Re: chunking, hands on, and youtube

More | Report Post

You might consider one or more of these ideas. I work with
developmental and online students; they tell me even one
helps.
1. Divide up the unit into smaller chunks of information.
For example, you could have them examine the head and trunk,
then the arms, then the legs. Or from the skin into the
body. Do the introduction, guided work, check test,
remediation/enrichment, and evaluation for each chunk of
information. When discussing the second chunk, draw
comparisons and contrasts to the 1st unit.
2. Reduce the lecture to the absolute minimum and increase
dramatically the actual work the students do. Have them work
experiments and draw diagrams and do verbal quizzes to each
other.
3. Many students truly desire their learning not via speech
or reading, but by viewing. Yes, use the textbook resources
and whatever you have availble in the department or the
library. You can also do a search for videos on google. I
just did a quick search with the term "nervous system" and
found quite a few. You can ask the students to view the
textbook resource and then view a youtube video and ask them
for a comparison/contrast - which is better. They have just
worked with the same data at least 3 times (book, video,
thinking about the comparison/contrast).

You might also talk to students who have successfully passed
the class, in particular those who actually struggled to earn
that C or B. They may have strategies you can recommend.
I've found straight A students don't always have the very
best recommendations; they may say "Oh, I just memorized
everything, or I learned in high school and remembered it."
The student who struggled to earn that B may have very
specific advice - make diagrams in the book, review that
website, learn this set of acronyms."

Good luck.
 

Posts on this thread, including this one