Teaching

· Plug-in module boards are what Peter Zakalske, KB1WJ uses to teach Ohm's law, and explain circuits. He also uses a 12-volt power supply, going over the basics with students by going through its schematics. He brings in an AM radio and a basic FM transceiver and explains how they work. "I invite students to my home to show, and explain, how to set up a basic HF station. I motivate them by getting them on the air with it and my handheld."

· During lessons about circuit components, Don Thomas, KA1CWM, passes out handfuls of scrap parts he gets from electronics stores or TV repairs shops. The lesson is more "real-life" and less theoretical.

· "The more show and tell, the better," writes Ernie Walter, WA0AUU. He bases his teaching on the TV show, Mr. Wizard. "Put some splash and dash in it. I ask hams to come to class to 'plant' questions. The more questions, the better."

· David Baker, N1GOI ,teaches code a few minutes before and after class. He made a distribution box and students brought their own headphones. "Students who don't want to learn code are required to learn s, o, r, k, w, n and a. I send the letters any time during class with a handy code practice oscillator. The students readily learn these through class unison reply. If they decide to learn code later, they have the confidence of knowing some letters."

· A carrot to dangle in front of your students when they're halfway through the licensing class and tired of studying is to show them the fun of having their own tickets. One way to do this is to ask ham friends to invite students to their shacks to do some third-party operating. Another way is to let students read about the fun of ham radio activities. You can ask us for free samples of recent issues of QST so that your students can read about hams enjoying all of the great things--DXing, emergency communications and the camaraderie of the hobby!

· Utility companies offer videos for free loan. Contact your company for a list. A Connecticut utility provide:

1. Electric Currents and Circuits: 17 minutes containing live-action experiments illustrating how energy is transferred through circuits.

2. Electricity and Magnetism: 17 minutes of animated demonstrations showing how forces of electrical charges and magnetism are related.

3. Our Invisible Friend Electricity: 17 minutes with important facts about how to avoid electrical shock, and introducing the ground-fault interrupter.

· What should you remember when presenting a lesson? Each student must know what in the lesson is important to learn. This expands on the "key words" concept used in ARRL training materials. You probably remember being in a class and thinking, "I don't know what we were supposed to be learning today." You can prevent this from happening after your classes. Before class, check the Instructor's Guide to find out what is important in that lesson. In class, introduce the key ideas right after the welcome and words of encouragement. During class, explain how your students will use what they are learning after they receive their licenses, besides needing it for passing the exam. Tell them key phrases to underline in the texts--the same phrases you use to remind you what to cover in that lesson. Try to have a demo or a talk by another ham, or a chart, handout or other reinforcing material stressing what's important. At the end of the class, go over the key points again. Even if some of your students are confused, if they look at the book during the week, they'll recall what was important, and re-read that section. Give out homework sheets to provide further review and strengthen key concepts. When you check the homework, you'll know who needs more review. So introduce, discuss, reinforce/practice and summarize what's important to know and why.

· Dana Cowles, WA8IWZ, of Charleston, WV, says:

1. "It is gratifying to see so many people are involved in teaching Amateur Radio. Having taught a few classes, I think that the most important thing is to instill a love for radio. Perhaps I sometimes lean too far toward the nostalgic, but I try to plant the right kind of seed, from which the mighty oak grows.

2. Next, I try to instill self confidence. Initially over-simplification (such as block diagrams) fills the bill. The questions about detail will follow soon thereafter. An informal atmosphere with frequent breaks helps.

3. In explaining basic electrical circuits, I find simple analogies are useful. To explain the function of a tube or transistor, I have likened it to a small person handling the controls on a large power shovel. The huge diesel engine (power supply) is doing the work, while the small person (grid or base) is merely manipulating a small control lever.

· You spend 1-2 hours in front of your students each week and you want to make the most of your teaching time. College classes on "how to teach," stress the following principles:

1. Readiness: Prepare your students for learning by getting rid of distractions. Get their full attention. Assure proper lighting. Can everyone see the chalkboard?

2. Intensity: Use as many student senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell) as possible to increase their participation.

3. Exercise: Practice makes perfect; repetition helps learning.

4. Motivation: Students want to be hams or they wouldn't be in your class; your job is to keep them interested. Show them how the skill or information being taught fills their needs and helps them reach their goal. Help them see success in reaching that goal throughout the class.

· Ever wonder what you look like standing up in front of the class? Big companies often put their executives on camera (videocamera) so that the executives can see how they act "up front." We know we should avoid shifty eye movements, refrain from using repetitive phrases ("uh", "you know," etc.) and gestures (scratching your head, playing with your pencil), etc. Here are some other thoughts: Are you relaxed, or do you stand stiffly with your hands on the lectern? Do you present a "give-and-take" attitude, noting when students do not understand, speak too fast, too slow? If you own a videocamera, set it up when no one is home, and record yourself as you lecture. No one else will see it, and you'll find ways to improve your approach. If you don't have access to a videocam, ask your students to answer some simple questions to help evaluate you. It may take courage(!), but make a humorous session out of it and show them your "personal" side --it'll create a bond between you and your students. They'll benefit from your improvements, too!

· Bill Wawrzeniak, WlKKF, and Al Alvareztorres, WAlNPX, teach evening classes. To find out about Amateur Radio class dropout rate, they talked with students as soon as they missed one or two classes. Here's what a few of them said: 1) "I'm not learning the code as quickly as everyone else." 2) "I haven't developed an interest in a particular aspect of the hobby, so I've postponed studying." 3) "I missed class because of work deadlines, and now I'm behind." 4) "I don't know what equipment to buy, so I've slacked off on my studies." Bill and Al designed a survey to eliminate students' pitfalls. Questions included:

1. Are you planning to get on the air as soon as you're licensed?

2. Would you like help choosing a rig or building and putting up an antenna?

3. Would you like one of us to be with you for your first contact?

The teachers offered one-on-one assistance for each problem. The extra attention boosted student confidence and Bill and Al's success rate rose to an all-time high.

· A demo of electrical and magnetic fields, by Ernie Walter, WA0AUU follows: "I use two coils from old junk (but still working) low-voltage transformers. One is for the primary and one for the secondary. Place one on top of the other and put seven to ten long spikes through the centers of the coils to act as the core. Connect a flash bulb to the secondary coil. Start with a six-volt lantern battery connected to the primary coil, and use a compass to show the lines of force. Nothing happens in the secondary--explain why. Then touch the wires of the primary coil to a 12-volt car battery (use a car battery because you need the current). Talk about what changed and why."

· Students sometimes need a little extra shove or boost of confidence. When Bob Spencer, WA2GYY, sees people hit an obstacle in his class, he sends a letter of encouragement to these students, and tells them the names and phone numbers of volunteers willing to assist students. The letter specifies which people will help with questions on theory, code, setting up equipment or erecting antennas, etc.

· Good instructors think about their students' traits and match instructional techniques to their needs. Consider the following range of traits and possible ways the instructor can deal with them.

1. Apprehensive about new material...encourage students in a positive, understanding way.

2. Sensitive to criticism...give tactful advice.

3. Learn at varied rates during the class...keep track of individual progress by listening, observing and noting students' skills.

4. Learn better through seeing or feeling...use all three senses in your teaching (plus a sense of humor!) to make the material more interesting, and to teach target words, thinking skills and the purpose of the learning.

5. Goal-motivated...enthusiastically pace students and give them a sense of success, patiently keep encouraging more study and reading by giving students names of good resource books or articles.

· Some students need a lot of explanation for electrical principles. But not all students need the extra help--you'll bore some of them to tears if you put the whole class through it. The instructor must:

1. Watch students' faces to see who looks like they don't understand the class demonstration or discussion.

2. Ask those students if they have any questions (don't embarrass them by asking them in front of others--they won't tell you their problems).

3. Check students' answers to the quizzes in the ARRL instructor guides, but don't give letter grades--just mark questions they should study.

4. keep telling them that you're available for questions, or to jot down what they'd like you to review.

5. If a lot of the class looks puzzled, make sure you're not teaching at a level higher than a Novice or Technician really needs to know.

· "Sample testing ensures success," says Loraine McCarthy, N6CIO. "Prepare students for a code exam by sample testing. In an eight-week General code class, I set a speed goal for each week. The first week I set the goal at 5 wpm as a review, the second week, 7 wpm, and so on. Each week I send a sample test at the goal speed and give students a 10-question test based on the text. Also, students check their copy for 65 correct characters in a row--we grade the tests as if they were real. I repeat this process each week. As we get close to 13 wpm, we can do two or three tests in a session. Students become used to finding answers in their copy and transferring these to the answer sheet. Students are more relaxed, confident and successful at exam time, through familiarity with the test process."

· Kevin Biekert, KB5AQV, says one way to hold students' interest in class is to supply them with the Amateur Radio industry's brochures, catalogs and classroom aides. Kevin relates the subject matter to lessons, for instance, he discusses antenna types when passing out antenna catalogs.

Homemade Graphics

by Terry Redding, WB5LMJ

New instructors may be too concerned about the appearances of his or her homemade training aids. Using chalkboard drawings or handmade vu-graphs can actually be advantageous over using commercial ones. During a lesson, the instructor's goal is to create a learning environment that enhances student understanding and retention. Instructor-made visuals improve this learning atmosphere. Commercially produced graphics can be distracting, more complex than needed, and encourage the instructor to present information not in the lesson. If the graphic is overly complex, students may find it hard to determine the important parts--the student thinks about the aspects of the graphic that are beyond the scope of the lesson. If it's overly attractive, the appearance may keep the student from focusing on what's being taught.

Instructor-drawn charts and graphs are unique; their uniqueness makes them easier to remember. We seldom remember commercially produced charts simply because they are perfect; their correctness is not distinctive. It works the same way as when we learn odd rhymes to enhance memorization of lists or dates, such as: "In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue." Even the lack of proportion in hand-drawn graphics may make them unique enough that students remember.

The important thing to remember is: the graphic must correctly portray the information to be understood and retained. All other aspects of a drawing can be less correct without detracting from material to be learned, and may improve students' ability to remember it.

Instructional Principles

by Carl Buehler, WB9ZAJ

1. If students succeed today, they will probably succeed tomorrow.

2. If students fail today, they will likely fail tomorrow.

3. Key elements of lesson plans include
   a) objective(s)

   b) instructional procedures and

   c) evaluation.

4. Signs of good teacher preparation:
   a) Teachers refer to written plans while teaching.

   b) Teachers exhibit confidence while teaching.

   c) Objectives are communicated to learners during the lesson.

   d) The lesson flows logically.

   e) Learning takes place throughout the lesson.

   f) Learners do constructive tasks (take part in demos, chalkboard drawings, code practice, etc.)

   g) Teachers have needed materials on hand and ready.

   h) Learners understand the language teachers use.

Teaching Ideas

by Tom Brownlee, AF2D

"You've probably tried various class organization formats. Here's our teaching schedule. The class begins with CW practice from 7 to 8 PM, followed by a short break. Theory comes next, from 8:10 to 9. We teach CW first because this is the only bottleneck for some students, and those students can then leave at 8 to study theory on their own if they wish."

He adds, "Because of the increasing use of computers by people in Amateur Radio, this year I taught CW by computer. Also, Dick runs CW practice every week on the area repeater, helping upgraders, and those students with scanners." Tom feels that the biggest problem is student retention; some students don't finish because of reasons beyond instructors' control, and others lose interest. To avoid the latter, Tom says:

1. Have lots of demonstrations: capacitors, inductors, diodes, frequency generators, volt-ohm meters and oscilloscopes--show things in action.

2. Have an operating rig, even a hand-held, and make QSOs weekly.

3. Have students send CW to each other.

4. Make the class flexible to suit the students' ages and backgrounds. Allow students to take tests when they're ready, whether it's after two weeks or a year.

5. Have fun! Tell stories of your experiences. When students want facts, they will read the book.

6. Don't keep graduates in a vacuum. Passing the exam is a beginning; welcome them to Field Day, hamfests, club meetings. Conversations about practical ham topics--antennas and QSOs--educate newcomers. Tell them where to get equipment and what feed line to buy. Invite them to the local Saturday morning amateur breakfasts (Tom's ham friends attend and check out used equipment for newcomers.)

Effective Questioning

by Carl Buehler, WB9ZAJ

Many variables affect student learning; one of the most important is teachers' questioning skills. Students' learning improves when they're questioned properly. They learn to think critically, remain on task and stay motivated with open- ended and closed-ended questions.

Use open-ended questions after students learn the basics of a concept. These questions have several correct answers, encourage critical thinking and require students to:

1. Take apart a concept to discover what causes what,

2. put learned information together to form a new whole (speculate) or

3. evaluate material upon established criteria. Examples are: What are similarities in a transistor and a tube? How would Amateur Radio be different if one of Part 97's fundamental purposes was eliminated?

Closed-ended questions have specific answers, should be used 90% of the time and

1. keep students participating and reinforce their knowledge,

2. help you check for student understanding by having them repeat the information in their own words,

3. cause students to use knowledge in a different situation, and

4. help guide students through unfamiliar material. Examples are: What does QTH mean? How many grids does a pentode have?

Things to keep in mind while questioning students are:

1. Phrase questions clearly; students can't answer if they don't understand the question. Consider students' abilities and vocabulary level when asking questions.

2. Don't answer your own questions, at least until the students have had ample time to answer. This "wait time" should be a minimum of 3-5 seconds. You'll see increases in students' active thinking, confidence, and the number of students volunteering answers and asking more questions.

3. Probe for results of student thinking with follow-up questions. These questions encourage students to clarify their answers, and help you further guide student thinking.

4. Put students at ease--very important! Monitor your actions when students are answering; your frowns, sighs, shoulder hunching, eyebrow movement or looking away indicate disapproval. Accept all answers even if you must correct portions by stating, "That's good, but not quite what I want. I'll rephrase the question."

5. Call on volunteers and non-volunteers to keep the lesson moving, students awake and involve everyone.

6. Ask questions before calling on individuals. Students turn off the question when they know they aren't being asked. Pose the question, wait five seconds and call on a student.

[This shortened version of Carl's paper can be found in its entirety in the 1992 edition of Proceedings of the ARRL National Educational Workshop.]