Given that students process information in varied ways, the instructor can better help the student maximize transfer of learning through strategic delivery of instruction. One effective way to accomplish this task is by assigning a discussion board project on a weekly basis. This interactive exercise will allow students to address the topic through personal research and experience. Thereafter, the students are required to comment on at least 2 of their peers submission with constructive feedback. In this way, the students may subsume the knowledge from my lecture, perform their own research to refine the information, and discover other ways of viewing the topic, learning from their peers.
In teaching design course it seem visual examples work best. Multiple intelligences will help me gear my teaching to people who don't understand visual examples
Laura,
Right you are about it being a win win situation with this approach. A blend enables the students to internalize content at a much higher rate than if just one venue is used. Also, blending helps to keep them engaged for longer periods of time.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
This section of the course speaks to me! As both a tactile/ visual and auditory learner I realize that I become impatient when I think a student is not 'listening' to me. They may indeed not be able to process info easily in this way. I need to adjust my teaching by using both verbal and visual instruction together. For example, I could explain a concept (auditory/verbal) and have pictures or diagrams to augment my verbal instruction. It could become a win-win situation without some of the frustration that sometimes occurs between both of us.
By applying teaching techniques that appeal to all of the intelligences.
David,
I agree with you. Keep your classes mixed and you will have the best chance of reaching all the students. I guess it is possible to have a group how all prefer say lectures (auditory) but doubt it.
Tonya,
Good point and one we instructors need to remember as we do our instructional planning.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
As well as their self confidence which is a motivation for the students learning.
I agree, because then you are bund to hit on one of the multiple intelligences so each student will have a chance at their different learning ability. The more the student experiences the subject in different ways, the more the student will remember their topic.
Maybe doing some type of pretest for the students might help on figurung out what type of teaching method to use so the students can better understand the topic being delivered.
Then maybe using past life experiences to bring the teaching method more clear and the student will be able to grasp topic.
Earnest,
Good points about learning effectiveness. Students like to have variety and change of pace in their learning so the more we can offer different venues for learning the more engagement we are going to have.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I think having an understanding of multiple intelligences can affect teaching in a positive manner. My students each have their own way of processing information. I try to incorporate different styles of activities to them. For example, I use different activities when teaching Medical Terminology. I have students complete activities on the white board and on paper. Paper activities include such things as crossword puzzles, word searches, and an activity in which they take medical terms and break those words down and provide a definition. My students have provided feedback about each activity and some feel they can relate to some activities and struggle with others. We work as a team to keep them engaged in the class material so I can provide them an excellent education.
It is obvious that one method such as lecture will not work effectively for all students. There is a need to vary learning tactics in order to all effective learning for all students. Students will tell you how they best learn. It is important for an instructor to utilize this information to be effective.
Earnest J. Kendall,MSN, RN-BC
Taking multiple intelligences into account i will be presenting my information in more ways, adding more visual components and group work situations.
Stephen,
Right you are. This has been my experience as well. Being a tactile learning myself I can really appreciate your comments about how different fields attract certain types of learners.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Annie,
Also through variety you will have a higher level of engagement from your students because they like variety and change of pace. This way they get to use their different processing venues to acquire the content and skills they need.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Dr. Meers,
I've noticed this as well. It seems like when culinary students are considering their career path options, many times it comes down to a choice between culinary, nursing, and physical therapy. All intensely involving working with tactile things.
In my experience at least!
Cheers,
Steve Baker
I think learning and understanding multiple intelligences is going to improve my teaching. I see myself repeating information in different ways though out the student’s course with me.
Joseph,
I like the way you explain how instructors need to approach the classroom and the variety of students they encounter within it. This is what makes teaching both challenging and fun. We get to be creative, work with learners, share our career experiences and get paid for it. This is a win win situation. We are helping to educate the next generation of individuals entering our field so we are going to have a legacy of impact if we do our job well.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I think it is also important for an instructor to understand his/her own type of intelligence because that instructor may inherently favor certain strategies. The instructor needs to be conscious of why he/she may choose and vary them to reach more of the students.
