Читать книгу Critical Incidents in Counselor Education - Группа авторов - Страница 18

Many instructors assign readings to help students prepare for class so they can use class time to focus on discussion and activities without spending time reviewing concepts students can easily read. Although it is not uncommon to encounter students who are unprepared, it can be frustrating. Instructors know how and why the material is important, and they can see how it plays into the bigger picture of learning outcomes. Instructors get excited to hear students’ perspectives, and it can take the wind out of their sails to be met with blank stares and silence. Silence can cause instructors to have to think on their feet, rearranging plans to account for students’ lack of preparation. This is a skill all instructors develop throughout their careers.

There are some important considerations in this case. It could be helpful to consider students’ learning preferences. Some students may feel intimidated to speak up in front of the whole class, even if the class is small. Students may do better in pairs or small groups, where the focus is not solely on them. Although it might be nice to have a full class discussion, not all students are initially comfortable participating in this way. Another consideration is that some students learn better through experiences and discussions rather than reading. They may not get as much out of reading because there is nothing to apply it to in the moment. The relevance of topics at hand may become clearer once a discussion begins, an activity is done, or experiences are shared that can better contextualize the meaning of the concepts learned (Kolb, 2015). Finally, some students may not have actually completed the reading. Many professionals cannot honestly say that they have completed all assigned readings. Sometimes students simply do not want to do it, and so they do not. Other times they may feel overwhelmed; readings get cut from the to-do list in favor of something of higher priority. Sometimes students forget about the readings. Regardless, students are coming to class with no introduction to the topic, and they may be secretly hoping other students will contribute and save the class.