Term Paper on "Designing Speech Course for Teacher Education Students"

Term Paper 15 pages (4307 words) Sources: 15 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Designing a Speech Course for Teacher Education Students

The objective of this work is to examine redesign of the current teacher education program at the University of North Dakota. There is interest in developing a speech communication course that would pertain specifically to teacher education students. The goal of this research is to review current literature in this subject area and specifically the current strategies in teaching generic speech communications 101 and then to tailor it specifically towards the teacher education student. This work will list the strategies, methods and skills required to become a more effective teacher.

EFFECTIVE SPEECH COMMUNICATIONS

Effective speech communications are critically necessary in the teaching initiative and this is noted in the work of Joan Middendorf, Director of the Teaching Resources Center and Alan Kalish, Associated Director, Teaching Resources Center, at Indiana University who state that "Instructors and students often have the same mental image of how a college class works: The professor talks (lectures); the students usually listen and occasionally write something in their notes. " (2007) However, according to Middendorf and Kalish, as "teaching consultants visiting a great many classes" they state that what they have found the actuality to be appears somewhat differently. It is noted in Middendorf and Kalish's work that: "Not infrequently, we observe students having lapses of attention. And we've found it's not enough to tell faculty with whom we are working about the problem. They're often aware of it already. One explanation for the lapses in students' attention is that the 'information transfer' model of the traditional lecture does not match what current cognitive science research tells us of how humans learn." (2007) Research has shown that information must be reduced into "meaningful chunks [of information] that we call categories..." As the human brain "does not record information like a videocassette recorder." (Middendorf and Kalish, 2007)

Middendorf and Kalish relate that: "Learning consists of fitting this reduced information into already existing categories, or, sometimes, of forming new ones. Categorization determines how a concept is acquired, how it is retrieved from memory, and how it is put to work in abstracting or generating inferences." (2007) Research shows that the attention spans of students are approximately 15 to 20 minutes and "that university classes are scheduled for around 50 or 75 minutes" making it a requirement that "instructors do something to control their student's attention." (Middendorf and Kalish, 2007) Some of the activities suggested are adoption of a "varied approach...and deliberately and consistently interspersed their lectures with illustrative models or experiments,...short problem solving sessions, or some other form of deliberate break...usually commanded a better attention span from the class, and these deliberate variation had the effect of postponing or eliminating the occurrence of an attention break." (Johnstone and Percival, 1976; p.50; as cited in Middendorf and Kalish, 2007) Middendorf and Kalish state by "planning exactly when to insert an activity, you can make sure your students pay the most attention..." (2007)

The following methods are suggested:

1) Student Generated Questions: Write a Question the simplest of these techniques: instead of saying, "Are there any questions?," ask each student to write down one to three questions they have about the material just covered in class. Then ask several (volunteers at first) what their questions are and answer them (or get other students to answer them). Writing their questions down gives them all a chance to work out what they really do not know and seeing the questions in writing helps them feel authorized to ask them.

2) Guided Reciprocal Peer Questioning: Show students a set of generic question stems (see samples below). Each student writes down questions about the material just covered in class. They need not be able to answer their own questions; the purpose is to generate discussion.

3) Press Conference: Alone or in pairs, students generate press-conference style questions to ask you or a panel of students who had been assigned to prepare on the topic.

4) Exam Questions: Alone, or in pairs, or groups of three, students write an exam question about material just covered in class. (They should follow the format of your actual exam - essay, multiple-choice, etc.) After a brief time for discussion, you select at least four groups to report their questions to the whole class. Write these on the board and ask other students to critique them (give specific criteria). You can collect all of the questions in writing; use the best ones on the exam!

6) Send a Problem: Each team member writes a review question on a card and her teammates try to answer it, writing their consensus on the back. The cards are then passed to the other teams for their answers.

7) Student-Developed Cases: Alone or in small groups, ask students to develop a case (a fictional situation which presents a problem) based on the theory of the current topic. This can be done in class, as homework, or both. The class should then discuss several of the cases.

8) Minute Papers: At the end of a class or a section of material, ask your students to write for a minute or three. Questions such as "What was the most important point of today's class?" Or "What question do you still have about this material?" give you important feedback about the students' comprehension and a useful starting point for the next class.

9) Think (or Write) - Pair - Share: Pose a question which requires analysis, evaluation, or synthesis. Each student thinks or writes on this question for one minute, then turns to the person next to him to compare ideas. Then the pairs share their ideas with some larger group (pairs of pairs, section of the class, or whole group).

10) Paired Discussions: In three or four minutes, have students discuss something with the person next to them: summarize class so far; react to theory, concepts, or information being presented; relate today's material to past learning; etc. Make your question as specific as you can

11) Practice Exam Question or Homework Problem: Give the students a sample exam question or homework problem for practice. Either works quite well with more quantitative problems. Ask several students at random to report their answers to the class. Giving the students a chance to practice the type of questions they might see on homework assignments or examinations will give them more confidence when they have to work them alone.

12) Finding Illustrative Quotations: Alone or in small groups, ask students to reread the text for the day to find quotations to support a specific position. You can have all groups look for support for the same position or several different ones.

13) Concrete Images: To help students to make specific references to the text, go around the room and ask each one to state a concrete image/scene/event/moment that stands out to them. List them on the board. Follow up by having them find themes or patterns, missing points, etc. Then discussion can move to analysis with a common collection of facts.

14) Brainstorming: Help students to see what they know by recording all of their ideas, recollections, etc. On the board. Ask students to call out any ideas they have. Write the ideas down first without analyzing them, then move to critical discussion.

15) Buzz Groups: Give one or two prepared questions to groups of three to five students. Each group records its discussion and reports to the whole class. Then help the class synthesize the groups' answers.

16) Roundtable: A brainstorming technique in which students take turns writing on a single pad of paper, saying their ideas aloud as they write. Each tries to add to what has already been said.

17) Truth Statements: Ask several small groups to decide on three things they know to be true about some particular issue. This is useful when introducing a new topic which students think they know a great deal, but their assumptions about it need to be examined. (18) Picture Making: Choose (perhaps with help from class) several principles or questions which could be illustrated. Groups of four or five students each illustrate one on the board or on large chart paper. Each group explains its picture to the class, followed by discussion.

19) Kisses and Crackers: To overcome the flagging of attention, when you notice energy and attention diminishing, pass out crackers and Hershey's kisses. The professor who taught us this technique tells us that research in "accelerated learning" shows that eating about once per hour actually promotes learning. Not only does the food wake students up, the mere act of passing the bags around changes the activity and refocuses attention. He says that this also helps students feel good about his class and him and to overcome science anxiety.

20) Structured Controversy: Class members (or groups) to take different positions on an issue (you can assign positions), discussing, researching, and sharing their findings with the class.

21) Reaction Sheet: After presenting a controversial topic, pass around several sheets to… READ MORE

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