It all depends on which subject we are discussing at the time,we take a field trip to see our course content of the subject in action. example: Business,we visit a Spa,Muscles we visit the Body Exhibit,Pathology we visit CDC/centers for disease control.
Patricia,
Like the way you help your students to personalize the content of the course to their lives. You explain to them how the content made a difference to you and how it can for them. This increases the value of the course to the students from day one.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Jonida,
This is such an important part of the learning process. The more examples you can share with your students the more value they will see in the content you are offering.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Raymond,
You make a good point and something the students need to understand. Even though you may offer variety in your instructional delivery so you are appealing to the different learning preferences in class students need to be able to acquire knowledge from other preference areas as well because they are going to have to when they are out in the work place.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Preparing instruction to accommodate various learning styles is important but often times I believe students need to also try to learn using different style. Moreover, there are times when practical application of a concept is the only type of instruction that will work
With the course I teach I first discuss how the course content made a difference to me and how I implemented it for my own life. Then the students feel more comfortable sharing how they will implement what we are discussing to their own future.
Many of my students are working adults. We take the concepts we learned in class and we try to apply them to real life examples.
Gary,
Well said and clear to understand. This reduces confusion and sets the expectations our for the students and then the class can proceed from there.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Liz,
This is a good strategy to get your students thinking about how much effort goes into information sharing be it as an instructor or a student making a presentation. You are increasing their perception of the value of the course with this effort.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Sybil,
This is true. We can receive information in more than one learning preference area but generally we have one we prefer over the others if we have a choice, but it listening to information, reading about it or doing it ourselves. This is why I think it is good to offer instruction in all of the areas at different times in the course so each student will have a chance to receive information via his or her preference area but also develop skills in using the other delivery areas.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Ronald,
The more variety you have in your delivery the more engaged your students will be so you are on the right track with this goal.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
You can often tell which learning style a person uses by their language. For example, I see what you mean is more in context of a visual learning. That rings true for me if more auditory. I feel it in my bones is the more kinesthetic learner. I read someplace that nobody is all of one thing and most people are combinations of all three with one dominant, one in the middle and one very low on the list. Is that true?
As a retired member of the military, I have and continue to use the BLUF format. Bottom Line Up Front. It keeps intentions and goals very clear from the beginning.
I had given the students a topic and find the relevant points of that topic and prepare a presentation of that topic. At the beginning they said that easy to do it but after they have seen how much work and effort preparing for a class requires they have becoming more appreciative of the class
I try to have more than one media.
I try to meet all learning styles of my students in implementing course content by:
1) Mini-lecture
2) Demonstrations involving students who volunteer to be in the demonstration as active players in front of peers / go to the board / Have group appoint a discussion leader.
This meets their auditory, visual, kinesthetic, and mixed learning styles. The goal is learning that is absorbed for long-term recall in students and a lifelong desire to be self-learners in any subject he/she wants to learn.
Jennifer,
The more examples that you can provide the more you increase the value of the course to the students. When they see relevance and application they see the ROI of why they are taking the course.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
By providing examples of how they might apply the information in their chosen field and in their career. This allows the students to see that they need to learn this information.
Lee-Ellen,
Like the way you "read" your students and then target your instruction to meet the needs of your current students. Each time a course is taught it needs to be customized after getting a reading of the students. As we know no two classes are ever the same.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
On the first day of class, I observe the students carefully. How students receive this intro information can be quite revealing. After the first chapter is assigned for reading, I give a small quiz. I can then assess how well independent reading is going. Because my students can and do range from 18 to 55, I ask them how they feel they learn best. And I adjust accordingly.
