Some people look at a printed page and can barely see the words on it. They might read a sentence but have a hard time keeping the whole sentence in their head. These people have no interest is what is being taught or they have a block about what they are doing. You can not teach someone "cold". You have to warm them up to it, spike their interest, make them want to focus on the material. Teaching can not happen until the student wants to learn. You must learn about your student first. Learn what it takes to open them up, to make them interested, tease them, joke with them, get them hooked on learning through success and by praising them.

I taught a op-amp class at a remote range a few decades ago. The class was filled mostly with ex-military that the last time they cracked a book on electronic theory was when they went through radio school right after basic. I knew I could not start with the book. So, I said, "How many of you have operated a fork lift?". Three quarters of the people raised their hands. "You were doing what an op-amp does." I used that fork lift model to explain feedback, positional error, slew rate, etc. I started the class with something they liked to do, operate heavy machinery. In 2000 I moved to Tucson to work at the local bomb factory and I crossed paths with a fellow that was in that op-amp class. He said he never forgot how op-amp circuits work because I used the fork lift analogy.

 

At the end of every trimester all students must fill out an anonymous Instructor evaluation form.

Hopefully, the administration will view them with the full knowledge that you will get some off the wall evals. There were evaluations after every course, and most had the positive platitudes. Very few were negative about the instructors. All I can say is have your objectives known and the standards for being successful published for all to see. The final "practicals" can have a checklist detailing the order of repairs and checks to be made. This will demonstrate to those administrators your not winging it.

I had one student, a foreign national, who left the class and went to his embassy and complained. The embassy sent him back and he wanted to take the test. His performance was light-years from stellar I got out of that class at 4 AM. Normally that test took an hour. He took over 8 hours. The state department inquired about it and was satisfied I wan't picking him.

A few years later, I was the Chief of that section. My instructor counseled a foreign national about their performance on a written test. I had asked the instructor what he thought the problem was. The instructor stated he thought the person had a hard time understanding the questions. So I had him type that on the counseling sheet. When I talked to the student I asked him to read what the instructor said about him. His eyes moved across the page. I asked him once again to read it out loud. He finally fessed up he couldn't read English well. I said that's what the instructor wrote. So, we solved the problem by giving him the tests the night before so he could have all the time he needed to take the tests, back at the visiting officers quarters. That became our standard operating procedure when we suspected a foreign national was having a hard time with written English. I never told the Commanding Officer about that till about the time I was leaving. With the first incident, I had talked to the Operational Commander for the first example, I had known him for years, and he said his objective for the foreign nationals was for them to learn something. I know that was the whole purpose for the course. So, that was the genesis for the second example. The solution resolved the time induced stress for the written quizzes and exams, and the results were within my normal acceptable standards.

Evaluation forms work both ways. No need to tread water when you have documentation to offset a targeted evaluation. Troubleshooting is procedural as well as having the requisite knowledge. Both can be on a checklist, with the knowledge being questions you can ask when the student is "stumped".

I know I am describing alot of work. Defending your techniques within the course objectives can be easy. After all, May V Smith said it well ... "the only place success comes before work is in the dictionary."

 

I taught a op-amp class at a remote range a few decades ago. The class was filled mostly with ex-military that the last time they cracked a book on electronic theory was when they went through radio school right after basic. I knew I could not start with the book. So, I said, "How many of you have operated a fork lift?". Three quarters of the people raised their hands. "You were doing what an op-amp does." I used that fork lift model to explain feedback, positional error, slew rate, etc. I started the class with something they liked to do, operate heavy machinery. In 2000 I moved to Tucson to work at the local bomb factory and I crossed paths with a fellow that was in that op-amp class. He said he never forgot how op-amp circuits work because I used the fork lift analogy.

An excellent example of associative learning. The best starting point. You also created a significant emotional event which helps with retention. I can imagine them thinking WTF? This is going to get interesting.