Using a variety of teaching methods that pertain to specific learning styles, taps right into multiple intelligence instruction.
It is necessary to appeal to all multiple intelligences when teaching our students. In order to process the information that we are delivering, students need to see it, hear it, and act upon it. This takes extra planning in our lessons, but is well worth it!
Dawn,
Students like change of pace and variety as you know from your teaching experience. So the more you can appeal to their different learning preferences the more engaged they will be. You are doing this with your strategies and I am sure the results is engaged students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I had some knowledge of this topic already and I agree with what was presented in the course. I have students who are varied in their experiences and skill sets and they all have their preferred ways of learning. I try to offer as many different types of learning activities as I can while keeping them all on the same page so to speak, meaning on the same topic and achieving the same learning outcomes. It's a challenge sometimes.
Patricia,
Thank you for making this point because it is a critical area for adult learners. They have taken a risk coming back to school and they are in many cases fearful that they will not be able to compete in the class. Early success will help them build their confidence and then grow from there. Love to see them about half way through the course grinning from ear to ear when they complete a project that they thought was beyond them just a few weeks before.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
One thing that adult learners fear is being graded on something they can't do very well. So in addition to delivering instruction that caters to a variety of intelligences and learning styles, an instructor needs to set up course assignments and projects that allow students to broad-base their grade across multiple types of work (group projects, personal essays, oral presentations, creative demonstrations). That broad-basing helps build their confidence and even try new approaches, knowing that their entire grade doesn't depend on one approach.
Chemo,
This is a great way to use the different intelligences of your students and show them the value of knowing what those intelligences are and how they benefit them as they process information and acquire skills. Helping them to step outside of their comfort zone is important as well because they are going to have to do just that once they are in the workplace.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I love this discussion. In our new students in their Student Success class we go into great detail on the Multiple Intelligences, and they respond to various charts and questions to determine their intelligence type. Later I put the students into teams mixing in their multiple intelligences based on their charts, etc. they completed in class. With this project they have to create their own organization, their own mission statement, how will the organization be run, who benefits, pros and cons they might encounter when first starting up organization -funds, donations, and a summarization of their project. Then I add a twist - they must also "step outside of the box," with this project. Assembling the multiple intelligences together versus putting students in same categories produces awesome projects.
-Chemo Faustino-Moraes -
Using more variety in delivering instruction will provide more opportunity to engage the students.
David,
Students like variety and change of pace in their instructional delivery. You are providing both with this approach. Having them do a demonstration is a great idea because it helps them to become involved in the class and develop their communication skills.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
In class we use a combination of auditory and visual by using power point presentations which allow me to verbally expand on bullet points during a lecture, with support of visual intelligence by imbedded pictures and videos. We also use training materials both in the classroom and lab to support tactile intelligence. Having the students help with the demonstration in class helps with their tactile learning as well as helps keep everyone involved.
Integrating all 4 teaching methods in your lectures soo all of your students are adressed.
Vanessa,
Good comments about how you can do your instructional planning by having this information and using it to customize your delivery selection.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Understanding multiple intelligences can help you get to know your students and identify the methods needed to teach them. This can guide instructors on whether to tailor classes to auditory, visual, and/or kinisthetic learners.
In all of the classes I teach I incorporate all of the learning styles into the teaching process.
John,
I think you have a very solid position in relation to the value of the web based training modules. They may work for some general background information but it seems to be that humans learn best when they get to make immediate use of newly acquired knowledge. So they hear and see a demonstration on a automotive task and then do it. By doing they are involving their senses and cognitive processes so the retention of the knowledge and the expansion of their skills occurs.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
In my field as well, automotive tech, the vast majority of students are kinesthetic learners. There is a big push in our organization to eliminate or reduce lectures in order to increase through-put. The idea is to assign web-based courses as homework, then go straight to the lab during class time. The whiz-bang interactive web based training modules that we all thought were the cat's pajamas don't seem to prepare many students to complete a task in the lab. I find it interesting that the successful web programs are those which are simply videos of a lecture with demonstration. I suspect that the assumption was that teaching videos resembling video games would be effective with an audience raised on video games. I think that perhaps the use of video games as escape causes them to be totally "of the moment" and actually conditions players to not generalize or retain the content.
Jason,
What are some ways you reach your students in your classes?
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
heplps to ensure all studenst are being reached
Dawn,
This is how customizing instruction should work. By knowing the learning preferences of your students you are able to zero in on their instructional patterns and then create learning pathways. This results in increased retention of content and a higher level of student satisfaction.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
