Hi Michael, Thanks for your post to the forum. That is a good example of a kinesthetic approach. I teach the general education courses and agree it is more difficult to come up with similar activities for those courses. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
Instruction approaches for kinesthetic learners.
Developing Instructional approaches for some topics is very easy while it is more difficult to develop hands on learning for some other topics. For instance if you are teaching a class to mechanics on rebuilding a cylinder head, hands on teaching and testing is easy to develop. You can tell the students how to do the task followed by a demonstration. Then you can have the students do the task with your guidance. Finally, you can have the students perform the task to a set condition and standard and evaluate their final product. On the other hand, if you are teaching an English Composition class it is more difficult to develop hands on teaching and testing.
Hi Jeremy, Thanks for your post to the forum. That is an excellent mix of delivery formats! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
Hi Chris, Thanks for your post to the forum. Yes, since your HVAC students will need to be reading manuals and blueprints in the field, a mix of delivery formats is ideal! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
In teaching criminal justice, I have found that some form of physical movement can be placed into nearly any area. In criminal investigations classes, I like to show students how to dust for fingerprints. Students get to dust themselves, hear me discuss the steps, follow along in the book, and see it taking place. It seems to encompass all learning styles at once.
Since I teach HVAC at a tech school, the hands-on approach apeals to a larger number of students than any other. However, this does not mean that this is the only way they learn. During our theory time, we use PP and discussion. Also, we have found that pass around components helps to get the students to find questions.
I will lecture for the first 15-20 minutes of class then move to the lab and have students demonstrate procedures hands-on.
Hi Jeanette, Thanks for your post to the forum. That does sound like fun! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
I have used physical games such as Simon Says (yes childish but it makes them laugh while playing)to help the kinesthetic learners grasp concepts. I used this strategy when teaching the bones in the body for our skeletal system lecture. I would have the students stand up and touch the part of their body that was associated with the bone structure I said. If the student touched the wrong bone, they sat down or if I didn't say "Simon Says" while touching the bone, they would also sit down until the next round. The students seemed to have fun while learning the names of the bone.
Hi George, Thanks for sharing some great advice for teaching kinesthetic students! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
I use hands on approach,trail and error. Explain fully the function,reason& application to ensure that each student has the complete grasp of what I am teaching. How to use the application in the (Real-World).Make the experience as real as possible.
Hi Katie, Thanks for your post to the forum. I will have to give a stability ball a try! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
We are very lucky in the fact that we have a clinical lab that the students can go and do hands on training. Being able to see and manipulate the equipment makes them remember the concepts so much better.
I like to get students up and moving to activate their mind body connections. I had elementary students sit on stability balls instead of chairs to engage their brains and give them an outlet for pent up energy. It really helped their focus and attention during longer stretches of instruction
Hi Kimberly, Thanks for sharing some good ideas for kinesthetic students! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
Our healthcare training process is very fast-paced, with lots of new information to process every day. Some days are hands-on clinical or skills lab days, which benefit the kinesthetic learners. But they seem to feel some anxiety about learning as well in the classroom, where lots of lecture and Power Point is used.
We started using yoga balls for them to sit on, which utilizes more muscles to stay upright than in a traditional chair. I have also known instructors who gave out small cans of play dough so the students have something to do as they listen.
Hi Tammie, Thanks for your post to the forum. Yes, that's the best part of teaching!! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
I agree with this completely. I teach ultrasound and when the students can take what they have learned in class, and actually apply it in the lab setting, they can really understand what they have been taught. I am a "hands on learner" and can relate to the students who also fall in to this category. It's neat to see the students when that light bulb finally goes off in their heads, and they say "now I understand!"
Hi Thomas, Thanks for sharing a great "hands-on" experience! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
Providing hands-on-learning experiences. For example, I was teaching an on-campus intro to computer class. As part of the course, a student mentioned that he was planning on purchasing computer parts and building his own computer. I took this as an opportunity to teach the class. I asked the student to bring the computer to class and we worked on it together as a class. It was a great learning experience for everyone involved.
Tom
