Lesson planning has a variety of components involved in it. In my classroom, I try to incorporate some of these on a day to day basis. I have shared below, some of the things that I use in my classroom or plan on using in my classroom after having read more about them.
Characteristics of Adult Learners
When teaching adults, there are many different aspects that we have to keep in mind. Every adult has had a different life experience that they are bringing into the classroom and this is going have different implications on their learning. As stated in an article from The Learning and Teaching Office, “experiential learning allows adult learners to make practical use of their knowledge and apply it in a context similar to the way that knowledge would be used in real life.” Knowing that adults come from different backgrounds, not only in their experiences, but also from a cultural, geographical and perhaps even religious aspect will allow me to be more effective in my delivery in the classroom.
Creating a Positive Learning Environment
A great article called “Creating a Positive Learning Environment for Adults”, states that “creating trust, open communication and a shared learning environment is the key to creating a positive learning environment for students.” I like to have fun with my students in hopes that it will be translated into more learning for them. This also translates into the clinical portion of our course as well. It is important to me to find something positive to tell a student when doing a clinical evaluation before telling them what they can improve on. I also believe that it is important to share personal stories of my experiences in private practice when I am teaching because this allows them to see that I am human as well. Classroom rules for the students are a must, so they know what is acceptable and what my classes are going to look like. My students need to know that I am open to hearing what they have to say and that I care about their learning.
Motivational Techniques
Motivation, as defined in Student Engagement Techniques, is “the feeling of interest or enthusiasm that makes somebody want to do something.” (Barkley, 2010, p.9) The classroom atmosphere should be one where the students are motivated and enthusiastic about what they are going to be learning. There are different kinds of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is where a student is motivated my extrinsic or outside things, for instance, achieving honour roll status. Intrinsic motivation is where the student is motivated because they want to do it. They are interested in a topic and therefore they pursue that topic in more detail. Making students more accountable for their learning also is a great motivating factor for adult learners. How will I structure for motivation? I believe the answer will be different from class to class. It will require me to learn about my learners and what are their motivating factors. That way, I can revise my teaching technique to aim it towards what their learning styles are and what are their motivating factors. Here is a link to a great article, “Nine Strategies to Spark Adult Students’ Intrinsic Motivation”that talks about ways to spark intrinsic motivation in adult learners.
Assessment
By choosing to do a pre-assessment in the classroom, we can find out what the student already know about a learning topic and then re-evaluate what we need to teach them or what we need to stress when we are teaching that certain topic. One of the most valuable things that I have learned to do, as a very new instructor, is a post-assessment. The post-assessment that I have done and found to be effective in my classroom is the “muddiest point” technique. This allows me to go back to the class the next day and clear up anything that the students found a little confusing or found to be their “muddiest point” from the previous class. Being a new instructor, this has helped me with my learning as well. There are a number of great post-assessment examples in the article, “12 Awesome Formative Assessment Examples”.
Media
There are several reasons why I use media in my classroom. The main reason is that it breaks up my class into sections. I try to introduce the next section that I am teaching with a video or photo that will engage my students again after their attention span has reached its maximum. After I grab their attention with this, the lecture that follows related to what they have just seen in a brief video clip from YouTube or simply a picture. As stated in the article, “Why Use Media to Enhance Teaching and Learning”, most students learn better when presented in verbal and visual forms.
References:
Ballou, James (2011). Creating a Positive Learning Environment for Adults. Retrieved May 8, 2016 from http://www.brighthub.com/education/online-learning/articles/41064.aspx
Barkley, Elizabeth F. (2010). Student Engagement Techniques: A Handbook For College Faculty. San Francisco: John Wiley and Sons.
Battista and Ruble (2014). Nine Strategies to Spark Adult Students’ Intrinsic Motivation. Retrieved May 8, 2016 from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/nine-strategies-to-spark-adult-students-intrinsic-motivation/
GDC Team, Global Digital Citizen Foundation. 12 Awesome Formative Assessment Examples. Retrieved May 8, 2016 from https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/12-awesome-formative-assessment-examples
Pedagogy in Action the SERC portal for Educators. Why Use Media to Enhance Teaching and Learning. Retrieved May 8, 2016 from http://serc.carleton.edu/sp/library/media/why.html
The Learning and Teaching Office. New Methods in Adult Education. Retrieved May 8, 2016 from http://www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/lt/resources/handouts/adult-education-methods_handout.pdf
PIDP...Here We Go! 