Teaching to the lowest common denominator?
I'm an instructor at a for-profit career college. Frankly, our admissions requirements are minimal.
In my classroom, I often find myself teaching groups of students who possess widely differing background experiences and varying levels of academic achievement.
If I design my lesson plans to cater to the lowest common denominator, my academic achievers become bored and restless. If I raise the bar a bit higher, however, my academic strugglers become discouraged and give up.
What can I do to reach a middle ground while still meeting all the course objectives and allowing every student to feel empowered?
Leigh,
Time management is really self management (as we all have the same amonut of time alloted, it how we use it that counts). Anyway, reaching all students takes some effort at times, and strategies such as you suggest are great to create a special connection with each student. There will always be levels of skill and knowledge possed by students in a class. Getting all to achieive the course objectives takes competent instructors who are willing to work a bit harder if needed to accomplish that goal.
Barry Westling
This is a common situation that I am faced with a the for-profit career college that I teach at. My thoughts are to not cater the lesson plans to the lowest common denominator but to the learning objectives and the level that the students should be at. I then set up study groups during the end of week 1 or beginning of week 2. Creating study groups allows me to pick and choose the students that need to be challenged or motivated with the material to students who need assistance with understanding and application of the material. I also spend extra time with students in the classroom by walking around and assisting in class assignments to those students who seem to struggle some. And the last thing that I might do is prepare examples that those students would be able to relate too. I believe that managing your class room time to students who may need a little more time in certain sections but to lower the learner objectives can compromise the course and overall program.
Hi Dorothy:
Another technique that might work well is to group "stronger" students with the students that don't immediately grasp the information and have them discuss concepts together. Sometimes, just hearing it from a colleague or classmate in a different way can help create a firm perspective of the material.
Regards, Barry
Joyce,
Peer tutoring can be a very effective tool. I think it works best in small group or activities involving worked exercises or skill performance practice. The strong lead the weak.
Regards, Barry
Lori,
In this instance, you can do a "check for understanding" activity. It's really simple. Following a teaching moment, stop, and randomly ask s non-volunteer student to restate or explain what was just said. If correct, all in the class recognizes this student as a potential resource. If incorrect, randomly ask another student. Repeat until you get the correct information you're looking for. Essenjhtially the teacher does not move forward until there is confidence the teaching point has been received and understood.
Regards, Barry
I found this 3 terms ago with a very large class I had. I had another instructor tell me not to dumb it down. Meaning I should raise the academicly callenged up to the level of the highest achiever. Althought this would be my goal I felt it was unrealistic to think I was going to be able to close this gap. So I try to work somewhere in the middle. But I always seem to have that one student who just doesn't get it. So how long do you stay on one subject for that student before you tell them they need to seek extra help outside of class time.
I find employing the better students as assistant teachers to the lesser able students works very well and the peer one on one works well beause they students can relate to each other and they feel more confortable with someone at their own level and they also convey tips about how they learned it on their own as well.
Hi Matthew:
One suggestion might be to form a variety of groups and assign your students to the different group you feel they will benefit most from. You can also consider adding a stronger student into a group of weaker students to serve as a mentor, moderator, or discussion leader. Then mix it up. Variety will add active involvement and perhaps improved learning outcomes.
Regards, Barry
I relate to this thread more than any other I've seen. I work at a technical school, and our students' demographics are all over the place. It becomes very difficult to teach in a way that reaches everyone in the class. It seems that either someone is left behind, or I lose someone from moving too slow. Dividing into groups seems to work pretty well, but I am having trouble finding other ways to keep everyone involved.
I focus on concrete examples that require base knowledge, but give examples that are more involved for the higher achievers and more concrete for the students who struggle.
Hi Mary:
It's said "no one is smarter than all of us". Thisd seems applicable in this discussion thread.
Regards, Barry
Hi Mary:
Sometimes teaching varied topics to a mixed group of people can be problematic. We want all to learn the essential lesson parts but many in the class could be at different learning levels.
Groiup discussions can help. Peer tutoring is another idea. Having students teach a portion of the lesson makes them feel good as well as shortening time the teacher has to spend.
Really, the more we can individualize instruction to reach all students, even if it takes extra effort, all will benefit from that effort.
Regards, Barry
I like this suggestion of designing assignments and assessments with varying levels of difficulty. We wouldn't expect a 5 year old to ride a mountain bike over rough terrain. Likewise we can't expect a student, with little prior knowledge, to write a dissertation.
Well said, I like that analogy. Collaboration and group work support the family example where the older (in this case the more experienced) assists the younger(the students with little content understanding)and all learn and benefit.
I agree with you. Or have each person take a try at teaching the subjects. That way they have to learn the information, then they have to translate it, present it, and then provide feedback to others!
I think a pretest is very important to see where some people are better than others. And to be honest try doing projects so that they are applying what they are learning instead of just tests. You will have people paying better attention in the long run.
Agreed and I also give each student significant room for self-determination as it is ultimately up to them...
Hi Martin:
Sometimes using a family provides a good example of relating t6o diverse abilities and motivations. Loving, caring parents treat each of their offspring a bit differently, but they share a common interest in seeing their children become successful, responsible adults. Perhaps there is some similarity in how we might relate to our students: different (individual diversity), yet similar (course goals, outcomes, and established curriculum). How those work together determines our successfulness as teachers.
Regards, Barry
I am in a similar boat and often develop assignments that can be done at differing levels. That way all can complete the assignment while they not all be achieving an 'A.' Seems to work for my students
In some of my classes I might divide the class into groups and give those high achievers additional assignments. I also ask those students who are excelling if they might be willing to work with those who are challenged.
