A more important goal is providing the diverse learner with coping skills. The job/employer is not going to pause and commiserate with the employee -- it is either fish or become bait. The goal is to first survive and then excel.
Its best to get an idea of students learning behavior or patterns by trying different methods of teaching. Tactile learners are better suited for hands on applications while listeners like lectures throughout a course. The diversity of teaching can excel an individuals ability to comprehend a subject if their learning style is used.
Gurinder ,
this is an excellent & rather easy step to take: simply listening & giving any helpful advice or input when you can.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
In nursing, it's now an expected standard for students and graduates to be able to recognize the importance of cultural diversity. Easily, over half of my current two cohorts of students are ELL. The tension between students is what I see more often as the barrier than any inabilities. I have only a handful of Caucasians, a handful of Hispanics, and a few African-Americans. The majority are Africans. All of the students sit in their "groups."
To help reduce tensions and increase awareness that provides a clearer understanding, I will call on someone from the informal groupings when lecturing. It took a LONG time to win everyone "over", I ask the questions that the other half wants to know. In, fact this past week, burial customs were part of my lecture. I'm able to get my Africans students talk about burial rituals beyond just getting someone put into the ground. Asking about the rituals became one of the second highest rated class in the term. I think it had more to do with showing how even with the U.S., burial rituals are different. Then I focus on the Africans to tell the rest of us what are some of the rituals in Africa. Those of us raised in the U.S., were quite taken aback by their responses. I loved it! I learned just as much as the other Americans. I'm trying very hard to build on that lesson and expand in other classes to take time to solely focused on "cultures'" and each culture's perspective.
I have a very divers group. Some whose mother tongue is a foreign language. I do a lot of graphic presentation;I make my content as graphic as I can through concept webs which I try not to overcrowd with numerous ideas. My students love that. That is a winner with almost every class that I teach.I also give content in small diets and much repetition. I make sure I revise concepts introduced in the previous session, at the start of each new session. I also do spot checks and question breaks. In these breaks I give a scenario and ask students for feed back or I stop to ask them for their questions. I encourage them to make not of a point(s) they need verified. I garner these ideas from other instructors and through research on remedial reading techniques.
We also have very diverse classes. Most of our students are working adults,(20-40 years old) and few who are even 50 plus. I find that they all have different levels of understanding and motivation with the younger tend to get little easily distracted and frustrated when they don't understand something. Most of the older students are very self motivated but can be hard pressed for time or get distracted by events in their personal lives. Sometime, they share their daily challenges with me. I find that if I listen to them before the start of lecture, they feel little better and can focus on their study a bit more.
Michael,
The variety of assessments is a great idea as it gives a fair chance to all types of learners.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I teach the individual, not the group. There are times when the group needs to be addressed but students are all different. I keep quizzes very simple because not everyone quizes well and just because you can put something down on paper that you memorized does not meant that you have the skill set. What I teach is so hands on and practical. I incorporate written and practical means of assessment.
I agree that understanding the diversity of students is important in the learning process.
Nancy,
yes, we have a greater range of generations in many of our classes today & we need to understand that level of diversity as well.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Consider the generations and their trends Gen-X, Gen-Y and so on.
On the first day of class I group the students in pairs for the day. I have them ask each other three questions about each other. Then I have them introduce the person they were paired with for the day and tell the class a little about their classmate. Not only do the classmates learn about each other, but I learn about their interests as well . My students are from diverse backgrounds and they are very proud to talk about themselves to their classmates.
The students in the classes that I teach cannot be put into a category by age, experience, or where they sit in the classroom. I am the common in the classroom and it is my abilities that help each student to understand their need to learn what they can use to be successful in the field that they have chosen.
As a remedial reading teacher, I often have ELL learners from various countries. They struggle with vocabulary, idioms and reading as a whole. I think it is beneficial to ask them about their countries and experiences. They enjoy sharing about their culture and noting differences between our language and theirs. It is difficult for them to think in their language, transfer it into English and then transfer that into writing. It takes time, patience and repetition.
Arnitra,
this is so true & you know that by hitting on all of these strategies you reach all of your learners.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
One way I think you can learn about the needs of diverse learners is by taking a temperature gauge of the classroom. Have students work independently on an hand-out and walk around the room and see how each student is working, learning, and taking in the information.
With different generations in the class setting, you have to almost allow for various types of teaching techniques to ensure all basis are covered. You have to provide a mixture of learning opportunities for each individual person. I have found that when I do this each individual student seems to be satisfied with the way the course content was delivered.
We tend to think of diversity in terms of nationality, when it can just as easily be age, religion, or disability. At my school, we have a wide range of career options, ages, nationalities, gender, lifestyle, and disabilities. Sometimes, you might have all of these at the same time, which is really challenging!
I do the same thing. We have a lot of out of state students, so I originally did this to help them get to know each other. However, I have found that relating this information to the class content increases attention/participation.
kelly,
this is so true & can help the helping students reinforce the learning for themselves as well.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
