Issue link: http://ncumarketing.uberflip.com/i/1394984
Jennifer Weniger, PhD, LMFT Part-Time Facult y, Department of Marriage and Family Sciences Over the years, I have developed the following tips to help me teach and mentor successful students. These teaching tips were developed from student feedback about what was most helpful for them during their courses. Several students have expressed to me that they are busy professionals learning how to be a future clinician. They want their instructors to translate academic concepts into useful clinical interventions. Our students invest a lot of time, money, and energy into their education, and these tips will help them achieve their academic goals. 1. The majority of NCU students are busy, working professionals. It is my responsibility to encourage students to stay organized. During my initial contact with students – whether it is by email, phone, or videoconferencing – I try to prepare students ahead of time for busy weeks. I encourage students to plan for weeks that have a high volume of reading or several pages of writing. Encourage students to follow the outlined activities on the syllabus and not fall behind. Inform students that progressive and weekly feedback is essential to their growth and learning. 2. The practice of pedagogy is the translation of book learning to applied practice. Students look to instructors to interpret concepts and teach them how to apply them to future clinical situations. Instructors play a key role in providing examples about how theory translates into clinical practice. Even if a student is not in practicum yet, we are teaching them how to apply theoretical concepts in the future. We can do this by providing specific examples in feedback and by adding video feedback to augment margin comments. 3. Try to augment learning beyond the parameters of the assignment. Think about your student as a potential future colleague. Faculty are paramount in the development of these future clinicians and scholars. For example, when my students write a clinical assessment report, I emphasize to them that this is "practice for when they will write assessment reports as a future clinician." Therefore, they should write the report as if it were a real clinical report. If a student is struggling with this, then I will provide an excerpt from an actual de-identified report for them to reference. Teaching TIPS 6