Hi Cynthia, Thanks for your post to the forum. I agree totally with your comments about the effects of using diverse delivery styles. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Susan Polick
Hi Colleen, Thanks for your post to the forum and for sharing how you find teaching to the learning styles valuable! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Susan Polick
I can use different ways of teaching students--if a few students have learned from the PowerPoint presentation, I may then show examples on the board that reinforce what has been taught.
The student who has "caught on" the fastest is encouraged to review board notes and go to the front of the room and revise with additional examples and notes.
I remind students that, as was the case in the large family I came from, "the first one done helps the others."
Sometimes it helps for a student who has just grasped the material to teach it to someone who is still apparently struggling. I remind students that once the can teach something, they will be assured that they really know it!
I think the benefit of knowing the learning style of your students is that as an insructor, you can gage how much information the student is actually receiving effectively.
I also explain my technique of teaching and ask for input and help from the students. If I am not teaching the way they can learn I need to know so I can help them.
Learning styles will help you effectively teach your students their way. We must be able to communicate the information that needs to be learned to all students. So I use a variety of techniques.
When doing lectures it helps to get some feedback from the students, it gives you an idea of the different learning types you have by their many different answers
many times just letting the students know what their particular learning style is helps them academically. They know which assignments and resources to concentrate on.
The best course I ever took was a graduate course in color personalities. It is very similar to learning styles in that students have "color" styles. I use this course in every class I teach and in my daily work life. I have become very proficient in this and it works like a charm.
I feel that knowing your student is one of the single most important thing in a class room. It helps show the students that you care about their success. I see that my students trust me and open up more in class because I take the time to get to know them and be aware of all the things they have to overcome while in school.
I like to teach and walk. This way it allows me to observe my class. During my lectures I try to use visual and kinesthetic techinques. I am open for student feedbacks as well.
Something I found more effective out of this course was the idea of knowing your own learning styles. Much as police officer must experience the items they carry on their utility belt before they can be certified to use them, it is helpful to recognize your own strengths and weaknesses to help student identify theirs as well. How can we possibly know the learning style of our students if we cannot even recognize our own?
Being a Pastry Arts instructor, you have the opportunity to teach many different learning styles. It is important to know the learning styles of your students so they can get the most out of what youre teaching in the least amount of time. We do hands-on (lab work), visual by demoing what they are going to be making and auditory/visual in lecture class as well. I try to cover as many different stylaes as possible.
Knowing the learning styles will assist the instructor in the best ways to integrate all styles in class presentation. It will also benefit the students since we want them all
to succeed.
By knowing the learning styles of your students, you can vary your teaching style to reach the most students at any one time.
I think that it is very important to know the learning styles of your students. You need to be able to teach them and for them to process the information you need to be able to deliver it, to be able to deliver it you need to know how they learn. It is like a big revolving circle until you have the concept down. What I do the first day of class is ask the student what thier learning method is or if they even know what it is. I also have a learning style survey that we do on the first day of class. Once we do that we get into our learning groups and come up with something unique about how we learn to present to the class so others are aware of the different styles. Students seem to like this and it breaks the ice in a new class. But most importantly it allows me to know what I am up against so that I can adjust my teaching to my students.
I found identifying the learning styles of students reap great benefits. You can change the classroom forum from one that is viewed as a chore to one that is embraced as an adventure. Students get more involved and excited when they understand the material. There is more interaction and a higher occurrence where there are knowledge-sharing activities among peers. So yes, taking the time to know the learning styles of your students is extremely important and rewarding!
When I understand how students learn, I can get my point across quicker so I don't have to repeat myself numerous times. I can deliver the message a few different ways and move on. It also allows me to break up my ecture so I am not just speaking to students for 3 hours.
It helps me focus my lecture, my questions, and even design my tests.
Thanks for the solid advice. Sometimes, especially in smaller classes, it's a simple matter of speaking with the students individually, finding out their interests, and just flat-out asking, what their perferred learning style is. Of course, it's good for the students to sharpen all styles.
