Get Your Students Hired
Knowing the learning styles that are coming into the classroom is great, and I am impressed that your school is doing this. I feel, however, that all classes should gear to as many learning styles as possible because we do not know in advance what learning styles will be entering our classroom. If we wait until we know the makeup of the class, we as instructors might be doing ourselves a disservice by not having sufficient time to make, or remake, materials to suit the additional learning styles.
By knowing the learning styles of my students, I will best be able to prepare the materials for dissemination to the students. If there is a strong emphasis on visual learning, I will be sure to include more visuals in my lectures and handouts. If there is a stronger emphasis on the written word, I will be sure to have handouts or to post additional written information after the session, I might also include additional suggested readings for those who prefer to read. If there is an emphasis on kinesthetic learning, I will try to bring in hands-on activities to put the skills into use, rather than learning in theory only.
Knowing the learning styles will also enable me to best assess the knowledge gained by the students by having assessments to meet varying learning styles. I might include a practicum, or an oral presentation in addition to the traditional exam.
Hi Allen - Thanks for a very well written post to the forum. Being a teacher is indeed a huge responsibility and it is beneath us to take the easy way out. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
In general, educators tend to teach to their preferred learning style. This is what the research has shown, but perhaps with more courses such as this and continued research on learning styles and multiple intelligences, this is beginning to change. As teachers, we must be careful to not fall in the trap of teaching only to our style, but rather to the needs of the students in front of us.
If our goals is to help our students get from point A to point B and we take personal responsibility for the learning of our students, then it follows that we help them get to point b by utilizing their strengths and improve in weak areas. Everybody is intelligent in some way, shape, or form. We just have to foster this within our students.
Allen
Hi Thaddeus- Thanks for your post to the forum. My students love the videos I find for my classes - I'm sure yours will as well! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
HI John - Thanks for your post to the forum. I like your idea of basing the reading assignments on research related to the films they are watching. I'm sure that adding some "controversy" to the assignments is a challenge but as you say, the students enjoy it! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
By knowing the instructional styles of your students you are able to better focus on them, and help them understand the material more quickly and completely. This inturn makes you a better instructor.
Hello Susan,
I'm fortunate in the fact I teach Film production and my students respond well to watching various forms of film production as a resource for discussion. Unfortunately, by and large, they don't respond well to reading assignments. As a result, I have incorporated research reading assignments that are directly relative to the film they have enjoyed. I try to build controversy around the subject to invigorate their investment in the research which works quite well.
Happy Holidays,
Johnny
I think I may introduce more videos into my class because it just like a better way to reinforce what i am trying to teach.
As we see our students for only three weeks at a time it can be difficult to access the learning styles of each student. Because of this, we must be on top of our game from day one so each student benefits as much as possible from the material being presented.
Knowing the learning styles allows me to vary my class content and delivery. I can create little .wav files for them, whether as a quiz prep or a highlight for a particular area. This also allows me to create a lecture as well. Teaching online gives people access to our slides, movies/videos, power points, tests.... but the textbook must be highlighted as well -- since my subject can be overwhelming, I like to break it into managable parts -- and show students how to do this.
Knowing the instructional styles of my learners allows me to prepare lessons that a student can actually absorb and retain the information presented.
Knowing the learning styles of the students helps the educator prepare the teaching material more effectively. Having this information will benefit the instructor by being able to cater to the different learning styles of the students and be more effective.
In addition, this would make the classroom more enjoyable for the students, as they would feel more comfortable and not be alienated by a teaching style that does not fit them.
Knowing the learning styles of students allows the instructor to reach students the most effective way. A great way to learn is groups, making sure that groups comprise a variety of learning styles will make the groups more dynamic. Hopefully, this will allow students to learn from each other and appreciate the variety of learning styles in the group.
Hi Thaddeus - Thanks for your post to the forum. I'm glad that you have found this class useful - best wishes for success in your teaching career! Susan
Very beneficial to a new instructor like myself. much to be learned in order to be able to apply in real life application.
Hi Heather- thanks for your post to the forum. Your lessons that introduce your students to Learning Styles are really excellent! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
In one of my classes, one of the assignments focuses on learning styles. This is incredibly beneficial because it lets the students become aware of their own learning styles and then we discuss these styles in class. While they learn their own style and we discuss ways to use them to their advantage, I also get to learn how each student learns most effectively. I then use this information to make sure that my instruction methods are varied in order to benefit as many students as possible. Students then have a sense of empowerment by learning ways to improve their own study habits. If a student is struggling with learning certain material, we can then work together using their learning style to find ways to understand the material more effectively.
The instructor is in close contact with the students and should differentiate the different styles of learning so he can accommodate or modify some activities to make them more appealing for the majority of the class.
Everyone has their own way of learning and if I know this it will help me to reach almost all my students