There's no use trying to make a square peg fit into a round hole!!! If a student learns better in a certain way then embrace that and run with it. The student will be better off because they will feel they are actually learning.
Today students are more prone to engage in visual learning stiles than the older type of student. With today’s technology very prevalent, the art of reading comprehension has fallen to the wayside leaving the instructor addressing the visual arts in an ever increasing medium. Using a classroom survey, most of my students prefer learning using some type of audio/visual stimulation.
Hi Melonie - I constant search Youtube for videos that I can use in my online classes. Best wishes- Susan
Susan and all,
We want students to succeed in our classes. To do so, we need to give them all the "tools" available. For example, I teach fully online courses. My students should ideally be "written" learners. That is likely not the case for most of them. Therefore, I implement PowerPoint presentations and videos for the visual and auditory learners. For kinesthetic learners, I plan to add some music to the lecture notes and create a summary slide for each set of notes. Have I forgotten anyone? I look forward to any feedback that you may have.
Melonie :)
HI Anna- Thanks for your post to the forum. You mention a good point - addressing the diverse learning styles results in an engaged classroom - dynamic and exciting! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Giving the students information from many sources supports what you are teaching them
If an instructor only caters to one learning style, s/he is not maximizing the learning experience of the rest of the class. Learning styles focus on the best way a student integrates/receives new information, knowing the best channel a student learns maximizes the learning potential of the student. This will increase learning and student success as well as enables for a very engaging learning environment.
It not only engages the student but gets them involved and hopefully interested in the information they are trying to learn.
Hi Paul- Thanks for your post to the forum. I would bet that most of your students would be tactile/kinesthetic but there will always be a few who are not. Mixing your delivery style with some videos/powerpoints (just occasionaly ) will give all your students some variety. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
In a setting such as culinary school, it is important for instructors to be flexible within the class with learning styles, often there are several styles represented at the same time , as well , a new class is started every six weeks, so instructors are constantly assesing the needs of the day.
That's the only way I can be certain that ALL my students feel included in the topic I'm teaching.
Hi Sharon- Thanks for your post to the forum. Yes, using all the resources that you mention will address all the learning styles. Just don't feel that you need to address every style in every lesson. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Hi Jeff- You may be a new instructor but you are already doing a great job of teaching to the learning styles! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
As a new instructor, I've quickly realized that not all my students learn the same way. Some learn through lecture, but most learn better through hands on demonstrations or with visual aids. The last thing I want to do is limit the opportunity my class has to fully grasp the course material. That's why the material is always presented in multiple learning formats.
By using various types of teaching strategies: videos, guest speakers, posters, the internet, group projects, field trips, all these will help enhance the learning experience. I beleive that for a topic to be fully understood, we must use all of the senses.
Hi David - Congratulations on effectively teaching to your students learning styles! Susan
Hi Laura- Thanks for your post to the forum. Yes, although we all have preferred learning styles, we must be prepared to adapt to other styles, especially in the workplace. The reason we try to use all the styles when we are teaching is just to try to make learning as easy as possible. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Hi David - What a great idea! Although it must certainly take considerable advance work to construct the teams etc., it is a great exercise for the students. Best wishes- Susan
Here is one example. We were discussing team building excercises, critical thinking skills and how they work. I divided the class into 4 teams of 5-6 on each team. The groups were divided by different personality types, gender, cultures, and races. Each group had some diversity. I did this ahead of time and they were not aware of it.
I told them they were to construct an ink pen museum and everyone had to have a special part in the project (I let them decide who had what part). The first step was to design the project in 5 minutes but I did not tell them what materials they had to work with. After 5 minutes I had them show and describe their designs. Then I brought out the building materials which was a 235 pc bucket of Tinker Toys and stated they had 15 minutes to construct their museum which matched their design. I had one rule - they could only take enough Tinker Toys that they were using and had to leave enough for the other teams to use. While the project was under way, I walked around the room to spy pieces not in use and asked them to return it to the bucket. I told them it was a competition for the best design.
They thrived on this project like a group of 5 year olds.
Afterward, I asked questions like - What types of problems they ran into? How did they solve those problems? Did any group elect a leader? If no leader was elected, did someone from the group emerge as a leader without being elected? Did anyone take charge? Did anyone feel left out? Did any one person dominate the project? What could be done to make the project operate in a smoother fashion? Did any group divide the duties based upon each person's talent?
The excercise can bring up some interesting discussions. It seems they always want to know who won the contest. I usually tell them that it wasn't really the objective but just a diversion. I then explain the real point to the exercise and what they should take away from it.
It is important because students will receive information at a higher rate if its through their preferred learning. However, it is important to remember that things will not always be catered to their preferred learning style in their future careers.
