Get Your Students Hired
It is important because not all students learn in the same way. So...while I continue to assign chapters in the text to be read by ALL students, I also use Powerpoint and Video clips (from Internet sites) which will be well-received by those visual learners. The repetitive combination is a blessing to get the concepts across to the students. Followed by hands-on problem solving and each student is exposed to all four varieties of teaching, since they all have to listen to me!
Hi Jane- Thanks for your post to the forum. A 4 or 5 hour long class can be excruciating especially if your students have spent a day at work and are tired. You have described a very active learning environment. Congratulations on excellent work! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
It is essential to the success of the student. Having a variety of "learners" in the classroom means having a variety of teaching methods to convey the material. Our classes meet once a week for either 4 hours or 5 hours. In that time frame there is plenty of room to use many teaching styles to present what is to be covered. It breaks up the class time as well to avoid students losing focus or becoming bored. With each class I have lecture, visual aids such as powerpoints, vinettes, etc and working in groups with hands on projects. This covers learning styles of all the students as well as allow them to grow using other ways to learn and retain the material.
An engaged and motivated student is a student ready to learn. A student ready to learn has the potential to be successful. A successful student builds not only knowledge but also self-confidence and self-esteem. To engage and motivate, I need to reach each student frequently. Acknowledging my students learning styles and cater to them in a variety of ways are therefore essential tools in allowing students to build knowledge and content delivery.
I feel it is important to vary your teaching style no only to match the students learning styles but to encourage them to consider and develope their abillities to learn through other styles
Hi Regina- Thanks for your post to the forum. You are obviously a very observant and emphathetic teacher! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
I think an instructor can pick up on the different learning styles of his/her students within the first few days. I have learned to do a 10 to 15 minute lecture. Then I have students get into small groups to work on an in-class assignment based on the lecture topic. For the first few minutes I observe each group working. After students have been working for a few minutes I walk around the classroom and I talk with each group members to get an idea of how well the students are learning off of each other. If the group is stuck I get them started and encourage them to keep trying the exercises. Strong students can be purposefully paired with weak students for a given topic. A lot of times, the weaker student gains some confidence in learning how to work on exercises and the stronger students learn how to mentor.
Susan
I believe we have diversity in our audiences with students whether online or in the classroom. I believe that being able to do a scan with the different individuals can really make an impact and difference and I find this invaluable to learning.
Janice
Hi Marcena- Bravo! You are addressing all the learning styles with your delivery. Thanks for your post to the forum. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
I actually cover all four learning styles in my instuction, so whatever they are they can choose
Students are typically in attendance for one important reason.....to learn. It is of the utmost importance as an instructor to evaluate the various learning styles and provide an environment that accommodates as many styles as possible.
Hi Qadar -Thanks for your post to the forum. You are doing a great job addressing the learning styles of your students. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
I found out through teaching experiance that 50% of my students are Kinesthetic, 30% Visual and 20% written. So I used PowerPoint presentation with pictures to support the visual learners. I also briefly minimize the PowerPoint presentation to demonstrate what I have been lecturing for the kinesthetic ones. The result was phenomenal.
Hi Cheryl- I am a written/verbal learner and do have had to work hard to accomodate my visual/tactile folks. Although it may be challenging, I know that the extra work is SOOO rewarding!! Best wishes- Susan
Each student learns in a different manner. What makes sense to one person may not to another learner. Much of education traditionally has been geared to written and verbal. Information may be hard to comprehend to a visual/tactile learner - and they can be labeled as unable to learn. If you present the material in ways they can understand, they can comprehend it. I tend to gear toward visual/kinesthetic in my teaching and find that the written students sometimes get frustrated with how I present materials - they want more minute detail.
Out of an average of 20+ students per class, there is a pretty even distribution of students who prefer one learning style over another. More importantly, those students who perform well in kinesthetic assessment but do not take traditional tests well assume that they can never improve because they always say "I have always been a poor test taker."
Hi Losue- Thanks for your post to the forum. Having students with age differences can be challenging but you seem to be be doinga great job aat varying your delivery. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Hi Laura - \Congratulations on successful completion of your first quarter as an instructor!
It sounds like you did a good job at varying your delivery to reach the various learning styles. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Now that I have wrapped up my first quarter of teaching, I definitely learned that my students respond very differently. Therefore, I made sure I mixed it up in the classroom in order to appeal to all of my students. In addition to lecturing, I did a lot of videos, group discussion, and peer instruction. Not all students respond to all aspects, but it helps to ensure students aren't "left behind".