Teaching Evening College Classes
Understanding the Varied Needs of Different Age Groups
Teaching evening college classes can be a daunting experience. Large class sizes often reflect a broad age spectrum that includes older students with full time jobs and families, as well as younger students that cannot fit that particular class into a day-time schedule. Increasingly, older students are upgrading academic credentials to preserve careers, while recently unemployed students may be seeking new skills in order to transition to new careers in different fields. The lesson for instructors of evening classes is that the proverbial lecture is not enough to ensure that all students finish the course successfully.
Conversational Instruction Rather than Straight Lecture
Depending on the class size, the conversational approach may be a better gauge of how much students already know and how much material they can absorb in one class sitting. Additionally, this approach lends itself to greater discussion and student generated commentary. If students feel that they are a part of the process, they tend to stay awake, not miss classes, and are affirmed by the value given to their own contributions.
In a history class such as American History survey or Western Civilization, this may mean a conversational discussion of key themes or concepts. Students must still be held to a text so that they have the necessary background to follow the discussion. Discussing the causes of the 1929 stock market crash and the coming of the Great Depression, for example, can easily flow into comparisons and contrasts with current economic conditions.
This instructional approach also necessitates assessment methods radically different from the standard multiple-choice fare loved by instructors because of the ease of correcting. Assessments can include some essay-based tests, analysis of source documents, creative approaches like writing a newspaper article on the historical event under discussion, or even collaborative approaches. The ultimate goal should be to engage all members of the class without sacrificing content or concept.
What Students Don’t Know
Many evening adult students haven’t written a formal essay or research paper in years. This alone can cause enough anxiety, leading to students dropping the class. Instructors may need to spend class time briefly teaching how to successfully complete an essay or paper. This includes support material in the form of handouts, internet sites, and examples.
Too often, students lack the context necessary to understand lecture comments or phrases. The assumption that students know and understand terms that seem self evident may be one of the greatest problems facing instructors. Most students, both young and old, lack basic geographic knowledge as well as a sense of historical chronology. The instructor may assume that in saying, “in 1938, a plebiscite was held in Austria in order to join that nation with Germany…” students know what a plebiscite is, yet this is not often the case.
In history classes, using maps often helps students to better understand key concepts. The best approach seems to be using maps in text books rather than overhead projections. With everyone on the same page, for example, the instructor can more easily chart the events of the world wars, the westward movement, or any number of other significant concepts.
The Greater Burden of Teaching Evening Classes
Instructors sensitive to the varied needs of all students cannot follow a “sink or swim” mentality. To ensure individual success and eliminate attrition, a higher level of instructional stewardship must be employed that takes the instructor away from the security of the podium and creates a partnership in learning with the retired engineer, the just-out-of-high school nineteen year old, and the unemployed mother of two working toward an Associates Degree in the health care field.
Forsyth Tech Community College
|
What do you think about this article?
Comments
More in Education & Career
Latest Articles