Re: Optimum lesson/session length - Teachers Discussion

Hi again "freeman"... Supposedly I will have 15 students. and this is what I have found and quoted/written so far to support my case to the customer...

The Optimum Learning Experience

For modern successful corporations achieving cost effective and quickly attained results is a reasonable if not essential business priority. With training however the need for speed and the illusion that doing training in large lumps is the best option can be a self-defeating idea and lead to energy sucking rather than value adding activity. Personal experience of many training courses both as a participant and a professional facilitator of nine years has me convinced that in learning the old adage that people learn by littles is correct. Accordingly, less information imaginatively provided to the working memory (bearing in mind its limited information capacity) reinforced by correctly timed refreshment activities is the only way one can achieve true long term memory of information and hence the real learning outcomes desired.

As one writer Lars Hyland Director of Learning Services at Brightwave puts it Smaller, more frequent learning spread over time and interwoven in the workplace is dramatically more effective than traditional single hit training delivery. He goes on to suggest its time to drop old assumptions. Its been said before, but I think weve forgotten. We are programmed to forget. So we need reminding. Regularly. So if old assumptions are inadequate and we need a new learning model what should it look like? To again quote Hyland In a phrase: Less Learning, More Often. He goes on to say that, Will Thalheimer, a consultant and learning researcher has found that spacing learning over time produces substantial learning benefits. What this means is that to train the long-term memory we need proper spacing of less material. Hyland finishes with a glib Remember. Less learning, more often. Dont forget! (*1)

There are of course other facts we need to bear in mind when deciding how to structure effective learning experiences as the following quotes point out Languages take immense effort to learn and people will only learn them if it's socially or economically inescapable. (*2) In particular the following quote is very telling Adults consider half an hour's study a day to be onerous. (*3)

The most troubling recent error modern educationalists have made appears to be the Block scheduling [which] is intended to increase time on task, but the achievement results are mixed with the so-called 4X4 block producing the least gains. Block schedules reorganize the traditional 45-minute class period into longer blocks of time that are usually 90 minutes or longer. There are various ways to configure blocks. Some schedules, including the 4X4, concentrate a traditional year-round course into a single trimester or semester. Students in this type of block schedule score the lowest on exams compared to their peers in traditional programs or other block configurations (Harmston, Pliska, Ziomek, and Hackmann, 2003; The College Board, 1998). (4)

As a further illustration of the point The Polytechnic - Editorial Notebook provided the following article (excerpts) from Two hour classes too long - Four by four system step in wrong direction. John Reynolds the Managing Editor says, As a senior at Rensselaer, (abbrev.) Id like to tackle the issue of the Institutes current 4x4 curriculum [four by four hour classes]. Rensselaer [has] instituted a program where each student take[s] four four credit-hour classes over the course of one semester. This adds up to 16 credits. One disadvantage of the system is that it requires students to sit through two hour class sessions twice a week. He then correctly points out the realality that for manyit is very frustrating to lose your attention span five minutes past the first hour of class. The article goes on Even with the occasionally provided 10-minute breaks after the first hour of these two-hour lectures, the content of the lecture becomes dull enough that many in the class are much more disinterested than they had been just an hour. (*5)

Of course the need to pump the students with as much information for the least amount of dollars often leads to the sin of Covering Too Much. From Cindy Curling teacher/librarian Of all the possible training pitfalls, the temptation to cover too much may be the most difficult. [abbrev.] When the time comes to decide exactly what a class will cover, experience tells us to choose carefully and to resist making class too full or too long. Students learn more when you cover smaller amounts of material thoroughly. Dont flood your students with information. Have you endured day-long training sessions where no matter how hard you try to concentrate, your eyelids droop and your body tries to shut itself down? This is your brain telling you, Enough already! People can only pay close attention for so long. (*6)

Finally this quote Adults can stand as much as two hours if you vary your activities. - Sally Olsen EFL Teacher (*7)

Richard Townsend

Refs:

1. http://www.brightwave.co.uk/01_01_21.htm
2.&3.http://www.zompist.com/whylang.html
4.http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/site/c.kjJXJ5MPIwE/b.2075763/k.AE1D/Key_lessons_What_research_says_about_reorganizing_school_schedules.htm
5. http://www.poly.rpi.edu/article_view.php3?view=1412?=1
6. http://www.llrx.com/features/training.htm Cindy Curling Electronic Resources Librarian for Fried, Frank,?Harris, Shriver & Jacobson in Washington, D.C. has been teaching?research strategies to legal staff since 1995.
7. http://forums.eslcafe.com/teacher/viewtopic.php?t=8246Sally Olsen

Re: Optimum lesson/session length - Teachers Discussion

Your questions are great Richard. I won't pretend to have the answers, but you've piqued my curiosity to the point where I'll definitely research it. In this particular case, I'd like to know how many students you'll be involved with, what their motivation level is and whether or not they've been involved in an intensive language learning environment before.