Thursday, June 09, 2016

The first five minutes of a lecture

I'm writing this because of the article in Times Higher Ed about the
the first five minutes
 Its a great attention seeker, but IMHO article does not deliver.

Nonetheless,  its a great provocation. So just what do you do in the first 5 minutes?
Do you, as this article suggests, return to the last session?
Personally, that does little for me.
I would rather have my attention grabbed and run with it. Given alarge part of my teaching has been about human growth and development  I am more inclined to think about what wa slife like for you when you were  5..6...7 etc
And from such imaginings just what do you 'imagine' the theories say of such times. Are they right? wrong Somewhere in between?

Up until now Ive tried to set a scene using music that relates to what is typical af the age  group discussed;
 for example
Barney and the I love you, you love me etc song for early childhood,
You have a fast car with Tracey Chapman   for early adulthood...
24 by Taylor Swift for early adulthood...
Ed Sheeran lego house for later stages of early adulthood
etc etc

 but this has tended to produce a mellow start to the session. I think the provocation to thoughtfulness may be better.

3 comments:

  1. Good information with shorten time. thanks

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  2. Susan Carter7:18 AM

    Ailsa, your music sounds like a fabulous way to start a class, and a class where you critically review theory through the more trustworthy lens of human experience sounds terrific. You continue to inspire!

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  3. Thanks Ailsa, Good post. thanks for sharing the "Small Changes in Teaching: The First 5 Minutes of Class". It is really a motivational post. PhD students need such motivation to complete their dissertation successfully.

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