It enables us to work our lesson plans and activities around those particular student needs. I teach a diversified group with varied age, life/work experience and comittment to the class. it is important for me as an instructor to always be able to read the class and identify who needs what type of reinforcement or what attention they may require. Do they need more lecture and less hands on or the reverse? It is easy for me as an experienced chef to know what I could get done in a matter of a few hours, but if I am not in tune with my class I can easily lose sight of what THEY could get done and I could easily overwhelm them.
Having a grasp on how a group of students learn best helps with understanding the best way to deliver information. For example, if you have a group of mainly visual learners you can cater to this and make sure there are visuals in the lecture. The more that is understand ahead of time to accommodate adult learners the more they feel that you are invested in their future to succeed!
Hi Adrienne,
Good way of explaining how you will use the information gained from knowing the characteristics of your students. This will lead to more effective and efficient instruction and increased learning potential.
Gary
Ayberk,
You made a good point that understanding the students' characteristics gives the instructor more insight into how he can bring relevant examples into the classroom that pertain to the subject. This will help the instructor to actually bring the course to the student, instead of the student having to 'reach' up to the 'sky' to get somehow catch it as it is flying by! It enables us to bring the topic to students on their level of understanding and perception depending on their learner characteristics. We can better accommodate the particular student's learning characteristics/needs in this way.
Understanding of learner characteristics will enable me to help students who are disabled, nontraditional and traditional learners. I will know my audience better. This will give me a better understanding of how to support each student. Students who are disabled will have specific needs according to their disability, such as a physical or a learning disability. If the student is returning to school after many years of being away from it, then I will probably have to provide additional motivation and encouragement for him. If a student is traditional, then I will understand his fears of being away from home, peer pressure, etc. and be able to relate to him accordingly in a supportive fashion.
I teach a lot of introductory courses and understanding the learner characteristics helps me determine the amount of independent work, group work and lecture instruction to include. I have learned I can't just assume that lecturing for 45 min, group work for 15 min and discussion for 30 minutes will work each semester. I also wait to see the learner characteristics before I determine how I will assess them. I vary the teaching styles often to determine what helps them be successful.
One issue is that when you are trying to meet all the individual needs you may overlook some and you are back where you started by losing students for not meeting their needs. You may also overwhelm them with too much variety.
So I try and develop a structure to follow that is flexible but understandable to the students irregardless of their learning style.
Stacy Everly
I teach a pastry class; almost every aspect of my class is "hands on," so students get a chance to try out everything for themselves. I definitely feel that actually practicing a new skill is the best way to learn it, but prior to having the students try it, I first explain what it is they'll be doing, and if applicable, have them read about it the night before. Then I'll demonstrate the skill myself, then I'll finally have them do it. My hope is that by engaging so many different characteristics of learning (reading, hearing, seeing, doing) that whatever it is we're doing will be reinforced and ultimately understood.
it helps me to reach all of my students .
Hi Craig,
Thanks for sharing your experience on working this younger and older students in the same class. I use the same approach as yours and have had the same results with both groups benefiting from the exchanges.
Gary
By formulating class lessons to reach all types of learning styles. Every student should be able to comprehend specific parts of the lesson and comit them to memory and practice. By adjusting teaching styles if a student appears to be lacking or falling behind the instructor can then be able to work closer with that particular student in order to improve that students performance.
it almost seems that once they begin being pushed in performance they begin to believe in themselves
I definitely agree. I find that the more I become acquainted with my students the more positive and open they are with me which makes for a better learning environment.
Often times using an ice breaker on the first day of class allows the students to get to know each other on a more personal basis allowing them to be more accepting of others and their ideas.
The planning process is helped by ensuring the least experienced student is placed with a more seasoned student. If all students in a class are new, I look for background knowledge and experience. As the training pointed out, students coming out of high school have a difference motivational level as the adult worker. Pairing the two helps both learners to view course objectives through two different perspectives.
I also find it beneficial in the MBA program to have teams consisting of a mix of younger and older students. This allows the younger students to "teach" the older ones how to use some of the more recent technology tools and affords the older students an opportunity share their experiences with the younger students.
So that instructors can layout there classes to include all different learners.
David, have you discovered that the older students are some times quiet and a little intimidated by the younger generation as well as the technology? I try to ask questions to stimulate the students and let the older students share their knowledge and wisdom, while the younger students share their expertise with the technology. It really works well and provided a blended environment. What do you think?
I try to incorporate daily work experiences that the student can relate to to help as a learning tool to make the course material more interesting. I provide my personal experiences and encourage the students to share their experiences, which is a great ice breaker and the students learn from each other.
Two additional benefita can be achieved by separating students who work in the same organization:
- Minimizes the effect of "groupthink"
- Reduces the potential for collaboration on individual assignments, i.e., limits the opportunity for plagiarism
To understand the learner characteristics you have to take into account the age diversity of class, because with different age ranges come different learn styles. Older students are more able to learn through practical application and can have a harder time with the lecturing and book work because of the time frame from when the were last in a class room. The younger students have mostly just left the class room environment so they can adapt well to that environment.
