Class Discipline

You have ten weeks and ten 'chapters' (I guess) of what you have to learn. I'm assuming that means you might spend a week on each 'chapter'. You have sixteen students.

I would have them pair off into eight pairs. I would have each pair choose a chapter for which they'll be responsible for presenting some of the material (aside from the fundamentals and codes- the teacher should obviously do those).
You can decide how that could best break down - maybe they give an hour long lecture or prepare some practical hands- on activity to illustrate what you want them to learn- in other words, take over part of the teaching. Of course, you give them time in class to work on their presentations and give them classtime access to you, the teacher, so you can provide guidance, etc. This could be part of your daily class activity...

The best way to learn something is to teach it...really...I'm sure you've learned that yourself.
And they'll be more aware of what you're doing, what their classmates are doing, etc.

I've seen Aidan's solution work for many. It doesn't work for me so well as I much prefer independent study to the group exercise kind of thing--except in management classes where ability to work as a team or motivate others is part of the education process.

What I once found successful with adults was a bribe. (Not sure how legal this would be in all states.) At the beginning of a chapter or whatever, all who voluntarily choose to do so put a dollar or whatever into the kitty. (Everybody did.) The best grade on the exam for that unit wins the kitty. A tie would of course split the pot. It was fun to see how hard those folks worked to win those few bucks.

that's an awesome idea Foxfyre. I'd steal it, except that my students have always had such variation in terms of learning styles and success - sometimes the hardest workers STILL mess up on the test.

But yeah, for typically learning people - that's a great incentive - and YOU (the teacher) don't have to fork out all the dough for it!

I'll keep an open mind as I read though the ideas presented!

Well that's the first step teacher... (especially since you DID ask...)

What I usually did - and it mostly worked out to be quite successful - was letting my students work out own topics of their own choice (but topic related).
The result was discussed (and corrected) in group work.

That was at university, though, but worked quite well on grammar schools, too.

(I had the grammar school pupils only a couple of days [kind of "block-release"], the students at university had two hours/week.)

Having taken the Provincial Instructor Diploma Program the methods as presented are familiar to me, however there is truly no time for the type group and/or interactive exercises suggested.

All the 40 Electrical Instructors throughout the three campuses confirm this, there is barely enough time to present the material in essence, let alone the luxury of question/answers and group interaction.

I understand one can argue the methodologies suggested above are not luxuries, however if the material is not presented in a palatable fashion in a professional and organized class environ, then secondary considerations are moot.

Consider as mentioned the first day alone:

“The course contents and course load are rather demanding and compressed. At the end of the first day inclusive of general orientation, obtaining text books, reviewing the syllabus, locating lockers, obtaining tool tags etc I am well into Scalers, Vectors, Phasers, The Cartesian Coordinate System, Trigonometry, plus review of the prior year”

What I am most interested in are views pertaining to teaching adults in terms of keeping up the energy, keeping down the distractions, maintaining general professionalism, and sustaining good study habits in the classroom.

The types of things so far mentioned above would have to be done on the student's own time; assuming they have completed all their assignments, assuming they do not need math tutoring (many do), and assuming they are well prepared for the exams (which come every week and sometimes twice a week and require a full 70% just to pass).

Well then Foxfyre's suggestion might work. If these are adults who are motivated to complete, I'm confused as to what issues in terms of discipline and level of interest you might encounter.

If they know they have a finite amount of time to learn a large amount of material and their livlihood depends upon it - it seems they'd just put their backs into it and get the ten weeks done.

Are they paying for it?

I should mention there is a six month starting course called Entry Level Trades and Technical Training (ELTT). This six month stint would be a much more suitable venue for the types of exercises as suggested above.

However by the time the students get to my level, there is far more material to cover and far less time for it.

What sort of distractions? I can't imagine that a class of adults mostly age 25 and older professionals would be a serious discipline problem, but perhaps they are enjoying the class and each other more than is helpful for the time you have? I would think study time would be outside the class.

If you're confused then consider a given student's abilities, versus 10 weeks time, versus demanding course material, versus 70% to pass, versus a given student's existing skill set, versus 7 hours a day in school plus upwards of three hours a day homework, plus oftentimes tutoring.

Compressed trades/technical is a different animal then perhaps you might be familiar with.

Consider the context of the word "discipline" as it relates to my text.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discipline

Well they're not my students, so I have no idea what their abilities are.
I'm not an electrician - so again, I have no idea what the demands of that particular curriculum are.


Most definitely - but you put it out there on a general forum as if you were asking teachers in general.

If you need specific suggestions customized to your coursework and your sort of students - I'd suggest you ask the other electrician/teachers you work with who have been doing it longer than you have.
That's what I would have done.

Yup. In the opening post Chumly seemed to be asking for help with getting the students focused and the insertion of the 'distraction' issue struck me as possibly being a discipline problem in the context in which I used it. I have attended and I have taught seminar type courses where you have to cram a whole bunch of stuff into a very compressed time frame and these are rarely ever fun and can be as dry as dust. If the student comes away with one or two clear ideas, concepts, or understandings s/he didn't have before, s/he is lucky.

What Chumly seems to be describing--he hasn't really described it has he?--is a course in which the students have to master a lot of really essential and technical data. I would not covet such a task and don't have a clue how it is best done. So yes, get counsel from experienced instructors on that.

Hi Aiden and Foxfyre,

Yep I’m in direct, face-to-face, ongoing communication with the other Instructors; some of whom have been teaching this stuff for 20 years. They all say pretty much the same thing “it’s a tough cookie with no easy answers” (or words to similar net effect).

For what it’s worth I’ve also taught guitar both privately and in public middle school; the presentation, teaching skills and overall environ are worlds away from compressed-intense-technical-electrical.