Learning Preferences
I think that it is important to use learning preferences which help students with cognitive, emotional, and motivational factors. Because all students so not learn the same so as instructors we must be able to reach our students. Therefore it is imperative that we use different teaching methods.
Joe,
Right you are about the need to "read" a class. Each class takes on a personality of its' own so we instructors need to be able to read and then react to the different personalities in relation to how we plan and deliver content.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Some classes seem to pick the material right away,the next class may really struggle with the same material. The trick is to learn to read your students styles and adapt on the go.
Lindsey,
Learners want variety and change of pace in their learning. The more you can do this the more engaged the students will be. Based upon your comments you have a very good plan in place to keep your students engaged and moving forward in their learning.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I agree that time can be limited in a classroom to try a few different strategies within one class. I currently have a class that meets three times a week. Each class I try to use different methods for learning experiences. One class out of the week is based on "hands on" learning. Another class is lecturing with power point presentations and short videos. The students enjoy having a variety of learning experiences.
Tom,
Right you are. I currently teach two sections of the same course back to back. The 4:00 pm class is very different from the 7:00 pm class. As a result I do two different prep strategies over the same material to reach each class effectively.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I strongly agree and some times we have to change or our instructional methods to cater a particular class.
i think it is imperative multi- learning Imperative due to social media and the next generation of how are generation learns with a hybrid system of communication
I agree. I also think that student retention is directly related to how we deliver content in the classroom. If we are teaching the same way all the time we are not connecting with every student. Therefore, it is important that we underastand how these students receive and process information. Teaching differently keeps the students engaged and reduces boredom.
Use different teaching styles will allow reaching more students. But classroom time maybe limited so a good foundation with a mixture of style can reach a large audience.
I agree with that ,it is really important to have in mind that students have different learning styles,when I teach I use the board and the markers a lot ,using diagrams and questions on the board to ask the students to label and answer them ,but at the same time I give them packages with exercises to complete that reinforce what the learn,I usually collect them and check what the students have done and whenever I find mistakes I sit with them and show them how to do it in the right way ,doing that I have realized that I cover most of the learning styles of my students.
Kelli,
Thanks for sharing this example of a learning preference. I teach both onsite and online and I definitely prefer onsite as a teacher just as your husband does as a learner. I have to adapt though because I don't have a choice of teaching the online courses but I do miss the interaction that goes with see the students face to face. On the other hand the opportunity to take a course on one's own time really helps to sell it for many people.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
To piggy back on your post, if I may :)
I have been trying to encourage my husband to return to school to finish his degree. With all of the online institutions out there, I figured he would find some niche he would enjoy and jump right in. After many arguments, he finally confessed that he could never get a degree online because he likes the face-to-face interaction as well as the peer interaction in the physical classroom setting.
This is a perfect example of a learning preferences of a 40+ year old male :)
My Best,
Kelli
I learned that it is not as simple as asking students what learning styles they prefer. Some students will not tell because, well, they just will not tell you, and others because they themselves do not know. I have also found that learning preferences depend on the topic to be learned.
I vary my delivery method from traditional lecture to students presenting a topic to games. I also ask students for their suggestions on how they would like material presented.
Wanda,
I agree. By using different delivery methods and strategies you are able to keep the students engaged and focused throughout the course as well as increase their retention of the essential concepts.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
