Few years ago, I taught Medical Terminology course, for medical secretary
students at King abdul azizi university in Jeddah. It was a big challenge for me. I only had a few days notice. The first thing I did was, I went to the bookstore and bought five books on the subject. Then, went home and started reading and mind-mapping the plan for teaching this course.
I knew the students from last term, I taught them general English. But this time, I was to teach them Medical terms. I felt that we both needed to learn something new. After laying down the plan for the course, I discussed it with them.
In the discussion, I asked them a number of questions to get better feedback and to engage them in the planning and tailoring of curriculum, so that they take responsibility for their learning. I was given full freedom by my supervisor to choose, and decide what to teach.
Some of the questions were:
1- What were their expectations?
2- What they expected to learn by the end of this course?
3- What are the topics that we needed to address in the course ?
4- How many medical terms they can cover per week?
5- Why this course was important in their study?
From day one, I felt students were fully engaged in the process of tailoring of the course. There were about fifteen students in the course. I took notes of all the students suggestions. First class was a workshop approach to help me and the students make smart objectives for the course.
When I went home, I sat down and did the necessary adjustments based on students needs, and what they lack, and skills they needed to succeed in the course. The second class, was the results of our workshop.
I felt we needed to add another approach to make this course fruitful and meaningful. That approach was the project-based learning method.
In next post I will continue my reflections.
