It is important to give as many different styles of teaching, because not every student learns the same way and you need to be able to reach all of your students.
You need to have a variety of instruction due to the group of students in the class that need to grasp the material.
If only one style or method is adopted it gets boring and students loose their intrest in the subject. Thats why is is important to incorporate varied instructional delivery using audio, visual aids.
Using different types of delivery keeps things interesting and helps the students stay focused throughout a long class. Additionally, different methods help to provide a more well-rounded study of the material and engage the various styles of learning.
Hi Ann,
What are some of the ways you have used that resulted in good student engagement and effective learning?
Thanks.
Gary
Learners have a variety of ways to acquire knowledge. By offering a vaiety of methods, the instructor has abetter chance of reaching each student.
This is Jackie, but I will reply. The first class I introduce myself to each student, shake their hand and welcome them to Career Skills. And I give them instant feedback like "Nice handshake" or "good eye contact". And then I put interview questions on the board and they practice asking each other questions as I observe. This week when I begin my class, I think I will partcipate in the interviewing myself, so they get a chance to get to know me.
It is important to offer a variety of instructional delivery methods in class, because of the different learning styles that may be in your class invironment. If you only have one or two delivery methods, the message may miss some of your students. In addition everyone learns different what may be a hit for some, can be a flop for others.
Hi Carolyn,
What are some strategies you use to get to know your students better? Thanks in advance for your input.
Gary
It is so important to try to understand your group of students first.
It is important to vary the instructional delivery for several reasons. The attention span for adults is between 15-18 minutes so by varying the delivery, you can bring them back to focus by having them do a different task or get their brains focused in a different way. Most adult learners have one predominant learning style and by varying your delivery you are more likely to reach the different learning styles of your students. The more varied the delivery is the better chance that your students will retain what they have learned.
To make every attempt when possible to address the different ways students learn, for example if they are an auditory learner or work well with lecture or demonstation.
I think this does two important things. It keeps the students from tuning out during the discussion keeps their interest through variety) and it exposes students to more that one type of learning method.
I found my students like to do handouts the cover the basis of what they need to know in class and then I demonstrate the projection and have them do it with a partner right after. Once we finish the unit I post the power point on blackboard so they can print it off and read it if they want to.
Number one: it ensures that we are offering learning opportunities for all the learning styles in our classrooms.
Number two: it breaks up the monotony. The transition moments allow us to recapture student attention and get them engaged in a meaningful way.
Variety will help more people learn better. Everybody does not learn in the same way. Tactical learner, reading learners, they all can be taught but can have many different ways to do it. I am a tactical learner. I learn much better with things to do. I am a bad reader so I don't do as well with reading assignment. But I can still learn just as well as anybody else. And so can my students.
The class definitely needs a varied presentation of the subject being taught for the day. Role play makes it motivating because you can show the group why it would key to know the subject in their particular career field.
Hi Lisa,
You make a good point about adult learners and their knowing what their learning preferences are. The key is to vary the presentation format within the lecture to keep them engaged. You can lecture for 15-20 minutes and then have a discussion session, due a case study, role play, etc. and then go back to the lecture. This way you change the pace of the class and this helps them to use different learning preferences.
Gary
This is always a challenge. Adult students are often very informed in how they best learn. It can be difficult to move some material from lecture to another format.
I definitely agree with the student-centered learning. I liked in the video in this module how the man said that learning is all about self-reflection and evaluating your own assumptions. I want to encourage my students to do this. And I think the best way to get them to evaluate their assumptions of the world is to get them personally involved and active.
