Adult Students as Learners: Creating Learning Environments
WORKSHOP "Creating Effective Learning Environments: Five Easy Steps to Effective Peer Instruction"
By Bennett Goldberg
Certification in College Teaching Institute
May 14th, 2015, MSU Union Ballroom
Description of the competency/workshop
A Foreign Language educator should create an environment for students where they can learn efficiently. Instead of presenting a boring class where students are passive receptacles, they should be responsible for their learning, especially because being able to communicate is a main part of learning a language. A good way to create a good learning environment in a language class is to be able to keep students engaged.
The workshop “Creating Effective Learning Environments: Five easy steps to Effective Peer instruction” presented the use of clickers: a good way to address these needs.
Description and rationale
The Power point created by Bennett Goldberg for the workshop is a valuable material which shows how to use clickers. It gives steps, instructions, examples (applied to sciences classes) and tips to successfully incorporate them into our own teaching.
I have personally created many “quizzes” with the same goal (keeping my students engaged). A good example is in my lesson in FRN 101 ChapP.-Voc3, slides 5-12. Students are asked think about ages at which typical American engages in different life events (when they get married, retire…). Not only are students using numbers (acquisition of numbers between 20 and 60 in French is one of the lesson goals), but they also need to reflect on their own culture and share their opinions with classmates in a communicative way.
Interpretation/Reflection on workshop
What skills and techniques did I learn that will help me become a better educator?
I learned how to create engaging activities using clicker questions, which is an interactive teaching technique. The questions can be either an application of a piece of knowledge that they have or critical thinking questions, and can be used before (as first exposure), during (as practice and feedback) or after class (for further exploration). I also learned some tips such as “don’t make them too easy, find a question that will prompt discussion, use clear wording.”
What things am I still uncertain about regarding this topic that I need to investigate further in the future?
I am uncertain if I really need those clickers. First, my department doesn’t possess the equipment which can be quite expensive. Second, the number of my students is limited to 26 per class. In a small class, raising one’s hand may be as efficient as clickers. Given that they are costly, requiring students to purchase clickers for my classes may be a poor use of their financial resources.
How can I apply materials from this session to my own class to enhance the effectiveness of teaching and learning?
To keep my students engaged, I designed some quizzes that can be used in my language classrooms. They can be realized orally with hands raised.
WORKSHOP "Creating Effective Learning Environments: Five Easy Steps to Effective Peer Instruction"
By Bennett Goldberg
Certification in College Teaching Institute
May 14th, 2015, MSU Union Ballroom
Description of the competency/workshop
A Foreign Language educator should create an environment for students where they can learn efficiently. Instead of presenting a boring class where students are passive receptacles, they should be responsible for their learning, especially because being able to communicate is a main part of learning a language. A good way to create a good learning environment in a language class is to be able to keep students engaged.
The workshop “Creating Effective Learning Environments: Five easy steps to Effective Peer instruction” presented the use of clickers: a good way to address these needs.
Description and rationale
The Power point created by Bennett Goldberg for the workshop is a valuable material which shows how to use clickers. It gives steps, instructions, examples (applied to sciences classes) and tips to successfully incorporate them into our own teaching.
I have personally created many “quizzes” with the same goal (keeping my students engaged). A good example is in my lesson in FRN 101 ChapP.-Voc3, slides 5-12. Students are asked think about ages at which typical American engages in different life events (when they get married, retire…). Not only are students using numbers (acquisition of numbers between 20 and 60 in French is one of the lesson goals), but they also need to reflect on their own culture and share their opinions with classmates in a communicative way.
Interpretation/Reflection on workshop
What skills and techniques did I learn that will help me become a better educator?
I learned how to create engaging activities using clicker questions, which is an interactive teaching technique. The questions can be either an application of a piece of knowledge that they have or critical thinking questions, and can be used before (as first exposure), during (as practice and feedback) or after class (for further exploration). I also learned some tips such as “don’t make them too easy, find a question that will prompt discussion, use clear wording.”
What things am I still uncertain about regarding this topic that I need to investigate further in the future?
I am uncertain if I really need those clickers. First, my department doesn’t possess the equipment which can be quite expensive. Second, the number of my students is limited to 26 per class. In a small class, raising one’s hand may be as efficient as clickers. Given that they are costly, requiring students to purchase clickers for my classes may be a poor use of their financial resources.
How can I apply materials from this session to my own class to enhance the effectiveness of teaching and learning?
To keep my students engaged, I designed some quizzes that can be used in my language classrooms. They can be realized orally with hands raised.