If you skip the lectures, how can your students possibly do their hands-on projects?

Short answer: We coach them over the rough spots. Keep reading if you want more detail.

Notice that the idea of "coaching" is not the same as just spoon-feeding the correct answers – or even giving hints. Actually it consists of helping the student mentally "connect the dots" and recognize how a new piece of information is related to a framework of existing knowledge.

Next let's talk about the lectures that you mentioned in your question. The students in every classroom all have different levels of experience and capabilities. So which level student do most instructors lecture to? If they aim high enough for Experienced Ed's level, then Beginner Bob gets left behind. Shooting for Bob's level leaves Ed bored. And of course, trying to cover all of the bases just spreads the misery around. No matter how you slice it, a large amount of time gets wasted in each and every lecture. We skip the lectures in our PLC Boot Camp classes – which lets us recover that wasted time and put it to better use.

Now let's see how all of this ties into our students' hands-on projects. The instructor makes the assignment and the students go to work. The instructor continuously circles the room and monitors each student's progress. Experienced Ed is moving right along – so the instructor doesn't even pause at Ed's station. Beginner Bob made it through one or two steps – but then he ran into a problem. The instructor helps Bob recognize the problem – and then provides just enough coaching to help him find a good solution. Once Bob is back on track, the instructor moves on again. Even Experienced Ed will need help somewhere along the way. Our hands-on projects are designed to be challenging.

Notice that Experienced Ed isn't being held back. Beginner Bob isn't being dragged along. Instead, all of our students are constantly working – and learning – at their optimum levels. That's something that just never happens in a traditional lecture.

Finally just ask any technician-type student where most of the learning goes on - while listening to a lecture - or while working through a hands-on project? You know what the answer will be. That's one of the main reasons that our PLC Boot Camps can accomplish so much more than other training programs. We skip the stuff that doesn't work – and concentrate on the stuff that does.

Note: If this hasn't completely answered your question, just contact us at:

843-437-1883          - phone

843-225-0512          - fax

ronbeaufort@gmail.com - email

© Copyright - R.H.Beaufort - Charleston, SC – Updated: May 14, 2008