Supporting the learning styles of your students
Why is it important to provide approaches and resources that complement the learning styles of your students?
Hi Sarah, Thanks for your post to the forum. Too often those insecurities date from their K-12 days. I encounter this often in the Speech class that I teach. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
It is important because it is our job as educators to help our students succeed. I often have students come into my classroom on the first day saying things like, “I don’t like this subjectâ€, or “I am really bad at this, I always have beenâ€. Usually, once I get to know my students and adapt lessons to their learning style, I can help them overcome those feelings about the subject. It’s incredibly rewarding to help a student move from a place of frustration to competence in the course of only a few weeks. Teaching to a variety of learning styles is what bridges that gap.
I often facilitate a modified version of the Leadership Compass early on in my classes. This not only gives me information for how best to instruct, but also gives the students an opportunity to reflect on their learning style(s) as well. My hope is that if students know more about how they work best, they can advocate for themselves as they move forward in school and in their careers.
Providing different approaches and resources during class helps keep the class interesting for all students and provides a unique form of structure to fit the different learning styles of students.
Hi Ed, I am glad that you have found this class enlightening! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
Before this course, I was only vaguely aware of work in the area of identifying individual "styles" of processing information.
Imagine 27! different perceptual...what?...approaches? Still the four general categories make sense to me. The idea that if one, as instructor, delivers course content in only one way, only 50 to 60% of the class will be comfortable and receptive.
I don't have much to say other than that, understanding this, I will make an effort at a much more heterogeneous delivery.
Ed
Two main reasons, I think. First, to allow all students the best chance to learn by weighting the course as fairly as possible. Second, to introduce a variety of approaches that will accommodate and also challenge students in as many ways as possible.
Hi Heather, Thanks for your post to the forum. can see that you are well in touch with your students! We do seem do have so much diversity in our classrooms these days! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
Every student learns differently. This is especially true when you have wide genarational gaps in the classroom. I try to provide activities that use everyone's learning styles. Although I cannot always get them used, I do try to approach each new lesson in various ways. My Gen Y students want to type and upload everything. My babyboomers want to write everything. To them writing is what helps them absorb. I have some studnets in online classes that still write down all of their answers before they begin to type. So it is important because it is necessary to teh success of our students.
It's important to know the strengths of the students learning styles, so then the students will want to learn more about the subject at hand. As the module stated, no matter what learning style the student may have also throw in kinesthetic into the learning. If the students uses their hands/body it will stick with them longer to be able to recall at a later date.
Each student learns in her/his own way-I recognize this fact and so I make every attempt to teach/instruct/lecture/demonstrate so that everyone has an equal opportunity to receive the course material.
Hi Summer, Thanks for your post to the forum. Many of the students at our career college are clearly kinesthetic and hated high school because, as in your example, everyday was lectures. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
It is important to be able accomodate all students and their preferred learning method. Having the different approached keeps all students interested and motivated to come to class. Example: The worst thing for a kinesthetic learner would be to go to a class everyday that only offers lecture. The student will most likely not do well and may be more likely to drop.
Hi Alfonso, Thanks for your post to the forum. You are wise to tailor your instruction to your students as it clearly can improve their learning! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
Hi Rebecca, Thanks for sharing an excellent example! I agree that it is better to vary delivery modes in our classes. Students can learn to adapt to other styles and will certainly need to do so in the work place. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
Its very important to provide different styles and be flexible with your approaches with adult students due to not everyone learns the same nor has the same attention span. I, personally, take the approach of teaching one way and study the students reaction to it. Then I switch or combine that method with another one to fit towards the majority of my students.
We need to be presenting material according to differing learning styles to give everyone a better chance of grasping content. Besides that, teaching to the various learning styles makes for a much more interesting classroom experience! Hopefully, this will help to hold the students' attention so that they do learn the material you are trying to present.
I teach in a Physical Therapist Assistant program. The majority of the class are kinesthetic learners (which makes sense- they all chose a career where they would be very "hands-on" and rarely ever sit down) but our top student is a visual learner with a photographic memory. She had a difficult time with my first course due to the heavy sway toward kinesthetic learning that I placed on the course as a new instructor. I gave all of the students a learning style questionnaire and it was very helpful for me to understand why my class was "ruining" her 4.0 GPA. I have now learned that all learning styles need to be combined in my teaching strategies in order to be effective, especially when teaching the mixed levels of adult learners!
Hi Gina, Thanks for your post to the forum. I find that teaching to the learning styles also keeps instructors more engaged! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
Providing lessons and presentations that compliment diverse learning styles is not only more successful in achievement of learning but also keeps the class more engaged in their own learning.
