New Students/New Semester
The fall semester is off and running with a new group of medical assisting students. I was struck how different this group was from last year's class. The diversity of the group includes some young students and those who are a little bit older. They are more relaxed and less confrontational. They are quiet and very serious during lecture. I am not sure whether I am boring them to death or if this might just be their demeanor.
It is difficult to tell if you are reaching the group. I usually look out at the group to pick up on their non-verbal cues. If they are not very responsive and don't ask any questions, I will need to switch gears and try a different method. I noticed during the last lecture before the Labor Day break that they were a little bored. The chapters that we have been discussing are a little boring and it is difficult to make the material interesting.
For the next class, I only lectured about fifteen minutes with the PowerPoint slides. I asked them questions and did little talking. After fifteen minutes of lecture on appointment scheduling, I went directly into a practice exercise. I handed out Xerox copies of a physician appointment book and asked the students to complete scheduling for multiple physicians in a practice. I gave them various scenarios that included new patients, established patients and patients returning for follow-up visits. Also, students had to determine how many appointments to make for each physician, how long it would take to see each patient and factor in the physicians' schedules.
By lecturing on the subject first and then providing the students with practical application, the process made more sense. This exercise sparked conversation among students. They debated the reality of most physician practices and the high volume of patients seen daily in the practices. Factors such as no-shows and patients showing up late were also discussed. I think that this group enjoys interaction and activities more than lecture.
It will be interesting to see whether I have pinpointed what works best with this group of students. Part of improving as an instructor is admitting when techniques aren't working and trying a different approach.