What I like to do on the first day of class is ask my students how they like learning. I ask them to write down how they learn better whether it is through a hands on skill, power-points, lectures ect. and also a method they can not retain. Upon reading that I like to prepare my lectures based on my responses
Reviewing the students written work as well as interaction in class. Meet with them one on one and discuss how they learn etc.
First you must get to know a little about your students life and background. What education they have and where they were educated.
Douglas,
I think this is a great strategy to really get to know your students & so you are in a much better position to understand them & help them as individuals.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Dyana,
and this requires that we get to know each of our students as individuals & truly understand them in that way.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I try to relate my lectures and content to music an movies. Students love when I do this because it gives them a visual, makes them laugh, and gives them something to remember and recall it rather than just memorize it.
The first day of class I have all the students introduce themselves - their background, experience, job, etc. I have found it a great first step in understanding my students. Each class is different, and very diverse. It also helps me to organize "real life experiences" into the course to help bring home some points.
meeting the needs of all students with different backgrounds. Students have different ways of learning and being able to meet those needs is important, so that the students learn to their capabilities.
Completely agrre with this , i have from 18- 60 year olds in my classes and the diversity is amazing . The students with experience usually want to helpt the ones with no experience, and the ones that are motivated can help those that might need a little push to motivate them . In the end having the understanding of what diversity can bring to your class setting is amazing.
There is an ice breaker i do every other module called learning diversity. I first have the students line up youngest to oldest and then put them into decade age groups. I then have them think about when they were 18 and write things like gas price, milk price, movies, music, clothing, wars, current news issues, family values, etc.
After they are done, I write it on the board and we all get a chance to laugh and talk about the differences in how we were all brought up.
It gives the students a chance to get to know each other and to start to understand what it really means to be different and have different opinions of things. That has been successful for me in starting to learn about new students and for them to know about each other.
In all the classes I teach there so many different kinds of people. I can never teach the same way for all to absorb the material. Sometimes, I will have to sit down individually with certain students and explain in a different manner. I feel I like to understand their different cultures, as well. I feel I am learning as much as my students given all the walks of life I have encountered.
I have the same situation in my class setting and it is great when you can use that diversity to create a great learning experience.The students feed off each other and help each other gain the concepts of the subject matter.
Ask the students directly about their needs. I have found out that what I think their needs are is very different from what they think they are!!!
You can learn about the needs of diverse learners by asking questions while you teach getting a good verbal interaction started. Then, you can periodically give short quizzes to see if the student responds better from a written answer perspective rather than a verbal one. Also you can integrate hands-on activities into the class to see how the students react to a lab environment.
Learning about diverse learners is important, as every student has his or her own unique way of comprehending a topic in class. For instance, certain students may present a language barrier which will compromise their ability to understand a topic; therefore, the instructor must communicate with that particular student in order to achieve an understanding of where the attention is needed. With that said, the instructor may assign the student with a language barrier a short project which will enable the instructor to identify the exact point that the student lacks in learning the subject.
Betty,
yes, the emphasis needs to be on talking, talking to multiple parties so we know how to best help all of them.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Roshally,
it really is important in today's diverse classroom setting that we understand the various cultures that are represented & make an effort to get to know more about them.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Learning and understanding different cultures will help me develope effective approach and effective method of teaching to a diverse learners.
Typically I like to get to know my students, the students from other countries are always interesting and can usually share many stories about the culture, their backgrounds, and their goals. I find having this information not only helps myself as an instructor, but often helps other students open up and close cultural gaps.
You can learn about the needs of diverse learners by talking to other instructors, talking with the particular student and gathering information that might help, and speaking with other diverse learners to gain knowledge of what works for them.
