Discussion-Sept 22

• There's an old adage I had heard regarding training: "Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, and tell them what you just told them." The author also says to use periodic summaries. How easy is this to work into lectures without being repetitive? Is this where handouts, outlines or access to the notes help?

• In regard to teaching an intro course where there are a lot of subjects to cover, what are some good ways to maintain a consistent and satisfactory level of detail across all subjects?

• How important is it to structure your class periods predictively? For example, should you always start with lecture, have an activity or discussion, and then summarize/wrap up at the end (for every class)? Or Have lecture one day, lecture and activity another day, discussion the next etc...?

• The book (Hartley et all) talks about how student's attention is highest during the beginning and end of class, and wanes in the middle. Should a professor gauge this and include the most important facts during the beginning/end, or should he strive to keep their attention the whole period? How?

• One of McKeachie's tactics for producing better listeners is to have them summarize the main points to a student sitting next to them, How effective is this at reaching both students who are friends (and won't hold each other accountable) and thoes who not interested in paying attention in class.

• McKeachie alluded to the fact that he's a less effective lecturer now that he's older than his students. What can you do to remain effective and relevant?

• McKeachie states that we should, "encourage students to take fewer notes and to listen carefully when you introduce new, difficult material." Would that be a less effective technique if the class exams are based strictly off of lectures?

• Is taking notes verbatum (from auditory or visual stimuli) more or less effective for students than paraphrasing or stating ideas in there own words?

• Are there other effective ways of encouraging productive listening by students than having them write summaries? McKeachie and his summaries. Sigh.

• McKeachie mentions that research indicates students can't actively think and take detailed notes (if I understand him) is there research that discussess the effectiveness of taking notes from an auditory stimulis vs a visual stimuli (ie what the teacher says vs whats on the board/overhead/powerpoint)?

• Chapter 6 states that lecture is the oldest teaching method. Do you think that lecture really does provide the most information or is there another teaching style that does? What about discussions? Are they really good at "proving the most information?"

• The author suggests that the students should take fewer notes and listen carefully when introducing new or difficult materials. Then they should fill in the notes later. Does this seem like a good idea, or should the student keep their same note taking habits no matter the material?

• Should instructors provide structure for student notes via powerpoint or overhead slides? If so, what type of structure would be ideal in helping the most number of students?

• What do you do when the entire class just sits and stares at you when you ask a question?