Teaching tips for training: Catch ‘em all! Part IV
by Nikki Rubinstein & Dr Christina Tuke Flanders
Last week Nikki took us through the power of Peer and Problem Based Learning techniques. In the last blog post of the series we are wrapping up by explaining the value of Assessment and Reflection in training. This is the icing on the cake and once this is a regular part of your training you can claim to be a real champion in the training room. For the final time in this series, over to Nikki…
Assessment of student understanding
How do we know if our teaching is successful? Ask the students! It’s important to gauge what students have learnt from our teaching in order to inform us of what’s working and what needs work. This can be done using either summative or formative assessments. Summative assessments are administered at the end of a course, such as an exam. Formative assessments are administered throughout the course, and can take the forms of questions or challenges that cover key concepts.
In teaching R, I find formative assessments are more useful. They allow me to assess student understanding online and adjust my teaching accordingly. The Socrative app (http://www.socrative.com/) and Kahoot (https://kahoot.it/#/) are some methods that facilitates online feedback. This feedback is important both for students and trainers. Students learn better if they feel a sense of empowerment over their learning and are give measures of success. Moreover, online feedback can help you adapt your curriculum to the needs of the students.
Reflection
Teaching can be tiring and emotionally draining. Talking to other trainers and helpers can be a good way to vent frustrations as well as celebrate successes. This debriefing is important to ensure that you don’t implode from frustration or burnout from over-exertion.
This year ResComs have had the opportunity to use the services of a Training Consultant to debrief after delivering training. This is an opportunity to reflect upon what is working well and problem solve what needs to be changed.
I asked Emilie Walsh, ResCom for CAD, what were the benefits of using a Training Consultant to debrief: "Reflecting on my teaching with Christina has been extremely valuable: to sit down and go through the training, breaking it down into logical sequences, finding some key sentences to get the attention of the audience, all of this has really improved my teaching. What I really like is that we focus on what is positive, what actually works in your training. Putting words on what is really engaging your audience is the best way to reproduce this in future teaching situation.“
Emilie reflecting on her ResPitch in the Colab at University of Melbourne
Can you see how these techniques could translate to the courses that you are teaching? If you would like to know more about different teaching styles, you can contact Dr Christina Tuke Flanders (drtukeflanders@gmail.com). You can also just drop by CoLab (Room 101, Frank Tate Building) for a drink and a chat. Or alternatively, come to one of our training sessions (http://melbourne.resbaz.edu.au/catalogue) and experience these teaching techniques first-hand! And finally, if you have any other teaching tips that weren’t covered in this article (or would just like to teach me something), please get in contact (nikkir@student.unimelb.edu.au), because I would love to hear from you!
