I would take a survey of each student learning abilities and plan accordingly where I would have a mixture of hands-on, visual, and audio techniques.
Provide various instructional strategies to meet the various learning styles in the classroom. Provide a short lecture, read an article, facilitate a cooperative learning strategy, and have students do a hands on activity relating to the lesson.
Hi Daniel,
This is a great example of how you can follow the industrial standards while still keeping the students engaged in the learning process. Keep up the good work.
Gary
While implementing relevant course content you make sure that the students are on track to pay attention. Relevant course content should include work that provided the student with the learning knowledge to complete the learning objectives of the course. You need to make sure that the course content is accurate and follows the plan which you have in place to give the students the best chance to learn. Relevant course content should be delivered in a varity of fashions.
For the subject I teach it is actual law to follow manufacturers instructions. In order to do that they must be able to read and understand technical information. Several student's preferred methods of learning does not include reading. I give assignments that are fun to give them a sense of accomplishment from interpreting written material.
The way that I accommodate the different learning styles of my students first off is to get a feel for all of them, I generally have them fill out this short assessment of themselves and one of the questions that I ask is how do they learn best? I will generally try to have a mix of delivery methods so that I try to cover everyone. I deliver theory, I will not only stick with power point lectures, I will take a break and sometime break the class into groups and have them discuss materials, write a short essay and so forth. In the clinical setting, I will have a brief discussion on the material, demonstrate, and then ask for a return demonstration. For me, by asking the learner how they learn best and asking for suggestions and feedback keep me in tune with almost every type of learner and also give me the opportunity to change things a little bit.
I take them on field trips and bring guest speakers into the class. I feel this will enhance their performance.
I try to keep my lectures short, to the point, followed by questions and class discussion. I use visual examples and demonstration as well as sharing my experience in the field.
I evaluate the class the first few days and make a determination as to where the critical needs of the class lie.
I agree that hands on for some particular types of courses are best. I teach Surgical Technology and hands on is key.
You have to vary your delivery methods and attack the senses. A good teacher will consistently look for approaches that appeal to the different ways students learn.
I try to plan instructin around as many learning styles as possible. If a straight lecture is needed to provide information, I limit it to 15 minutes and then do a hands-on project or break the class up into small discussion groups. It is always a better classroom environment when I use as many teaching techniques as possible so more student learning styles are tapped into.
I keep rotating an dupdating my material. I do not wait for a book revision to modify my course. I have students bring in current events. Also I have students do exploratory assignments that tie in with their majors and career choices.
Although I am limited in an asychronous environment, I post multimedia in the forms of mp3 and films, provide reading material in traditional and graphic forms, and try to augment classroom activities with mini lectures broken up with multimedia.
I have come up with a set of objestives that goes along with the text, and implemented that the students study and practice each objective, and can not move on to the next objective until the previous one has been successfully checked off.
Hi Scott,
Good strategies. You are coming at them from many different directions so they get a lot of variety which helps keep them engaged and focused.
Gary
By using a combination of teaching methods, I have found that my students excell and absorb the learning objectives. Multiple reinforcement
same material taught in different ways, lecture, visual aids with computer software programs, then hands on learn ing in the lab
Hi Heather,
I like this approach. It gives students variety in their learning and helps to keep them focused and engaged.
Gary
My courses are IT certification courses, so I need to cover a lot of technical material.
I use hands-on class work during my lecture, videos, hands-on lab scenarios in which students need to solve a technical problem, and small quizzes so they can see if they know the material.
Breaking up the 1 1/2 hour class into different activities like that really helps them learn more.
All quizzes and exams are essays, and I noticed that they take more thorough and careful notes during the classes so that they can pass the tests.
I try to offer a variety of teaching methods during each class session - mini-lectures, case studies, video clips, etc. As teachers, we need to learn new ways to address the needs of diverse learners, and have some knowledge about their backgrounds, lifestyles and expectations. Effective methods of instruction should include interactive activities and encourage collaborative learning among students. Since our goal is to assist all types of learners to learn, we do need to consider the various learning styles present, and remember that no one style or preference works for all students.
Some students will prefer to learn through practical experiences, while others focus on feeling, watching, and reflection. Others like to learn by reading and listening to lectures, while other students learn by doing and experimentation with new ideas. Very often, the students themselves will have a good understanding of their own learning preferences, and allowing them to share this with an instructor can really make a difference in keeping students engaged and satisfied with their educational experiences. Basically, our role is to be able to encourage and maintain student motivation and continued interest in the subject matter. This means that each of us as faculty have to be life-long learners ourselves and incorporate some new and appropriate teaching strategies into our repertoire.
