The Cone of Learning

As teachers, we give out a lot of information in a lot of different ways, and we don't always know the best way to present information for student learning.  Edgar Dale, an education expert, developed this "Cone of Learning" after researching memory and how people learn.

Using your Experience as a Student

 Excellent teachers use their own experiences to shape their teaching style.

Think of past teachers – Who taught you your trade?  Whose guidance was most valuable?  Think of what this person did that helped you learn, and see if you can do that with your own students.

In my experience, the most influential teachers helped me to think in an entirely different way.  They showed  me the benefit of questioning my assumptions.  When I'm confused about something, I can express what and why I'm confused because of them. 

For classroom management purposes, reflect on your behavior as a student during your training.  How did your behavior affect your learning, your relationships with peers and teachers, and your overall success?


Knowing the kind of behavior you exhibited as a student and understanding how your peers acted during your training will help you identify what kinds of behavior to expect from students, what kind of behavior you desire in students, and how to react to different behaviors.

Graphs

Graph-making can be an excellent educational experience.  The students must identify and distinguish items to be graphed, quantify or measure said items, and select a visual model that reflects appropriate relationships, which means the student must analyze those relationships, as well.  That's four solid objectives, right there.
Here is a site for graph making via Microsoft:
Pie Chart Template

More Graphic Organizers

Graphic organizers are easy, convenient ways to make sure your students structure information in a logical way.  Here is a site with a number of free graphic organizer templates to download.  Some of these may be more appropriate for secondary school, but most of them can be used at any level.

 These two examples help students keep track of hierarchical orders.  Visibly sorting information into categories and sub-categories is a valuable way to learn.



Below is an example of a matching graphic organize, which can be used to identify and differentiate tools (in this case, pliers), and further asks students to demonstrate appropriate scenarios for each.

Worried about online courses?

Taking a class over the internet is definitely convenient, but it can be confusing, too.  Here are some tips for distance learners or people thinking about distance learning:

1. Take a free online course as a tester.  Getting a feel for what an online course is like is the best way to get a sense if distance learning is right for you.  Many schools and organizations offer free courses, open to anyone, and on a plethora of topics.  You can almost certainly find a class on a topic that interests you for no cost, with no need to register, and no pressure.  Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) offers these courses to the general public. 

Graphic Organizers for Comparing 2 Things

Here are some graphic organizers you can print out to use in your classes.

The Venn Diagram - The standard for comparing and contrasting two related things:

This is an example graphic organizer I made, just so you get an idea of what it looks like.  You can use this for comparing techniques, equipment, theories, or almost anything else.

Create a Venn Diagram template for your own class

This organizer serves the same purpose as the venn diagram, but you may find it more appropriate depending on your taste.

To use this, right-click on the picture and select "copy-background."  Then just paste into a word document and print.  Mac users press ctrl and click to select this image.

Welcome!

Welcome UA instructors!  I designed this site to help you design your courses and write your lesson plans.  You can find graphic organizers, note-taking templates and tips, management tips, and lesson ideas on this blog, which (I hope) I will update regularly.  If you have a course-specific question, let me know and I will do my best to answer it.  For that matter, I will do my best to answer any non-course-specific questions, too.  Thank you for working so hard.  Without you, we'd be holding all our pipes together with duct tape and silly putty. 
Seriously though, UA's training program is only successful because of your commitment to sharing your knowledge and skill.  You make the UA great.