critical thinking skills to class material.
I try to engage the student by relating the subject at hand by applying examples of things they may have experienced in the past, or things that they may experience in the future so that they pay more attention to the subject, and how it applies to them.
willy,
Real life examples are a great way of illustrating the lessons & content that we are trying to communicate to our students.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Teaching online presents the challenge of not being able to see your students to guage their understanding and attention. The only way I know my students are paying attention and involved is if they type in the chat pod. I always start the and explain that they are encouraged to use the chat pod throughout the chat time. This helps students feel invited into the process. I try to make sure I have a question for the students on every slide to elicit a response from them.
Krishna,
That's great as this helps pull them in & get them engaged in the chat & the content.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Our Classes are a little different in that we have lab time as well as lecture. It seems that sometimes it is easier to bring the students into the lab to disscuss a certain subject. That way they are not just recieving the lecture but have something real to apply it to before they are graded on lab performance.
Mark,
yes, whenever we can combine the theory of lecture with the real world application our students will be more engaged & probably connect with the material better too.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I agree, using real life examples shows the students how what they are learning will help the in the career they chose. I also stress to them that what they are learning is extremly important to them succeeding in the real world.
I work hard to make sure my students are involved with the class by asking them to participate with demos and answer questions. However, I still run into students that just do not care. Even when I remind them of their future goals, they would rather go out partying with friends. Although it is our job to help the students reach their goals, the fact remains that if they do not want to be involved then there is very little we can do to change their minds.
Sarah,
I agree; & no matter how discouraging this may be to us, it is the sad reality sometimes.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I teach psychiatric nursing to RN students and they always appreciate specific examples of our topic of discussion from my own experiences with psychiatric patients. Learning from and remembering a patient who exemplifies a mental health disorder or problem, the students can then use that as a model when caring for a similar patient.
Sandy Mishkin
