Eric,
Your analysis of the learning preferences and intelligences of your students is right on. Individual with certain types of intelligence move toward and enter certain types of careers. By knowing this you can do as you are doing and incorporating a lot of demonstrations and applications into your lectures.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I think teaching with understanding of multiple intelligences keeps the classroom exciting and a great place to be everyday!
The topic of multiple intelligences is very intriguing to me. Teaching in a culinary school, I have found many of my students are tactile or kinesthenic learners... which is great, because so am I. The foodservice industry seems to attract tactile learners, as our education and training is very much hands-on. Even when in lecture, it is helpful to have some sort of hands-on element, whether it is sketching diagrams, or picking up certain pieces of equipment that may be used later, or passing items or ingredients around the class to be inspected, touched, and so on.
Faylee,
Yes it will. In addition by using the four teaching methods you are appealing to the different learning preferences of the students so they will be engaged at a higher level of concentration.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
useing the four teaching methods will normally keep all students involved, also you need to keep in mind what teaching tools you want to use in teaching.
Irina,
Good way to plan your instructional delivery. This way the preferences are being targeted and the students are being engaged. A win win for everyone.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Joshua,
One thing I would suggest would be to do role playing and case studies with your students. These activities will let them use their different intelligences as they work through cases and then role play how they have reached successful solutions.
Not knowing your exact situation I am offering this suggest because I have used it when I was assigned to a temporary classroom and had to move frequently. Using this strategy I was able to keep my students focused and moving forward in the course while moving almost every other day.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I am using all learning techniques in the class as general indicators of how students prefer to learn.
I understand the advantages of teaching to multiple
intelligences. I am having trouble figuring a way to apply it in my classroom. I have limited space for my classes. The area also doesn't allow for me to put up spatial learning materials. I have to create and tear down the classroom every morning that I feel it is being detrimental to my students learning and retention. Any advice or feedback from anyone would be greatly appreciated.
Ross,
Great to hear and I know you are going to continue to expand your expertise and instructional delivery to benefit of all your students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Daniel,
Your multiple step approach is a good one because it reinforces the content that is being taught in several ways. The application of the content and then having the students teach it to each other really helps them to internalize what they need to know. At this point they should feel very confident in the know they have acquired.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Susan,
Using learning groups like this is an effective way to keep all students engaged and moving forward in the course.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
While I may have known some of this from a common sense standpoint. This helps to put a fine point on how to use multiple intelligences, thought process and learning and how students think. In turn this will help assess and teach better.
I think understanding the different intelligences willhelp me focus on student needs and make me aware not to rely on my comfort level of my preferences in learning. By teaching the material in the different intelligences the classes will become more valuable to my students.
I always have my students take a learning assessment so that each of them knows his or her own learning preferences based on which intelligences they draw from. That way, I can try to design course activities to meet most of their needs, if possible--but that is hard to do sometimes. No class is like any other class.
Based on my understanding of multiple intelligences, I would try and develop my courses around the ways my students prefer to learn. the manner which I would use knowledge of how students process information is to deliver lectures in a way that is to there strengths. For example if the majority of students are visual learners, I will ensure that I have presentations that involve video or hands on material.
I feel the information presented was valuable and reinforces the standard learning styles we all have studied previously. I vary my approach to each class by incorporating as many of the learning styles as possible. I have found it effective to discuss a clinical skill and then apply the technical information through a practical demonstration. Afterwards I have the students repeat the skill and then teach it to another student. I have found this reinforces the skill in the student and gives them pride in being able to demonstrate the skill to another student.
If I have a clear handle of the different students preference, I would group them so that they was able to actually help each other. For example, if it were a math or logical type concept, I would try to form the groups with a logical learn in each group, so that student may help the Verbal or spacial learners.
I try to incorporate all aspects of learning with each topic I cover. I have had enough life experiences to understand that learing is acquried in many ways. I also give quizzes thaqt incorporate different types of answers, ie multiple choice, short and long answers, etc.
Carl,
Thank you for these very well crafted words on using multiple intelligences, critical thinking and problem solving. All are essential elements needed for learning as well as career success. The more expertise and experience students have in them the better prepared they will be when they enter their career field.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
