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Welcome to Esty Educator, a resource created exclusively for skin care schools and instructors. Delivered four times a year, each newsletter is filled with classroom tools and activities, important industry information, and links to ASCP resources created for schools and instructors.
Want to know more about how ASCP supports schools, educators, and students? Contact us at education@ascpskincare.com.
2024 Issue 1
Prepping Your Learners for the Test: Teaching Terms Properly
US Department of Education 150% Rule Update
Activity: Using Terminology to Analyze Quiz Questions
Save the Date: ASCP Skin Care School Forum
Prepping Learners for the Test
Teaching Terms Properly Can Make All the Difference
Do you remember when you first saw the terms proteoglycan or tranexamic acid in your esthetics training? I think it’s fair to assume these were not words you were familiar with.
For your learners, absorbing industry-specific terminology is like learning a foreign language. The way people learn any language is by learning vocabulary first, then using those basic terms to form and define more complex terms and bigger concepts, then eventually using them in a conversation. Outlined here are precise and clear ways to teach terminology productively for the success of your learners on the test and in your classroom.
Teach Terminology Explicitly and Systematically
Researchers say learners can grasp up to 22 terms during a three-hour lesson so long as terminology is taught explicitly and systematically. If terminology is not taught this way, learners can pick up only eight words during a three-hour lesson, if they are listening closely and trying hard to learn. Therefore, when you make a goal of teaching terminology explicitly and systematically, your learners absorb concepts more effectively.
Here are some methods to accomplish this goal:
- At the start of your lesson, identify, define, pronounce, and discuss the key terms you intend to cover.
- Provide learners with a vocabulary list of the terms and definitions.
- Practice the pronunciation of terms as you encounter them in the lesson. Require learners to speak them aloud.
- Verbalize term definitions as you encounter them in the lesson, then provide learners with a fact or example to bring the term to life.
- Incorporate brief pauses where learners pair up and speak the definitions to each other.
- Match images with terms on PowerPoint slides or other visual means.
- Break down terms into their component parts and root meanings so that when learners encounter the same prefixes, suffixes, and roots in other terms, they can critically think their way to viable definitions.
- Consistently use (and require learners to use) terms from the point of introduction forward throughout the entirety of the course and program.
Consciously Build Conceptual Understanding
Terms are just individual terms until you build them into concepts. When learners develop conceptual understanding, they can recognize how terms are related to one another to create a bigger picture within the context of the topic you are teaching.
Methods for building conceptual understanding include:
Navigation — Begin with an overview of all subtopics they will be learning in the lesson. Then, at the start of each new subtopic, return to the overview so learners know where they are in the lesson.
Concept creation—Build concepts using words, images, characteristics, beliefs, attitudes, sensations, emotions, and past experiences.
Concept application—Have students brainstorm situations where the concept is relevant, compare and contrast concepts to understand differences and commonalities, mind-map concepts, and consider how a concept relates to their own life.
Anchor the Learning
Anchoring is a method used at the end of a learning segment to reinforce key information.
Methods to assist in anchoring the learning include:
Quick quizzes — In pairs, groups, or as a class, work through short, 10-question quizzes. Learners appreciate multiple-choice quick quizzes because it demonstrates how they might see the information on an exam. Concept-checking questions—Supply questions that compare a correct statement with an incorrect statement to check learner comprehension and fill in knowledge gaps.
Terminology-specific activities — Design activities that require learners to review key terms, such as explaining terms in their own words, matching terms to written descriptions, labeling a diagram of a structure, naming a structure from an image, recalling a fact, or listing items that live together. ASCP School members can use SkinPro to complement this anchoring method: ascpskincare.com/skinpro.
While it can feel tedious and time-consuming to ensure learners attain and comprehend the huge number of key terms they need to know, the importance of taking the time to do it properly cannot be overemphasized. Not only is it the golden ticket to preparing them to be proficient professionals, but it also provides the foundation they need for passing their licensing exam.
US Department of Education 150% Rule Update
The Impact on Your School
A Texas federal judge has granted a preliminary injunction that halts the enforcement of the US Department of Education’s (ED) new Bare Minimum Rule, also known as the “100% rule,” until the court takes further action. The judge’s decision hails from the suit filed by Career Education Colleges and Universities and other plaintiffs.
Numerous lawsuits have been filed to prevent the implementation of the Bare Minimum Rule, which would bring an end to the era of allowing schools to offer programs up to 150% of a state’s minimum hour education requirement while still receiving certain federal funds on July 1 of this year.
This is only the first step in what could be a lengthy battle to ultimately delay enforcement of the rule, providing schools more time to adjust their programmatic standards, or overturn the rule altogether. ED is expected to appeal this ruling. Another suit for temporary relief, also filed in Texas, was denied.
The fact that two separate lawsuits filed in Texas have produced conflicting initial federal court responses illustrates the uncertainty around how courts will ultimately rule on both the “bare minimum” versus “150%” program length issue and other aspects of the gainful employment proposed rules revisions. That is why ASCP is concentrating its government relations efforts on assisting states as they reconsider their minimum required program education hours, ensuring they are prepared for any outcome.
Fortunately, state-level esthetics program minimum education requirements have evolved into a pattern that will be less disrupted by new ED regulations than is the case for some other complementary professions, even if the various lawsuits ultimately fail. A strong complement of 29 states—plus D.C., Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands—currently have 600-hour education minimums and an additional 13 states have minimums ranging from 650 to 1,000 hours.
Skin care students in programs matching state minimums will continue to fully qualify for Pell Grants and Title IV loans. Only programs with a length exceeding state minimums will have to reduce program hours. That leaves Alaska, Florida, Michigan, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, and Wisconsin with minimum education requirements that fall below the 600-hour threshold for federal aid. Florida is home to numerous skin care programs, some meeting a 220-hour minimum standard; others have a more robust 400-hour alternative. On the surface, it appears that many Florida programs do not rely on federal government aid for their students and, therefore, will not be impacted by new ED regulations. A few Florida esthetic programs might be impacted, as will also be the case in other states that have current minimums below 600 hours. These could be candidates for legislative or regulatory fixes to raise required education minimums.
It is important to note that among the states increasing minimum hour requirements, so far none have mandated additional education for currently licensed skin care professionals. ASCP will make retaining that status a core priority anywhere hours for new skin care students may be increased. Meanwhile, keep your ears open for news as the courts decide how they will move forward with the lawsuits. ASCP will be monitoring the situation closely and will keep you updated as it progresses.
Questions? Email our team at gr@ascpskincare.com.
Using Terminology to Analyze Quiz Questions
To further student comprehension, use this end-of-class anchoring activity to reinforce what students just learned.
Approximate time: 35 minutes
Directions
- Break students into pairs.
- Provide students with two five-question quizzes and separate answer keys (one quiz and key per student) and the following instructions.
- One student (facilitator) reads the first question and answer options to the other student (test-taker).
- The test-taker reviews the question, then identifies the key terms within the question and optional responses.
- The test-taker defines each key term in their own words.
- Using this knowledge, the test-taker chooses a response.
- If the response is correct, move on to the next question.
- If the response is incorrect, the facilitator and test-taker work together to fill in gaps and arrive at the correct response.
- After the first test-taker completes their quiz, students switch roles and move to the second quiz.
- At the end of the activity, discuss students’ experiences with the activity and what they found beneficial.
Save the Date: ASCP Skin Care School Forum—April 6–7, 2025
Join skin care educators from across the country to discuss issues impacting your schools and your profession. Don't miss this opportunity to connect with us in beautiful Denver, Colorado. Registration opens October 1, 2024. ascpskincare.com/ascp-school-forum
