How to teach a class without

losing the students interest

By Deja Banksdeja.banks@smail.astate.edu

Introduction

• It’s always a challenge to maintain the active interest of an sleep-deprived audience for such a long period. Even if it’s been some time since you were an undergraduate sitting through a large lecture, simply consider what it takes to sustain your interest at an academic talk—then imagine being tested on the talk afterwards! While the lecture material may seem inherently fascinating to the lecturer, even highly motivated listeners lose concentration periodically and must find ways to reengage themselves with the lecture.

The BasicsWho are your students?

Demographics age, ethnicity, gender

Prepositions In what context will my students engage with the course

information? Location Lighting & Sound Issues Time of Day

Basics (cont.)

• What will they understand/consider important?• What do you want students to know?• What do you want them to do with the information?

• Analyze, Apply, Evaluate!

Before Lesson

• Introduce content• Why it's important to you and your students?

• Clarify your objectives for students (cognitive and behavioral)

• Establish tone and expectations• Yours of them• Theirs of you

During Lesson

• Delivery of Your Lesson• Be conversational

• Talk bout material, don’t lecture!

• Pace yourself• Pause

• Before making new points

• Direct Eye Contact• Look around the whole room!

After Lesson• Plan a rhythm

• End class early• Summarize• Raise questions• Preview the next topic

• Frame/suggest an approach for assigned reading• Example:

• "As you read the next assigned text, keep in mind these three key questions we'll be discussing next time. . ."

Tips!

• Use your board!• Don’t talk while writing!• Limit amount of material you put on a slideshow!• Repeat questions if needed!

Tips! (cont.)

• Move yourself, don’t stay in one spot!• Answer questions directly!• Encourage questions!

Closing Remarks

• “To know how to suggest is the great art of teaching. To attain it we must be able to guess what will interest: we must learn to read the childish soul as we might a piece of music. Then, by simply changing the key, we keep up the attraction anil vary the song.”

Henri Frederic Amiel

References

• Ways to make your teaching more effective. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://teaching.berkeley.edu/ways-make-your-teaching-more-effective