Are there learning styles that work best with certain courses?
My math students always tell me they are visual. I take that to mean they don't want to read the book but would rather be shown how to do a problem. Yet they don't practice on their own. I've found that making them practice in class has become very effective.
Hi Robert, I agree that how the material is delivered to a class depends on what the course objectives are. Echocardiography courses incorporate all types of learning.I typically give a handout and reinforce the material on the handout with diagrams (specifically different views of the heart)as they would appear via an echocardiogram. The students are able to see and read along with me, and at the same time they are able to see each of the pictures per their handout. The courses are also very hands on since learning to scan is a major component of the program. The scanning component reinforces what they learned in class. I often have them obtain a cardiac view, and then label on the screen the different cardiac structures we covered in class.
There is alot of information to learn, so I attempt to make it fun by playing jeopardy, and assigning a different cardiac disease to groups of students, and having them come up to the class and "teach" everything they have learned about the disease. Both of these activities make good review sessions before final exams.
Hi Brenda - Thanks for your post to the forum. You could also look for some You Tube content that would have relevant audio for your students.
Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
I struggle a little too since I teach only online courses. Students don't get alot of auditory learning but we are incorporating new jing sessions for those learners. Obviously visual learners can get what they want with books.
Hi Linda,
I too have found success by making the students try a sample problem for each new concept covered. We call it the YOU TRY IT breaks...and I walk around the room looking at their work and pointing out the specific steps where things went wrong or congratulating them on their success.
I teach a general education course at a business school that involves a lot of science-- only the IT folks are used to most of this! I have really struggled with being able to present material that can reach all of the learning styles, and have picked up some good ideas from some of your writers' posts! Thanks! Susan S.
I perfer to address the visual, tactile, and auditory learning styles while I am lecturing. I am usually teaching a science course, and let say I am talking about organic bonds, I will first provides a slide containing the bond, next I will use the white board to draw the bond, next, I will introduce models of the bond, so that students can place there hands on it, and actually feel, and touch the bond.
Hi Robert- Thanks for your post to the forum. As you mention, solving math problems is a process that is most effective when students can see the steps in the process. Similarly, in a class such as kinsiology which ultimately involves a hands on process, that is best understood if it can be modeled and then replicated by the student.
Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
I have found that many courses are taught most effectively if you take into account the outcome goals of the course. You are absolutly right that math is much more effective if students can see the problem with a step by step visual solution. There are many online tutoring programs for math that use this very strategy. Another example is my lab class in kinesiology where students do hands on exploration of academic content, a kinesthetic activity from a verbal and visual academic lecture.
Hi Linda- Thanks for your post to the forum. I find that online Math students really have problems when they want to be shown how to do the problems but, as with your students, they won't try to do the problems on their own. If we cannot see where they are making mistakes we really can't give helpful feedback. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
