It is key to the success of the students that an instructor understands that everyone brings a different set of gifts or life experiences to the table.
The needs are as diverse as the students themselves . I have 18 RN students in the class room and they vary widely in age from 22 to 57. These students include the ex military and 40-50 year old mature students who are training for a new career. Some students have previous experience in a related field like EMT or medical billing, some do not.
I have found that the younger students need a little more prodding than the mature students who are motivated self starters. Moreover, revisiting the goal of passing the NCLEX exam and starting a finacially secure career helps maintaing the focus and reinforce the need to know certain subject matter.
I do and have taught several years with international students and find that ...sometimes we underestimate them and as a result we talk down, simply, and slowly aggrevating the student. I have simple ice breaker excercises that allow for my observation of the individual students abilities, verbal capacity and comfort with mixed class. Paper Airplanes and lies ...all of which I learned here at CEE. I use these ice breakers for so many reasons, but namely to find comfort and introductions to the student's abilities...no not so much as building and throwing the airplanes, but the nuances in the vocabulary while introducing themselves to a very small group and their comfort with speaking to the group. I can then make the decision to invite their participation during discussions and in their excercises. This is also taken into account for the group make-up.
Felecia,
this is a great statement; the key is that we need to pay attention to our students & notice things.
Dr. Ryan Meers
By listening to the students as they express themselves and by observing how they respond to group as well as individual exercises/tasks.
Some ways you can learn about the needs of diverse learners is first in the classroom setting, evaluate each individual students learning capabilities by observing and paying close attention to their learning patterns and teach in different methods
MARIE,
yes, that "old" methodology is very helpful for all learners no matter where they are in their experience.
Dr. Ryan Meers
This has been very helpful because I have had at least 2-3 students in my clinical group with English being their second language. I have had some positive feedback from these students, and they all seem to say the same thing. They knew what was going to be covered, what the goal was and how we were going to achieve these goals. It sounds so simple but it really works!
Dale,
yes, often the students who are at a "disadvantage" will work the hardest & end up doing the best.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Brenda,
I think this is a great approach & I've also found that helping them to see the word in context really helps to grasp the learning as well.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Assign a reading assisgnment In my classroom students that speak english as their second language are likely to read the assignment,because they feel the pressure and most do not want to fail so they try very hard to be sucessful
This can definitely vary, depending on the subject matter. For instance, when an ELL student is learning medical terminology, it can be difficult to understand as there may not be a clean translation into their own language, so learning the word may be more difficult. One of the suggestions that we give to ELL students is to obtain a copy of a dictionary in their own language so that they can try to translate it, or at least learn the meaning in their own language, thus helping them to learn it for the class.
Observe students' performance when they use typical instructional materials. They may
have difficulty acquiring or getting the important information from written materials,
storing or remembering the information presented in the materials, or expressing the
information or demonstrating competence on written tests. If students have difficulty with
a given task, different solutions may be required depending on the level of difficulty and
the student’s individual needs
craig,
this is a great example of the diversity that we have in our classes & it's important that we all, as you have, see this diversity & work with it.
Dr. Ryan Meers
The needs are as diverse as the students themselves . I may have 30 students in the room and they vary widely . I will routinely have 18 year old guys right out of high school , 22-26 year old ex military guys , and 40-50 year old guys who are training for a new career ; all in the same room . Some students have previous experience in a related field , some don't . Some are motivated self starters like the military guys , and some need a little motivation like the high school kids .
Craig,
the technique of rephrasing or taking another tactic is a great way to make sure that all of the students are truly understanding the concepts.
Dr. Ryan Meers
During a lecture, students are encouraged to answer quenstions I may ask of them or they can comment on material already discussed. In this way I can get a better feel of how students comprehend the lecture. Depending on responses or comments (or lack of)from students, I can repeat material in a slightly different way to keep more students involved.
Some of the ways I can learn about the diverse needs of the learners include having a conversation with the learners and allowing then to share what their needs are. Many times students are well able to articulate areas in which they are lacking and requires additional support. We recently had an in-service on learning styles where we discussed diverse learning. Completing a Learning Style Inventory will also illuminate some of these needs for students. I may be able to better prepare the information so that I am addressing the diverse needs of my students. One additional way includes communicating with the other instructors that have these students. My colleagues and I having these students in successive courses often communicate about specific student needs or requirements that have been very helpful to the students.
This is a successful way that I use with learning methods for each student..and adjust to that need.
Observing the class the first couple of days, also connecting with each student the first days of the class will help to learn about the needs of diverse learners. Asking them about their background and goals is one way I do this.
By Eddy Mojena
What has helped me in knowing my student’s way of learning is just asking them what there comfortable with in taking test or way of learning or an assessment test? This helps me how to reach them.
