Accommodating Learner Preferences
How do you plan your instruction to accommodate the different learning preferences of your students?
As a first year instructor, I find this challenging as well. As I read your response, I understand to importance of branching out to learn new techniques.
I have to admit the longer I teach nursing the more I realize those attracted to nursing are visual and tactile learners. That maybe directly related to the types of duties nursing performs. I find nursing students love simulation labs and clinical rotations over the classroom.
Rachel,
Students like change of pace and variety in their instructional delivery and you are going both with your approach. Sounds like your classes are fun, engaging and growth producing for your students. Keep up this great effort.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
It took trail and error for me to learn how to adapt to varied learning styles. I keep attention during lectures by making a silly joke (relevant to course)or doing something silly (I teach A & P). I get loud , I get quiet. I assign students in groups to make a web of the topic or list 25 things they learned at the end of class. I show lab equipment by passing it around the class and talking about it at the same time. I use everything I can for lecture- powerpoints, short videos, the white board, etc. It keeps the class and the learning moving.
William,
This is such a great way to engage the students and show them the relevance as well as the application of the content being taught. I think these stories increase the value of the content and gives students insight into how they will use this information in their careers.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Coming out of the field into the educational environment, I'm fortunate to have a lot of stories or examples of problems that I myself have ran into. By taking just a minute to break up the mind numbing lecture with a short story or example of where they may see this in their lives. Also having the interaction of the labs to tie together the lecture with hands on experience really helps get grasp on the content.
Billy,
Involving students in tactile learning helps to create a connection with the cognitive processing they need to do. You are on the right track with this approach.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
In the vocational setting that I teach in. I have found that the hands on approach is the best for teaching real world scenarios.
Damon, I agree with you regard your reply. At the very beginning of any class I ask the students probing question in regards to what learning formats they get the most out of. Most of my responses have been from online and lectures.
Regards,
Anthony Allen
Gwo-Fang,
This is a good approach to use because it lets the students work in their different learning preferences while allowing you to use different and creative ways to deliver your content.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
It is not easy to address all of the learning preferences depending on the subject being taught. However, I fund it useful by delivering the material in several different style; i.e., PowerPoint presentation (visual + verbal) and handout (written).
Lucille,
I am sure your students were totally engaged as a result of the information that this person was sharing. This makes instruction come alive and ramps up their understanding of relevance of content.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Thank you.This week we are discussing HIV/AIDS we have a Guest Speaker from AIDS Atlanta coming to visit us. A person living with HIV.
Andrea,
Change is a constant in teaching and you have experienced that as demonstrated by your comments. The more you can read your students, provide timely support and get them engaged the greater their retention rate is going to be. Keep up the good work!
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Lauren,
Like the way you read your students and then adapted your instruction to better engage them in the learning process. This is what good teaching is all about and you are to be commended for your effort.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
There is actually a free online quiz that you can take that tells you which type of learner you are. I do ask my students to try to do this on their own time to learn something about themselves.
In class, I utilize power points, hands on demos and short videos as well.
I try to vary my style by interspersing lecture with group work. In small groups, students interact and complete activities or work through problems that apply to the material we just discussed. I also have the benefit of working with small classes, so I have the opportunity to solicit feedback from students to get a feel for their learning styles. If there is a prevalant style that arises in a class, I can tailor my instruction to it a bit.
I learned this the hard way teaching general education courses at a career college. Day one of lecture I could see the eyes either glaze over or roll. Having students involved in more of a discussion style class works well with classes like Environmental Science. The material needs to be covered but it doesn't have to be lectured at the students. Demonstrations aren't really possible in the course but having the students discuss and debate relevant topics is a great way to learn for the students and a great way to find out who is confused, as the instructor.
Lucille,
This is what helps to make your course content real to and for your students. Exposures like this help them see the value of the content they are studying as well as the reason for learning it. You are giving them the ROI for their time and financial investment.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
