Teaching

1. Teaching Art or Science ?

2. Objectives • Discuss different ways to convey ideas. • Understand how people learn. • Explore learning methods. • Discuss various teaching techniques. • Teaching technique exercise • Understand how to prepare for the class. • Discuss tips for teaching outdoors. • Review some tips for better teaching.

3. Different Ways to Convey Ideas • Training: Getting your audience to exhibit a certain behavior and implies rote and drill to achieve the desired results. • Teaching: Giving your audience knowledge that directs them toward a desired behavior because they understand it’s importance. • Educating: Bringing out the latent abilities by motivating students to develop their own decision-making capabilities. Well educated students apply knowledge through developing judgment.

4. How People Learn • The Spoken Word: About 15% of the spoken message received is a result of the meaning of the words used. The other 85% is the result of other stimuli like voice tone, volume, body language, and perspective. • The Strongest Senses: If we can incorporate our strongest senses into how we learn, we can improve the message transmission. Seeing is our strongest sense and ~ 75% of people learn best visually and ~ 13% of people learn through hearing.

5. How People Learn • Most people favor one sense as a preferred learning style. • We learn best by coordinating the use of all our senses – seeing, hearing, and doing. • We develop higher retention through active participation rather then sitting, listening, or watching.

6. Learning Methods Learning MethodRetention %Learning Style Reading 10% Verbal (Passive) Hearing Words 20% Verbal (Passive) Seeing Pictures 30% Visual (Passive) Watching a Movie 50% Visual (Passive) Seeing Demonstration 50% Visual (Passive) Active Discussion 70% Participating (Active) Giving a Talk 70% Participating (Active) Dramatic Presentation 90% Participating (Active) Simulations 90% Participating (Active) Doing It 90% Participating (Active)

7. Teaching Techniques • Lectures • Demonstrations • Activities • Inquiry • Teachable Moments • Storytelling, Skits, Role Playing • Learning Stations • Debate • Dilemma Situations • Discussions

8. Teaching Techniques Applied Now as we review a variety of teaching techniques, at the end of each technique we will discuss which LNT principle or what part of the LNT message would/could be best delivered using that technique.

9. Lectures • Most efficient means of getting information across. • Presenter has a pre-developed topic/lesson plan. • Material is read and expanded upon by the presenter. • Primary learning method is hearing/passive. • Can use visual aids to support the presentation.

10. Demonstrations • Demonstrations create a lasting image of the main lesson points. • Are most effective with audience participation. • Generally formatted as a “watch” then “do” type of presentation. • Requires proper setting and equipment or props. • Primary learning method is visual/passive with the “watching” followed by participative/active in the “doing”.

11. Activities • Activities are most effective for a variety of outdoor skills. • Includes games, scenarios, and skill practice. • Presenter follows a well thought out progression of information. • Presenter designs topics to generate questions from the audience. • Presenter needs to allow “dead space” for audience to think about the topic. • Presenter needs to include a wrap-up/review session at the end. • Primary learning method is participating/active.

12. Inquiry • A method that allows students to use information received to form their own conclusions. • Requires audience with some knowledge of the subject matter. • Usually a series of questions intended to stimulate independent thinking. • Often referred to as “guided discussions”. • Students learn from presenter as well as each other. • Primary learning method is participative/active.

13. Teachable Moments • Results from an unplanned opportunity. • Usually are numerous in outdoor education. • Educator needs to anticipate these opportunities in advance and have some idea of the information needed to be communicated. • Primary learning method may be either active or passive depending on the circumstances.

14. Role Playing, Skits, Stories • Important that the goals and objectives stand out so as not to be lost in the fun or uniqueness of this teaching method. • Works with a variety of skill and knowledge levels. • Can be used as a part of a larger lesson plan. • Primary learning method is participative/active.

15. Learning Stations • A very effective way to teach a number of different skills. • Very efficient for large groups. • Can be designed to fit a variety of circumstances. • Requires students to rotate to each station. • Stations can utilize hands-on activities, demonstrations, mini lectures, displays, and “browsing”. • Need to employ both active and passive learning methods.

16. Debate • Provides the opportunity to discuss controversial issues/subjects. • Presenter acts as a facilitator and a resource. • Students need to be well versed in the subject matter and/or given time to prepare in advance. • Adds perspective. • Primary learning method is active/participative.

17. Dilemma Situations • Are scenario based, usually around an ethical problem. • Requires an experienced instructor. • Usually are most effective if there is more then one “right” answer. • Students learn by discussion, reasoning, defending their choices, and views of others. • Primary learning method is active/participative.

18. Discussions • Rely on group participation and interaction to explore ideas and issues. • Can be free form, structured, or guided – the presenter decides which format is best for meeting the objectives. • Presenter may need to act as facilitator or mediator. • Works best with lead time for students to prepare in advance. • Primary learning method is active/participative.

19. Other Teaching Strategies • Team Teaching: employs 2 or more teachers working together on the same lesson, each presenting different segments or components. • Peer Teaching: utilizes the students to teach each other. • Guest Speakers: provides a different perspective for both students and teacher. Can be an outside expert. Needs to have clearly defined objectives and expectations from the teacher to be successful.

20. Teaching Methods Exercise You are assigned a group to develop a teaching assignment for. The target group will vary in age, size, experience level, and previous knowledge of the subject matter. Based upon your target group select the most appropriate teaching method to utilize in developing a presentation on LNT.

21. Group Age Little kids: age 6-8 Young kids: age 8-12 Kids: age 12-14 Youth: age 14- 16 Young adults: age 16-18 Adults: over age 18 Group Size Small group: less then 10 Medium group: 10-15 Large group: over 15 Teaching Techniques Exercise continued

22. Experience Level Day use only Some overnight Urban parks only Car camping Backpacking Previous Knowledge No LNT knowledge Some exposure Good familiarity with LNT Well versed/Trainer level Teaching Techniques Exercise continued

23. Preparing for the Class There are several steps to preparing for the class: • Organizing the material, • Preparing a lesson plan, • Sizing up the audience. • Selecting the appropriate teach technique for the material and the audience, • Site preparation – either classroom or outdoors. Now let’s examine some of these steps.

24. Organizing the Materials • Look for recurrent themes and natural transitions between sections or topics. • Utilize the lesson plan to formalize and organize these ideas. • Develop training aids – drawings, posters, maps, props, videos, slide shows, etc.

25. Preparing a Lesson Plan Parts of a Lesson Plan: • The goal or desired outcome. For example – Master Educators will recognize the need to teach LNT skills to as many trainers and BSA units as possible. • Objectives – define specifically what you expect the students to be able to do/perform after the class. Objectives need to be measurable and have observable outcomes.

26. Parts of a Lesson Plan continued Example Objective – After participating in a mound fire building activity each student will be able to build, explain, and demonstrate proper mound fire technique. • Lesson Introduction. Allows the presenter time to meet, greet, and trade basic information about each other and evaluate/size-up the audience. Needs to include an overview of what you intend to present.

27. Parts of a Lesson Plan continued • Motivator – a means to move from the intro into the actual lesson plan. Motivators can be in the form of stories, analogy, quotes/readings or any other method aimed at capturing the audience’s attention. • Body of the Lesson – describes the main content for the lesson in an organized progression. • Conclusion – Is the “Take Home Message”. Presenter summarizes key points. • Evaluation – Is needed to determine whether or not the students have met the objectives of the class.

28. Preparing the Class Setting • Prepare the classroom setting ahead of time if indoors. This includes arranging tables and chairs, display areas, AV equipment, lighting, ventilation, know where the bathrooms and break facilities are, and have student materials ready. • If an outdoor setting, plan ahead for proper site selection, durability, size, etc.

29. Outdoor Teaching Tips • Noise – avoid teaching next to streams, rivers, or windy places. • Comfort – plan for student comfort; shade if it’s sunny, sun if it’s chilly, and don’t have students face into the sun. • Durable class setting – avoid fragile sites, utilize existing campsites, rocks, stumps, downed logs for seating. Naturalize the area after the session.

30. Tips for Better Teaching • Rehearse your Lesson Plan – Practice makes perfect. Improves delivery, smoothes out the presentation and provides confidence. • Delivery – Utilize all the components for a successful delivery. The Components are: *Voice – use your natural voice but use varied inflections to keep things interesting. * Volume and Projection – Projection is generally necessary, but even more so in an outdoor setting. Use your audience for clues. Vary the volume for emphasis – either loud or soft.

31. Tips for Better Teaching continued * Tone– Use a friendly, relaxed tone to ease the audience. • Interact with Audience – This is a key element to a successful presentation. Utilize these components to improve interaction: *Eye Contact – this is essential to establishing a relationship with students. Avoid staring or singling out a few students. Make a conscious effort to look at each and every participant. *Asking questions – another good way to interact with audience as well as evaluating the success of the delivery.

32. Tips for Better Teaching continued *Movement – movement by the instructor helps heighten audience focus, awareness, and engagement. Don’t stay in one place and don’t pace – move towards audience or side to side. *Body Language – Be cognizant of your posture, hand gestures, mannerisms, and expressions. Be aware of cultural differences if teaching a group from a variety of cultural backgrounds.