Hi Karen, thanks, you have addressed a bottom-line point - adult learners input, process and output information in different ways - tapping into their different learning styles therefore facilitates more effective comprehension and application opportunities.
I might say too, though, that sometimes we have to take students outside of the comfort zone of their preferred styles. As we know, the workplace is not as forgiving as the classroom or lab - auditory learners may have to read policies, procedures and manuals; visual learners may have to hear a set of instructions from their supervisors; and kinesthetic learners may not have the chance to first actively demonstrate their skill mastery or practice a hands-on activity.
It can be a challenge for us, as instructors, to keep the balance.
Thanks again for your observations!
Jay Hollowell
ED106 Facilitator
Excellent point, James, it helps the student to see immediate relevance of the material and answer the age-old question, "WIIFM?"
I am convinced as well that when students can see an immediate application of a technique or concept, learning is accelerated.
I have often had students keep a journal - at the end of a class or lab period, I have them capture, in their own words, a brief essence or summary of the topic, write down any questions they may have, and then provide an example of how they can use the topic's application in the workplace (or for their careers).
This serves as the foundation to a brief review of the topic and its relevance during the next class meeting, plus reinforces why it is important.
Thanks for your observations,
Jay Hollowell
ED106 Facilitator
Hi Donald! Thanks for your comments!
What types of assessments do you use? Are they subject specific, or more oriented toward the learning process? Are they skill-based or content-based? Both?
Thanks!!
Jay Hollowell
ED106 Facilitator
Hi Alan! Providing some universal marketing principles is a great strategy - we all tend to follow similar precepts when putting together a marketing plan, positioning a product or service or creating a brand - yet you raise an interesting point about different meanings of words and sentences across cultures.
Have you ever, per chance, demonstrated in a fun way what the outcomes might be given an inappropriate or mis-perceived use of a word or phrase (given the differences in cultural reference)? Just curious...
Thanks,
Jay Hollowell
ED106 Facilitator
Hi Shukmei! Good strategy, particularly having students follow your example in their own ways. I might even suggest that you have students paraphrase concepts and give their own examples, plus give them an outline of key points rather than, perhaps, them writing down every word.
Thanks so much for your comments,
Jay Hollowell
ED106 Facilitator
Teaching a technical-knowledge-based foundation course in a visual arts/design program, I must teach the students a relatively large number of technical terms; for the reading-disabled and ELL students, this can be particularly challenging.
I present this material in written/visual form: providing the student with a packet of term definitions accompanied by diagrams and illustrations; I go over the material in this packet as a lecture, providing additional visual samples of the terms presented, in their real-world context; and, for the kinesthetic learners, as well as for transfer of the knowledge for all the students, I have the students implement this knowledge in a drafting-based project.
My question is this: for those students who are neither learning/reading-disabled or ELL, this can come of as quite repetitive, the multiple modalities as quite redundant. How do you keep the regular-needs student from getting bored and losing interest while bringing the others up to speed?
That is lucky that your school has such an office. Truly, the people who help those students who are differently abled are doing the school a great service; by learning how to help these challenged students, we ourselves become more versatile instructors. Truly.
Hi Julie! I want to thank you for your comments and reiterate the excellent point you have made. Just as important as the technical skills we teach, according to our professions, are the critical skills - articulation, problem-solving, interpersonal, etc. The ability to communicate professionally, orally and in written form, is crucial to job success in disciplines across the board, and your requirement of a written submission is one of the foundations to that success. Our adult learners simply, flat out, need the practice.
Just curious, are there any additional activities/assignments you utilize to encourage the development of foundational critical skills?
Jay Hollowell
ED106 Facilitator
Julie,
There are two cognitive assets that research has shown are issues. One is the space asset and the aother is systematic search. Research has shown systematic search is so difficult because students do not come to the classroom with this asset and have to be taught to find their stating point and way through the assignment. The day of the rough draft seems to have almost disappeared. The students want to enter the final paper on the first try.
Secondly, the relative space asset is one that should have been taught beginning with elementary school Whenstudents do not come into the adult classroom with these two assets they have great diffuclty finding a systematic starting point and spatial organization.
I teach fashion design and I find my students struggle having to write a research paper. My assignmetns are practical and the students are investigating fashion at the stores. However they need to write a report and give a power point presentation on their findings. I get many papers that are just too hard to read because of spelling/grammar errors. Now I'm not an English major-I'm a fashion designer! So I give a one week extension to these students who have handed their assignment in on time.I ask them to go to the learning lab to get help from an English tutor to re write the assignment. I get great results doing this and the studnet is always pleased to have a second chance to improve on their paper. I do go over the fashion terminology first and make those corrections as an English tutor may not have this knowledge.
I try to carve out some time at the end of the day or at the begining of the day for students who need extra help. This can be written help or practical help. This seems to help a lot of the students and gives them the ability to know where to go if they need extra help.
Teachers who are not wise in this approach have set the stage for negative thoughts students have about their learning potential. Diversity helps break down the glass walls between genuine learning reduced to memory and rote memorization. The influential context of strategies that do not engage is longlasting. It places a great responsibility on the educator to keep a full view of the mental state of the class in regard to their cognitive abilities while helping them focus on the positive. "Half glass full" is in order.
A strategy that works is to keep different learning styles and address all the different learning styles with examples. I have experimented with different methods of delivering the material and then look at the quiz scores – I have noticed over the years that incorporating keeping in mind the different learning styles the higher the overall average quiz scores.
The diversity of students in today's classrooms underscores the importance of developing different method style. Teaching math most of my student had bad teachers and motivating and listing to them works for me. Giving them different examples helps them and encourges them to ask questions.
One strategy I use is to discuss with students information that they may be failiar with in their everyday life. This lessens their stress and I then blend the relationship of that icon into the lesson for meaning. This meets the learners needs, puts them in a state of mind for learning and allows me then to engage them in conversation so I can get and give feedback. I also use open ended questions which allows them to introduce prior knowledge and build from that base of information.
I utilize student needs assessments in all of my classes to assess student learning and basic knowledge/skills they are entering in with. It also helps me focus specific points in specific delivery of material throughout the course.
The majority of the courses I teach are in advertising or marketing. Which can be very subjective not to mention quite challenging. Students usually come from different backgrounds, neighborhoods, even countries, where a word or sentence can have a completely different meaning. I normally start the course by spending the time explaining the basic principles of advertising and communication and show how that can be applied in a universal way.
A specific strategy that has wored for me when I addressing students with diverse learning needs is to talk slowly and write down everything that I say. Many diverse learner cannot catch the word at a normal speed. They have to link the word back to their mother language.
I can assess my student by give one example and ask them to work on similar type of question.
That is a great point that you make. It is definitely valuable to get to know something about your students outside of class. This will allow you to better serve their needs.
Definitely. I remember one incident where I had a student who was lagging behind in class, so I pulled him aside after class. He wouldn't talk to me but didn't leave, so I kept pushing him to talk. After a few minutes, he finally started talking. Ever since our conversation, his motivation and participation has included greatly.
Sometimes being willing to listen, and being a bit tenacious, works.
