Preparing to Learn

Author;  Kevin Williams, Department of Agricultural Science, West Texas A&M University

You are at a professional conference, lunch is over, and it is time to start back.  Think about all the things the average person will do during the lunch hour before the afternoon session may begin.  Eating is obviously one of the things, however, during a typical lunch hour there are also many other things that go on that are not related to the conference.  Many times this includes texts, phone calls, or emails back home, or even general conversations that have nothing to do with the topic at hand.  Therefore, when lunch is over it is the job of the afternoon presenter/teacher to get everyone focused back to what the conference is about.  This is not an easy task, but an effective educator will make it happen.  Today we are going to look at a key teaching step that can help an effective educator reel the audience back in!  In Education, we call this an interest approach.

When a person either young or old enters an educational setting, odds are he or she is thinking about a number of things not related to what is going to be taught at the time.  Our example of the conference participant after lunch would be just one illustration of this.  As an effective Extension educator it is our job as a teacher to lead people to where they need to be to learn.  Essentially, we find a way to get our students out of their world and into ours.  This is the time where we prepare the learner.  Just like a teacher must prepare for teaching, a learner must be prepared to learn.  This preparation of the student is referred to as the interest approach or icebreaker.  This is essentially the part of teaching where you, the teacher, try to reel your audience into what you are teaching.   Get the students mind away from what is not being taught and onto what is.  Ultimately, establish the need to know!

In terms of time, an interest approach will take no more than a few minutes of your lesson. However it is one of the most critical parts of any lesson.  It is step one of the four-step teaching process.  These steps include:  1) Preparation, 2) Presentation, 3) Application, and 4) Evaluation. The interest approach is student preparation (Part B).  Student preparation is crucial to get the students mind right for learning at the given time.  Madeline Hunter suggests an interest approach should take place at the beginning of every lesson, to spark the interest of the students (Masci, 2008).  Students will generally spend more time and effort, and consequently increase their learning if they know at the beginning of the lesson what they are going to learn and why it is important to them.  Getting to know your audience will assist in this process.

Broken down, an effective interest approach will accomplish three primary things.  It will link to something the learners already know, it will motivate the learner to learn, and it will provide overview of the given topic of the day.  Below is a closer look at each of these three items.

To link the new content, means you connect what is going to be taught with something from the world of the learner.  For most people, if you can connect your subject to family, finances, health, hobbies, or happiness your interest approach will be linked to their world.  This will start your teaching down the right path.  This will anchor what you are going to teach to things the learner already knows.  This is a valuable part of teaching process.

Next, any teaching method that engages people can be motivating.  Almost all people like to be active in the learning process as opposed to being passive onlookers.  Explore opportunities to get people active in some manner.   This may include online quizzes, riddles, scavenger hunts, or games.  Funny videos, or jokes can also do the trick.  Anything that gets people up and moving can work as well.  Ultimately, find something that requires their 100% attention.

Next, any teaching method that engages people can be motivating.  Almost all people like to be active in the learning process as opposed to being passive onlookers.  Explore opportunities to get people active in some manner.   This may include online quizzes, riddles, scavenger hunts, or games.  Funny videos, or jokes can also do the trick.  Anything that gets people up and moving can work as well.  Ultimately, find something that requires their 100% attention.

Now that we have described the three primary parts of an interest approach, let us look at some examples of ways to capture student interest.  Think about this as reeling your students in!  First off, in using your technology a funny video or funny cartoon is a simple way to capture interest.  As we know humor is a characteristic of an effective teacher.  With a funny video or cartoon, try to find something somewhat related to your topic, and be sure it is appropriate to a diverse audience.  Avoid dangerous subjects such as sex, politics, or religion.  Also, watch for language and screen your videos from beginning to end.  Nonetheless, there are a large number of fun resources available online which are appropriate and can get your lesson started off on a good foot.

More personal interest approaches might include a personal story, a joke, or even a riddle.  All of these approaches involve you speaking to the group.  With the story, you often times show a personal side of yourself as well as demonstrate some practical applications.  Your stories can also be funny!  For the jokes, you again lean toward humor, but again make sure it is appropriate.  With the riddle, they can be spoken as well as in print, either way; you hopefully get your group to thinking.  Each of these applications do take practice, so be sure to put some time into making sure your delivery is what it needs to be.  Tone, emphasis, and timing will all play a part in making these methods effective.  When doing anyone of these items appropriately and effectively you will again be starting off your lesson correctly.

Some other opportunities to engage your students and get them interested in your teaching might include games or card tricks.  With games they can be fun, but they can also draw upon a person’s competitive side to get him or her active.  With this competition be clear in your instructions and your rules, students will call you out if you are not.  Card tricks can be engaging and create wonder.  If you do not know any, they are easy to learn online, or you can even buy books about them.  Also, once you learn a good card trick, you can use it many times in the future.  Just make sure you can link it to what you are teaching.

Finally, with interest approaches sometimes you will need to go BIG!  What I mean by this is step out of your comfort zone and do something that truly amazes and wows your audience.  At West Texas A&M we refer to this as a “Big Bang” interest approach.  This might mean you get into a specific character and dress for that character.  This might mean you have a role play where your students perform acts related to your subject.  This might mean you simply get your students up and out of their seats and get them moving and active in the learning process.  Perhaps they build a tower out of straws, or draw pictures on giant poster board, there are a number of things you can do here.  The key is be creative, have fun, and be bold in your actions. Connect your “Big Bang” to what needs taught.

In conclusion, an interest approach is a small but powerful part of an effective lesson.  While an interest approach may only take a minimum amount of time relative to your teaching, it should lead off all your lessons.  When done right, an interest approach will engage your students and get them motivated to learn what it is you are teaching.  Even though there are a variety of ways to develop this attention getter, remember to link it to something from the world of the learner and tie it back to what you are going to teach.  Do this and your educational sessions can be more fun and your audience might be more willing to engage.

References: 

Masci, Frank. (2008). Time for Time on Task and Quality Instruction. Middle School Journal, 40(2), 33-41.