Page 214 - Making Instruction Work

chap 17 3/11/97 5:12 PM Page 200

200 making instruction work

One instructor I talked with recently couldn’t under-
stand why students were uneasy with his course at the
end of the first day. Though it is a well-designed and
well-developed course, they still felt frustrated. “What
they want to do is to share their experiences with one
another,” he said. (These were auto dealers attending a
seminar.) “If that’s what they really want,” I suggested,
“start there. Begin with a session during which they are
encouraged to share. Then let them know there will be
time for more of that, either in the classroom or in the
lounge.” Don’t keep the good stuff hidden until students
have “learned the basics.” It works like magic.

2. Move from the big picture into the details. Since you
know the subject, you can think comfortably about any
piece of it and understand where it fits into the whole.
Students don’t have that luxury. They don’t know the
territory; they need a map. That’s what you’re there for.
So start with the biggest picture and then work toward
the details.

If equipment is involved, give your students an opportu-
nity to get their hands on it before they do anything else
and, if possible, teach them how to operate it before you
teach them anything about how it works. The rule is this:

Don’t expect students to think about the
abstract until they have something concrete to
think abstractly about.

In other words, give them some experience with the
“things” they’re there to learn about—get the concepts
into their muscles—before expecting them to be able to
handle the abstract concepts relating to those things. For
example, if you’re teaching people how to repair engines
or amplifiers, get them to see and feel and hear those