dealing with diverse student base
A concern I am having is dealing with students with different technical levels. Some are present with no experience while other have 3 years or more experience. Attempting to divide my time and motivate the more advanced students without losing the beginners.
This is true...but don't forget that all of us no matter what learning style still learn some from each style...it is a blend of learning that will make us successful...and able to meet all challenges...I feel it is important to show and teach the students to leave their Comfort zone sometimes in order to learn....
We may be strong visusl learners yet we still learn from listening and doing...focus on the main style but help them learn to use all available modes of learning.
I have different levels of experience in my classes also. I have noticed if you feed off of the experienced ones from time to time, having them share there knowledge in class that keeps them motivated. The real challenge is not loosing less experienced ones in the understanding. For the ones with less experience it may require more mentoring to get them to where they need to be, as well as good communication on objectives and goals.
I agree with one of the others that stated it is important to know what learning types students are, it varies greatly from student to student.
I feel that it is so important to understand that students learn on different levels and have a variety of learner styles. As an educator it is important to learn every learner style so that the educator can teach to reach ever student in the class. Overall retention is improved as well as attendance and academics.Just to name a few there are some students that learn by listening, some by writing (notes), hands on, visual, speaking which is simply participating. So when you use different methods in the class room every student as some point will feel that their chances of succeeding is just as great as the next student.
Amos,
Different levels of experience is helpful sometimes. Identify the experieced students and team them up with less experieced students. Peer to peer learning is very good if managed correctly. I try to start a class out by explaining that everyone, including the Instructor can learn from each other. My goal is for the experiece level at the end of the class be raised for all.
One technique you can employ is to team the students up in groups where the stronger students can take an active role in helping...this keeps them challanged and motivated while reinforcing the skills they already posses. Most will rise to the occasion and take the lead.
If not it is our job to assess the class and provide the same level of challenge no matter what the skill of the student.
