Some strategies thatt I use to help students utilize their senses in learning is to make sure that I incorporate activites that use all of their senses. I use powerpoints for the visual learners and combine it with videos and lecture to address the auditory learners. I also try to utilize activities such as group activities or something that requires the students to apply the theories that we learn about. Most students, whether they are visual or auditory, love the activities because it gets them out of the mundane lecture and it gives them a chance to really see what they are learning in action.
I thought the observation that using several senses increases retention was a useful point. I'll try in the future to address several senses simultaneously (such as visual and audible cues), now knowing that it can greatly increases student retention.
I teach nurses. I get them to see and ECG from another student. I get them to do 'taste' and 'smell' experiments. I use color charts to demonstrate color blindness.
Hi Barry. i like to use the 'You hear it, see it, then do it" method. This way they have used more thatn one of their senses for learning and it has captured more thamn one learner type.
In the dental profession we get to use a bunch of our senses when teaching. This includes lecture and lab. So you have sight, hearing, and hands-on.
Susan,
Great example. Many non-medical people probably can't appreciate the idea of muscle memory, such a subtle trait, but so important. It's really amazing how sensitive we can teach our senses to be, really just developing more of an awareness. Good instructors will involve as many senses into their lessons as possible.
Barry Westling
I agree. I teach medical assisting and I have my students close their eyes when they palpate a vein to highten their awareness of touch. As an additional bonus I try to encourage them to realize that as they go through the steps of drawing blood, they are developing their muscle memory at the same time. I want them to realize that the more areas of the brain they use the better their retention will be of the material. I'm trying to train them how to teach themselves most effectively.
Judy,
Good idea. I think most rely on touch in combination with sight, and related senses such as temperature, texture, etc. I have done demonstrations with students blindfolded in order to explore the sense of touch (and other senses), with the pupose of conveying how much information we can gather if we are aware of, and focus on our special and general senses.
Barry Westling
If applicable, let them feel it for themselves. For example, when teaching veterinary medicine skills like clipping of fur. Have the preform things on models to evaluate cause and effect.
Michael,
Yes, senses are helpful, as are stronger students helping the weaker ones. Smell is interesting. A scent can instantly bring a memory (pleasant or otherwise) to mind. That's powerful. Perhaps associating pleasant scents with selected curriculum could be helpful in some classes or some topics. But I know the more senses we can involve in course work, our students will benefit from.
Barry Westling
Well, the obvious ones are sight, hearing, and touch. Smell and taste don't often come into the picture when you're teaching computer classes (not yet anyway - stay tuned for Smellovision). I tend to use lots of visual aids - videos, PowerPoints, demos - and combine them with step-by-step lectures of procedures. These are often done while the students follow me through the steps. There's less risk in students leaping ahead if we do things together, and I often tap faster students to help the slower ones. It's not perfect, but it's getting the job done.
John,
Senses in the instructional process do add much. I like to use smell as an example. How many times have we detected a scent and it immediately brought back a memory. Wow, that's powerful! If we can use senses in the same way, students may be able to retain information much better.
Barry Westling
I use touch sensitive learning in audio mixing training to let the students feel what it is like to work on large format mixing consoles that they might not otherwise get a chance to use outside of a school setting. I have also found ways to force them to use their sense of hearing by giving them blind audio example tests. These both seem to work great in conjunction with the text and manuals provided.
Jenny,
Touch seems like a primary learning sense in your classes, massage therapy. As students, learning the theory, skills, knowledge, and expertise needed for successful employment in the massage work setting can be enhanced with awareness of the power that multiple senses create when providing instruction. Creativity using the senses will improve the students retention of key and essential information.
Barry Westling
I am fortunate to teach a hands on class in massage therapy. This allows me to introduce our senses as our connection to everything. It is the window in to our nervous system, and ultimately what we are trying to accomplish in massage is to turn down the noise or input into the nervous system.
Introducing experiments into the classroom that demonstrate the nervous system response greatly increases the students ability to connect the experiment to the value and outcome of this applied therapy.
Amy,
I like that as we teach students to be more aware of their senses they can improve their learning. Certain senses are essential to teach a particular skill. However, I believe all our senses can be used to enhance memory, retention of information, and of course recall and application of learned material. The example I use is the power of a scent that when smelled immediately brings to mind a past memorable experience.
Barry Westling
I think the first step in creating stategies for using the senses in learning is to identify what needs to be learned and how best to relay that information.
For instance, smell isn't necessary for massage students where it is invaluable for medical assisting for nursing.
Teaching my students how to palpate tissue may actually mean that I have them intentionally shut out other senses like hearing, taste and smell rather than incorporating all of them together.
I also like to teach my students how to best use their senses, touch for palpation, hearing and sight too see if the client is uncomfortable.
maritza,
Great. Working with hands is a perfectect example how to incorporate multiple senses into the learning process. More senses will result in better retention and more likely to be stored in long term memory.
Barry Westling
A great idea is using different textures during labs, for instance instead of just showing students pictures of the digestive system during a lecture, have them make 1. This helps students who have a hard time visualizing learn where ea. organ resides rather than memorize a picture.
Vicki,
Touch is a powerful sense, even when it's not primarily being used in a lesson. When we use more senses, students retain information better and longer.
Barry Westling
