For many reasons. First, your students are very likely to have a variety of learning styles. By using different deliveries, you are more likely to get through to a higher percentage of your students. In addition, even adults have relatively short attention spans. By changing deliveries and activities, you can keep your students' interest. Finally, I get bored if I'm doing the same thing all the time.
Kanidrus,
Students like variety and change of pace in their classes. By doing so you will be delivering content in their learning preference areas at different times in the course.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
It is important each learning style is covered to ensure the class as a whole is learning. This allows the class to stay focus on the class content.
Kanidrus
Jason,
In the grand scheme of things you don't. This is the tragic part of teaching. The intent of "No Child Left Behind" was that each and every student would arrive at high school graduation with the same set of skills and knowledge. Since we are dealing with human beings that was never going to happen. So what instructors do is to offer content in a number of different ways and see to engage the majority of students in the process. By using different delivery methods students can use their different preferences and become knowledgeable. A long way from a perfect system.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Alice,
You first sentence is the core of how you plan your instructional delivery. We need to "read" our students and then plan around their learning preferences.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
The obvious answer is to reach learners of each learning type. However, looking deeper, here is a question to ponder back to you and any other individual reading this post... Lets say you are a Math teacher. You are alotted 60 minutes for your elementary lesson on comparing fractions with unlike denomiators. This is a fourth grade classroom. Your scope and sequence says you have only this one day to complete the task which is mastery by all students. How do you deliver instruction of all types of methods, assess understanding, and differentiate scaffolding, in this amount of time?
I think that you have to take into consideration the type of audience you have in order to determine what kind of angle you would like to do deliver your class. We would all love to have a fun and upbeat class where everyone interacts with one another and are able to get your message across; but you have to realize that some of your students may not learn with the same approach. Some may be too shy to engage in that type of setting; while others may just be older or conservative and are use to a different style of class.
Kim,
Cooperative or teach teaching is a great way for students to see different ways things can be done and how different individuals approach instruction. I have team taught and I really enjoy having another professional in the room with me as I learn so much from him or her even though they are a peer.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
James,
Hands on learning gives value to the content and application to the knowledge that has been acquired by the students. This increases their engagement in the course.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Ann,
Creativity is an important part of the teaching process. We need to constantly look for ways we can share our content in engaging ways that will help our students to stay focused for the duration of the course. Plus, it is so much fun when a new activity is successful and you see learning occurring among your students. This is what keeps instructors coming back to the classroom or lab.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
All students learn differently. I have a associate teacher that we work together in the lab once a week. I feel this helps the students to learn better. We all teacher different and answer questions differently. I feel this helps in showing different views to a problem and maybe makes sense for some of the students that may not get a certain subject from just one person.
I think people learn more from hands on experience so I try to provide my students with as much as possible
There are various ways to instruct and when one can instruct in various ways for the hands on learners, for the visual learners, and the audible learner, demonstrating the major learning skills in one lecture is not that hard to implement. Especially if one is creative on the outcome and the goal at hand.
Rosa,
This is a very important part of being an effective instructor. Change of pace and instructional variety helps to keep students engaged.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
You always need to vary your methods of delivery so that you can be sure to target and reach all your students. People learn in different ways and by using different methods you can have better chance of engaging and reaching all of your students.
Nicole,
Students like variety and change of pace in their learning. The more we can do this the more engaged our students will be.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Exactly - who wants to sit in class and repeat the same thing everyday. Students would become bored and other issues could develop. Differentiating instruction is definitely the way to go!
Because each student has a different style of learning, and each of them need to be exposed to as many styles as possible by the instructor so as to maximize their learning ecxperiences.
I agree that each student uses different learning style and so the instructor should incorporate as many styles as possible. From my personal experiance, I am a tactile and visual learner. I have to see and do it. Students need to have all of these experiences to maximize their learning.
Because each person learns differently course content should be delivered differently. This is the only way to ensure that each student has a good grasp on the material.
