My course is a hands-on course and it's been a challenge to deal with the different types of learners.
Martin,
Good strategy to follow with your students. This way they know you have an awareness of their situation and learning environment. This is an important connection to make with the students because this forms a foundation for understanding on the part of everyone.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I go through a general assessment of the room by asking general questions. In an online environment, I ask how comfortable they are within the environment. If they are not comfortable, I will take the extra time to guide them where everything is located, and then check back every couple of days, then each week to make sure that have some form of comfort or mastery of the subject and the delivery method.
David,
You make a good point about the need for students to adjust their learning preferences to the point that they can learn the content in other ways. This is as you mention real life and how the work world operates. The reason for the discussion in relation to learning preferences is that in getting students started in their college careers it is good if they can have early success in their preference areas and build some confidence.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
David,
Your dedication to your field and your students is to be commended. With a fast changing area like HLS your efforts through reading and talking with others in the field helps you to be able to share the latest and greatest with your students. These efforts hopefully are appreciated by your students as they are being prepared to enter a career area that will be challenging them to remain current as well.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Judith,
Change of pace and variety of delivery methods are two ways to keep students engaged. The activities you list help are ways to do both for your students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I have an answer here that really goes against the flow. I hope it does not get me in trouble. But while I agree that faculty should adjust techniques to support all learning styles, one of the things we are teaching is that the real world may require employees to adjust their learning styles and not the other way round. So I sometimes give my (mostly mid-career) students assignments that will require them to stretch beyond their learning comfort level.
Examples:
- Listen to an on line congressional testimony and prepare an information paper summarizing the most important points that apply to the subject we are studying today. (this requires auditory learning)
- Given the readings from this lesson, write a 400 word OpEd explaining why our company supports a proposed environmental law. (this requires learning from written sources)
- You are writing a speech for your boss on the subject of today's lesson. Create a metaphor to explain to people the process described in our readings. (this requires visualization)
My idea here is to encourage students to learn from doing, but also to require them to exercise various learning styles, even if those styles are not their first preference.
In teaching Homeland Security (HLS), I have a double challenge. 1) The material is constantly changing. 2) Students (even advanced students) do not know enough to recognize the importantance of these changes.
To adjust for 1), I read constantly (several hours a day), participate in multiple forums,and attend carefully selected conferences.
To compensate for 2), I now begin all HLS courses with a discussion of risk, to include lecture, reading, short practical exercise.
This keeps students current on DHS material, changes their perspective on the value and application of following material, and contributes to their utility in follow on jobs.
When teaching you should try to engage all the learners that are in your class. Planning to have written exercises, handson and visual will meet all the learing styles of your class.
That is an excellent way of determining the students learning style. i actually had a college professor that made the students take this test before the class continued.
My lesson plan usually includes multiple levels of delivery. I often have a lecture component, a written excercise, and hands on computer work. My preference would be to have all students with a computer in front of them as we went through the lecture so that they could write notes and follow along with the tutorials. This way I can catch any issues with the steps provided.
Monica,
These stories are essential and valuable to the learning process. They help to keep the students' interest as well as validate the content you are sharing with them.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
DAVID E,
I think this will give you some very useable information that will help with your instructional planning and delivery.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
DAVID E,
I think you are doing a good job of supporting your students with your offer of tutoring for students. With the delivery model you are working within you don't have the opportunity to make adjustments as easily as those instructors using other forms of instructional delivery.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I believe I will implement a questionnaire to help me assess my students'learning style, rather than try to figure that out myself.
I'm afraid I don't do too much planning on instruction to accommdate the different learning preferences of my students because usually I have to assess them as to their preferences. I have students starting at different times of the course and sometimes right in the middle of a difficult subject. Unfortunately, it has some sink or swim undertones. I try to bring them up to speed the best way I know how and that is some one-on-one time after class. I do realize this is not the best way, but at the same time I can't just adjust the whole class for one student. I do offer tutoring after class and this seems to help.
Using personal stories of when I encountered certain situations in the OR
DAVID E,
I think the model you are using is a good one. I would look at incorporating activities such as case studies into the course if 90% of your students say they want to go into business for themselves. This is common but often the students do not have a realistic idea of what it takes to start and run a business. I have started a number of businesses and I can tell you as you already know it is a lot of hard work and takes a lot of time. Through case studies students can develop a feel for running a business as well as creating business plans. Going through something like this will either get them on board in terms of starting their own business or direct them to other opportunities.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
This being business management course, I've explained and gone over subjects to be covered in this course. I believe my discussion show plenty relevancy. I have a question and answer session at the end of this explanation.
Prior to the acceptance of student to this course there is a mini interview where the student ask questions about the class itself. At this point I ask students if they feel they would like to attempt to take the "challenge" (course).
One of the main questions I ask of my students is if they intend to someday be in business for themselves. Ninety-percent of the time the answer is yes. This course does cover entreprenuership as well.
I'm not too sure if this is a strategy or not. Please advise.
Becoming aware of a students learning style eg. auditory, tactile or visual, helps the instructor to impart learning at a deeper level.
Using the insights gained from the study of neuro linguistic programming an instructor can forge professional relationships that encourage resonance, understanding and connection. All significant assets in helping gain positive results in our classroom.
