student variations
I have found that within one class that there are students that have different levels of intellegence. Some are logical while others are more body/kinetic in their intellegence having to experience a problem before they can find a solution for it. The older the student the more analytical they tend to be and the better critical thinker. Do you think that experience is a critical factor?
Peter,
I agree with the experience part of being an educator. In our setting we bring not only our career experience but also our teaching abilities to the classrooms and labs. Both of these help us to prepare the next generation of professionals in our field and hopefully help them to avoid some of the mistakes we made as we learned our skills.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Hi
The saying is "that experiance is a great teacher" is a great adage.
As an older/mature instructor that has old tricks its seems that many today are unwilling to let the experiance ones help them to navigate some/many of lif's challenges.
Yes the classroom enviroment is different than when they were in the classroom, so the learning experiance is different, but they do have a wealth of knowledge and experiance to share with all and it will be benefical to all to see a different skill set in use.
Sherry,
I mix my students together in learning groups for where they do case studies and problem solving. This helps the different generations to see how each person can contribute to the outcomes needed as a result of their life experiences.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I also see that the younger students think they know everything and there are conflicts that arise between the older and younger students
JODY,
This is a good point. It is reflective of the saying "It is tough to teach old dogs new tricks.". This is when we need to try and use their previous experiences to get them engaged in the learning process and then introduce and practice with them the currently used procedures so they can integrate the new procedures into their working memory and make them a part of their skill sets.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I find older students who have some experience in the field sometimes challenging.They have developed incorrect methods and it is hard for them to break those habits. When you have a younger student with no experience you can teach them correctly from the word go.
Holly,
I do think experience contributes a lot to how a person perceives different situations and the confidence they have in coping with challenges. One of the biggest things older students face is the lack of confidence in using their life experiences for success in the class. I try to pull out their experiences and show them how they can use them to be successful in the course. This really helps them to feel that they can compete with the other students in the course no matter the age.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
