Allows you to think about the best way to present the material.
Understanding the background of the learner , the age and cultural diversity or any learning disabilities helps you to adapt your instruction to focus on their particular needs. For younger students whose acedamic focus has not been a priority in high school and now they have to transition to colledge where it is and the instructor has to facilitate this change.Where as the older students just need the instructor as a guide as they are more independant and self motivated. On the other hand they may be more set in their ways. You also have to encompass all other student needs and see what works best for any reading, writing or any other disabities that need to be addressed in the class.
Many of our students are hands on learners others like to watch you do a task first, still others listen and read documentation. I try to cover a subject in many ways to alow them to see the proceedure in the format they like best
It helps the instructor know how to present the information.
Hi Dennis,
Well said. Once you have taken inventory of your skills, abilities, preferences and style you can proceed to develop instruction that will meet the learning preferences of your students.
Gary
Dr. Meers
Instructor characteristics has an effect on learner characteristics.
Before you can understand the learner, you need to understand yourself.
D. Hayes
Gary,
It helps me understand the needs, different learning styles, and what tools to use to motivate towards the learning activities!
Charles
Ken,
You are totally correct - rock on:-)
Charles
How can you teach someone effectively until you understand your audience? In the arena of marketing the first rule is to understand your audience so that you can effectively attract your target market. If there is no understanding of the mental capabilities and the learning style that they excel at, how can you make a learning plan that will maximize the learning potential in the classroom environment?
By knowing what the learner knows it is easier to find ways to relate new material to things that the learner understands.
today in the real world there is going to be people with dissabilities working in most all fields,I have had a few students with dissabilities in a few of my classes and they all have been really good students, I beleave it is because they try harder!
Hi Billy,
I congratulate you on discovering this very important fact about student learning early in your teaching career. This will help you for years to come as you prepare your instructional units.
Keep up the good work and I welcome you to the teaching profession.
Gary
I have only been teaching for a short while and found that the sooner we as instructors identify student needs and not just gloss over our students ablities we can assist the students with the needed support, weather that support is Intrinsic and/or Extrinsic, they need our support too succeed in our/their new chosen career.
If you have a good understanding of learner characteristics, you can not only plan your daily activity (lecture, lab, etc.) to coincide with the varieties of learner capabilities, but you can effectively recognize when some of the students are having difficulties and require additional support. The quicker you react to the variety of issues you may encounter, the better the success rate you will have in student retention and their ability to complete the training program for a rewarding career.
If I can better understand the students' learning backgrounds, I believe I have a better opportunity to know what motivates them and why they may react the way they do in a certain situation. I suspect that isn't always the case, but that it will help for some portion of the student population.
The learner characteristics will help in planning and relating to the students. Every student in a class must have a feeling that the instructor cares. Every student must feel that the material is relevant to them and that it is being taught for a reason. Without this understanding of learning characteristics an instructor can not identify with the students and plan for their success.
Feedback is also important and must be tailored to the student's needs. The feedback for one student may be a "pat on the back" and for another student the feedback may be more complex.
-Chris
Absolutely Ken! Other than speaking to the students direct, how do you learn their fears? Is there some sort of exercise you ask them to complete? Thanks, Elisabeth
Hi Elbert,
Thank you for sharing your perspective about preparing for classes. Learning centered should be the focus for maximum return and you are planning that way. Keep up the good work.
Gary
I became a better instructor when I moved from a teacher-centered to learner-centered approach in class. When I assess my pedagogy, that is, how I am trying to interact with students in an educational setting, I realized that understanding how students receive, respond to, or relate to what I am trying to convey to them gives me a special vantage point about success in the class. In addition, by stepping outside my own subject-position and focusing on what learners need to do to achieve success creates a reciprocal teaching environment that students (and I) appreciate. Further, when I create the syllabus for the class or plan creative exercises, students buy into my desire for their success. In this way, they will allow the instructor to guide them on a learning journey to far away places. When this environment is created, the learning process occurs at a high level.
Hi Sarah,
Providing instructional supports for students with learning disabilities is a way of helping such students to achieve success. There are many things instructors can do help students achieve success such as using structured outlines, graphic organizers, and group reviews. These supports will help all students so especially those with reading/writing/comprehension issues related to learning disabilities. What you are doing is leveling the learning field for success rather than giving any unfair advantage to any student.
These students also bring to the class setting many coping strategies that they have developed during their previous schooling and these can be used by them and the instructor as well. It is a win win situation for everyone.
Gary
