Instructional Techniques

There are 4 things to know and understand about instructional techniques:

1. The Basics- General things a good instructor should do and/or understand.2. Knowledge Lectures- How to effectively and efficiently teach a knowledge lecture.3. Skill Lecture - How to effectively and efficiently teach a skill lecture.4. “Dos and Don’ts” - Popular “dos and don’ts” when teaching to people.

1- The Basics

The basics of instructing are easy. You want to be able to instruct some knowledge or a skill and for the students to be able to understand you through your method of teaching. This is easier said than done. Teaching in itself is a skill. Not everyone can teach and no one is a perfect teacher. There is no clear cut method or style of instructing. But there are a few things that, for the most part, all good instructors will do. If you do these things, the chances of you getting your message across to your students (and for them to retain this information) will increase.

There are many things you can do to be a good instructor. I personally have found three things to be key:

P- Preparation

D-Delivery

A-Assessment

Preparation- Being prepared can make or break an instructor. Being prepared includes a lot of things. The main thing is the core knowledge of the subject to be taught. You are the expert and in order to instruct on a specific topic, you have to know the SPECIFIC TOPIC. I know it sounds strange but I have run in to “instructors” who barely knew anything on the subject they were “teaching”. This shows a lack of preparation and will reflect on the student’s learning.

In preparation, you have to make sure you plan out what you want to instruct. Have an introduction to the topic. Explain how it is important to them, why they need to know it and/or where they would use this information. This will grab the student’s attention and make them aware that this information is important for them to learn and understand. Try to make a main topic, and then sub-categories. For example: If you were to teach different types of hammers, your main topic would be hammers and your sub-categories would be claw hammer, ball-peen, sledge etc. It’s a logical set-up and it helps the students learning. You should always start from the easiest to learn subject to the hardest. For example: If you were to teach about CNC

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machines before hack saws, it doesn’t make much sense. A good idea is having a time estimate. It will help you keep on track if you have a deadline. Read your notes out loud and time yourself. Be liberal and add time on for breaks and questions at the end of each sub-category.

Also, preparation includes preparing your training aids (PowerPoint, notes, over-head projectors, models, examples, etc.) and making sure they work before the class starts. The last thing you want is a training aid malfunctioning 10 minutes before your class is about to begin. Training aids are great tools in teaching. If you do not have any notes, presentations, or any examples of what you are teaching, your message may get lost in the student’s imagination. Your main goal is to make sure your students understand 100% of your message.

Delivery- Your delivery is your ability to get your message across to the students. If you want to be effective with your delivery, you should remember the “3 C’s”: 1) Confidence 2) Control 3) Concise.

Confidence is very important. Your students will pick up on your confidence almost right away. You’re the expert and you want your student to believe in you. You want them to listen to you and say to themselves “this guy knows what he’s talking about, he must an expert at this stuff”. Confidence alone can make people believe what you are saying. Even if you have no idea what you’re talking about, and you walk in the room with confidence, speaking like you know your stuff and acting confident (not being nervous, not questioning yourself, or tripping over your own words) and people will believe you.

Control is not as important as confidence but it can be the difference from being a good instructor to being a great instructor. Control is more or less “owning the room” as soon as you walk in it. Some key factors in control are a) letting the students know “who’s the boss” b) making sure people are paying attention to you and c) not letting people “walk all over you”. Each instructor has their own personal limits or “pet peeves” that they enforce. Example: chewing gum is my personal pet peeve and some other instructors could care less about it. Control is mainly for the students benefit, remember this. Most people need some sort of structure in a learning environment or chaos and free will can take over the class and disturb others.

Concise means expressing much in few words. You want your message to be clear and concise. Basically, be to the point. And mainly, try to stay on point. Instructors may get off topic because of questions and/or a story. Example: You start to talk about a fishing trip and get off topic, causing you to lose time off the overall lecture. But remember, being concise means you get everything you need to get covered and not to cut out information that maybe important. Just don’t add information you know is NOT important.

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Assessment- Your assessment of the students is very important. An assessment (or sometimes call a confirmation) can be a verbal test, a written test, a performance test or demonstrating a skill without help. This assessment can tell you if you are doing things wrong, if someone is having trouble and if someone is very strong on the topic. For example, you taught a lecture and give people a test and everyone gets below a 70% and most people fail. This tells you there is something wrong with how you are teaching the material and/or your delivery of the message to the students. At this point, ask the students what they are having trouble with and how they think you can do better (you’re probably moving through your material too fast). Another example, you taught a lecture and everybody gets 100% except one person. They show up late or not at all most days. You may need to talk to this person and see what issues they are having and if they really want to be there. On the flip side, the person is always in class and is still the only one failing. They work hard and they are doing the best they can. Some extra time and help may be needed. That is why assessments are important. You need to make sure your message is being heard and understood completely.

2- Knowledge Lectures

Knowledge lectures are lectures that are for information only. Most instructing is done this way. A knowledge lecture is the first lecture that should be taught on any subject. For example: you should not start a skill lecture on hacksaws without giving a knowledge lecture on the safe use of hacksaws, the different parts of a hacksaw, how to change the blades and what type of blades to use on what types of work, etc. Think about this; what knowledge do I want my students to know before I start on my skilled lecture?

Since knowledge lectures are infamous for being dry, there are a few things I like to do to keep people’s attention. Humour- Keeps people’s attention and everybody likes to laugh. Try not to over-do it… the odd joke or funny picture is all that’s needed. Ask questions in between sub-categories- It’s good for assessment and keeps them paying attention. Don’t always ask the same people, try to mix it up. Avoid a monotone voice- every now and then raise your voice to emphasize important points. It keeps them awake and it helps deliver your message. There are other things to keep people’s attention, but I find these to work the best. But every instructor teaches different.

Another thing about knowledge lectures is, because they are dry and boring sometimes, control can be an issue. Try to make rules for the students and make sure they know what’s acceptable in your class and enforce them. If it becomes disturbing to others, then they won’t learn as effectively because of their behaviour. A lot of this is common sense (i.e. talking to others while you’re talking, sleeping, coming in late, etc.) and use this to sort out the individuals. For example; someone has their feet on a desk, say “Do I go over your house and put my feet on your furniture? Then don’t put your feet on mine please”. Another example; Two people are talking and/or laughing while you are teaching, ask them “What is more important than my lecture? I’m pretty sure it won’t be on your test on Thursday. This stuff will be. Please pay attention to me.”

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Knowledge lectures are easy for the most part. By following the basics discussed earlier (PDA), through practice and experience, it will start to be like second nature. One last point, if you do start to mess up (spelling things wrong or forgetting a word definition, etc, etc) just remember no one on earth has ever taught a prefect lecture. Stick to your plan and some of these helpful hints and you will be successful.

3- Skill Lectures

Skill lectures are a bit different then a knowledge lecture. Usually you have to do a few knowledge lectures before you even do a skill lecture. A skill lecture is when you, the instructor, show the students the skill you want them to do. Skill lectures require a lot of practice time for the students since they have never done the work before. Always assume that the people you are instructing to have never done the work before. One big point, at least in my books, is safety. NEVER do anything that is unsafe in front of your student the first time you demonstrate anything. They believe that you’re the expert and they will copy your behaviour. Skill lectures, like every lecture, uses the basics (PDA) but they have another element. Since it’s a “hands on” lecture, there is another method of instruction. It’s called the EDI method;

E- Explain

D-Demonstrate

I-Imitate

Explain- Explain in detail what you are doing, why you are doing it and why it is important that your students be able to do it. This is important because it gives them an idea of what they should do. In this stage no detail is too small, given that your students may not have the slightest clue about the machinery and methods you are about to instruct on.

Demonstrate- Demonstrate exactly what you want the students to achieve. Remember, before demonstrating anything, you tell them what kind of safety equipment, materials, or tools they will need for the work you are about to get them to do. Make sure you follow all the safety precautions and try not to pass on your own bad habits to your students. If time is a factor, you can speed things up with having different stages of the project pre-made. For example, you are instructing filing, and you don’t want to spend about 4 hours filing down the surface of the metal until it’s a polished shine, you can just show them how to use a course file, then a second cut file then a smooth file on three different demonstration pieces of metal. This way, you just show them the methods on each different stage. A well prepared instructor would also have a finished model, made to perfection (or as close as you can get), so that the students can actually see and touch what they should be able to accomplish.

Imitate- After you explain what you want done and demonstrate exactly how to do it, they should imitate you and basically copy your work. At this time you check up on them and make corrections as needed. Always try to keep their confidence high, even if they are just “right out of er”. Your students should look up to you and may feel that if they are as bad as you say then what is the point of even finishing?

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If you follow these steps you can easily teach a skill lecture. As the expert, you should have the ability and the “know-how” to do the work you expect your students to do. And remember to crawl before you walk, and walk before you run. Never expect your students to jump steps, unless you assess them properly.

4- Dos and Don’ts

There are a few things that I personally like or dislike in instructional techniques. These are my own personal beliefs and some people will disagree with me. But I know what I’m talking about and if there is anything people get out of this, I hope they at least read this part.

Dos

1. Be professional- try to minimize chewing gum, drinking coffee, cursing, etc, etc. 2. Try to make your students feel confident3. Ask your students questions- it confirms your instruction4. Take control of your class5. Be prepared to help those who may need it (and deserve your help… you will know who

they are)6. Always be prepared (pens, pencils, paper, training aids, etc)7. Humour is good, but don’t over use it8. Stories are good, but don’t lose your students in the details (names, places, dates, etc)9. Allow time for breaks10. Give your students a “heads-up” on what will be assessed11. If you don’t know an answer to a question, tell your students that you will find out the

answer. And actually find out the answer.

Don’ts

Never use a student’s name when describing anything (good or bad) Never let the class (or individuals in the class) run you Never lose your confidence (NEVER) Never mock people Never do one thing and teach another (always “practice what you preach”) Try not to abuse your students (mentally or physically, and yes, I’ve seen it happen) Do not show any favouritism

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