I believe that a good way to prepare is to take the lesson plan for the day, and break it up into sections. Then look at each section or topic and look at how many differnt ways it can be shared. Also I need to know what learning styles the students have, and then choose from the several different ways of teaching that I looked at for each section, and start with the style most commonly shared in class.
I believe it would be important to have many activities involved in one lesson. With activities you can tailor each one to a different style of learner. At the end of class you could then have the students present what they learned to help target the information back to their peers in the style that was most effective for them.
I try to mix it up; combine lecture, Q&A, demonstration and then hands on. Depending on the class composition, letting the students teach it to each other in small groups after my demonstration has been beneficial. This seems to work best for me.
Hi Steve,
One way is once you have your lesson prepared is to take a look at it and decide how are the different ways it can be delivered. Maybe you want to do a mini-lecture of 10 minutes (auditory preference) and then have the students break into small groups and work on a case study (interpersonal/social preference).
Also you need to ask yourself if a demonstration (visual preference) in the lab might work better than a lecture. Will looking at a DVD be give them the same experiences as if they had been in a lecture?
The key is to look for variety and balance to how you deliver content this way you will be targeting the different learning preferences which enables the students to feel comfortable in their preference areas.
Gary
First you have to look the best ways to communicate information to the different learning styles. Then I look at the information that must be communicated, and what I want them to be able to take away from that information. I then have to look at what kind of activities I can use that can best help to facilitate the information exchange. I then look at the activity and figure out how to use that activity so that all the students can get something from it, but in such a way as to not be detremental to the rest of my class. If a lab seems to be too easy for the students that are a particular style, then I might make them try their new found skill on a similar type of equipment, or I might have them do the task several times. For those who are more conceptual I might have them look up information in a manual before and after the task to connect the physical activity with the concept. I will usually try to use all of these things together so that all of the students can get the same value out of the learning, just not in the same way.
Some of the ways I prepared course content to address different learning styles were:
1. Observing other instructors and making notes on how they delivered the material to add another perspective in my delivery.
2. Identifying 2 to 3 activities we do every day to parallel a point I needed to get across to the class.
3. Using question and answer techniques, listening to the students responses to gain insight on their way of looking at the material.
4. Asking the students in class to summarize what I just said in their own words and then correcting as necessary until the message was clear. Sometimes involving the other students on this part was helpful. Asking another student if they can add anything to that or what they got from it.
