1st Post - Ways to Effectively Engage Learners

This is my first blog posting.   I am excited.  As I mentioned in my voice recording, I am currently teaching part-time for NKU in their College of Health Professions.  I am presently only teaching nursing clinicals for NKU.  However, in the past I have taught lectures.  Prior to my return to NKU, I worked as the Critical Care Educator for the St. Luke Hospitals.  As a Critical Care Educator, I was responsible for teaching the yearly mandatory education, Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), CPR training, and EKG classes to the critical care staff. 

My hobbies even include teaching.  Besides teaching part-time for NKU, I also teach community education classes in Pendleton County.  I have taught every kind of fitness class imaginable (Step aerobics, Kickboxing, Cardio-dance, Lift & Tone, Pilates, etc).  However, I am currently working on getting my certification in Turbo Kick.  I believe it is going to be the newest fitness craze.  The best way I can describe Turbo Kick is it is a combination of kickboxing and dance.  It is going to be fun yet challenging. 

My other passion is the League of Women Voters.  In April, I taught the U@18 Program with another League member.  The U@18 Program helps high school seniors understand their rights and responsibilities as an adult.  Voting rights and voter turnout were also discussed during the presentations.

As you can see every aspect of my life has evolved around teaching in one way or another.    The following are some of the ways I effectively engage my learners:

·       Gaming- Adults love to challenge one another.  I have used games such as “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” and “Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader” when giving lectures.  In fact, one year when I was teaching nurses I changed the theme to be “Are you Smarter than a Candy Striper”, and I actually dressed as a Candy Striper. 

·       Storytelling- Just this week, I taught an ACLS for St. Elizabeth.  I shared a story with how a dialysis patient went into cardiac arrest after skipping his treatment.  Storytelling is a very effective tool to help the nurses comprehend the necessary content and develop critical thinking skills.

·       Using smart phones- I encourage my nursing students to utilize their smart phones in the clinical setting to look up pathophysiology, medications, and procedures.  As an educator, I feel it is important to teach my students to become expect learners and use the tools that they use in other parts of their lives to answer questions that arise on a daily basis in healthcare.

·       Using YouTube videos and pre-recorded scenarios- I used this recently when I taught the U@18 Program.  We actually showed different scenarios and then asked the seniors how they would handle the various situations.  I found this to be very effective with this age group.