Learning styles
I have found that dealing with older students often becomes a problem due to knowledge lack of current technology, being away from an educational environment, and current class pace. Often I will peer younger students with older students to insure that the knowledge give will be reinforced from another person's perspective so older students will understand better.
Catherine,
Thank you for your post. Your passion for teaching comes through. Teaching others does offer the highest retention of information.
Ron Hansen, Ed. D.
This is so true! I feel like I didn't develop true mastery of some skills until I taught them - and I thought I was at the highest level of mastery before teaching.
It is one thing to know or perform something yourself, but when you can explain it in different words, different ways and troubleshoot novel issues with the material, then you really know something.
I like to remind the more advanced students of this if they complain of being "stuck with the slow person," to share that I am not trying to handicap or punish them but rather this is a different type of opportunity for them to demonstrate their skill and understanding.
Richard,
The "good" students (those that grasp concepts and develop skills more readily) reinforce their own learning when helping other students.
Ron Hansen, Ed. D.
I allways like pairing good students with studends that are struggling to work together that way the student that is struggling may pick up some thing different and the lighy bulb may finally come on.
DeVon,
I assume much of the class material is presented online or via computer technology. If the older students are having difficulty adapting to the technology be sure to find ways for them to incorporate their life experiences in the course in some non-technical manner.
Ron Hansen, Ed. D.
