Hi Darrell,
Good point about gathering information from your students. The more you know the more you can plan for their needs. This results in better informed students and greater instructor satisfaction.
Gary
Hi Michelle,
If you did thanks for the answer again. It is comprehensive and thoughtful concerning how you approach your students. I like reading forum responses from instructors that really are student centered in their approach and you are that. I wish you much success in your teaching.
Gary
Although individualized as they may be, learner characteristics can be grouped together to address many concerns. Understanding these characteristics aids in the instructional planning process by aiding the instructor in the expectations of the learners, helping to address any fears related to the subject matter and simply the fear of failure or need of success. Each class, just as each learner will be different.
Christine Storms
it helps me pin point the learning outcomes needed for the students. each student is differnt with differnt reasons for being in school, if you know a little something then planning is easier, and the class runs smoother with the info that students really want to learn, not what is required
hi gary
it is of the utmost importance. i like to know what all my students what to be, learn, and i ask them if they are visual or auditory learners. to get to knoe them helps get on thier level , every body learnes at differnt speeds and i have a diverse crowd.
I thought I already replied to this. Hmmmmm. Knowing the learner is lke knowing your customer. As a Chef, we always have to think about who our audience is. So I think that understanding the learner and their needs is obvious. In Culinary arts we get a high percentage of kinestetic and visual learners. Lecture is a poor choice. We do "edutaining" demonstrations with tastings and the students do hands-on production. They get to read and see and hear and do and that layering process usually takes care of our target audience. Special needs are dealt with one on one.
It helps you to empathize with the learner. In simple terms, you try to get inside the head of the learner to understand where they are coming from.
Hi Dave,
Thank you for sharing your experience with using learning preference identification to help you select your instructional delivery. I really like the part where these same students that were a bit apprehensive at the beginning of the course are now helping other students. That says it all.
Gary
Hi Gregory,
What has helped you the most in identifying the characteristics of your students so you can plan your instruction around their needs?
Gary
By understanding how a student will be able to process information the easiest way, will maximize the student's learning experience. In our class, we have excercises that allow students to identify what style learner they are. Once I review their findings, we work on developing ways to deliver the information as well as the way the student accepts it and understands it. In most cases, the students are put at ease in their learning environment when they pinpoint what helps them the best. Being an information technology instrutor, I find that sometimes the student is still apprehensive because of the being new to computers thing. With patience and understanding, I am able to get these students feeling comfortable with what they are doing. I even see those students by the end of the course actully helping others which makes me feel that I did my job well.
As was presented in the course, understanding learner characteristics can help an instructor to more effectively deal with the differences of the learner populations within their classroom. Further, course materials can be tailored to meet the learning needs of more, not all, learners within the classroom.
Hi Kathleen,
Thank you for this great run down on student personalities. You are right on with your descriptions and their needs. "And they say teaching is easy." One of the needs that instructors have is to develop coping skills for working with these students. It doesn't take long to develop the experience base from which you can operate to meet their respective needs and keep them contained within reason in relation to demands. Keep up the good work.
Gary
Hi Mark,
Good understanding of your field and your students. By knowing this you are making adjustments in your instructional delivery so you are more effective in getting the learning across that is needed by your students.
Gary
I have experienced many learners. The perfectionists: it is important to identify these learners as soon as possible. You can usually identify them from the number of emails or postings for assistance. It is important to reassure them that perfection cannot always be achieved but if they leave themselves open to learning they will reach the high levels. There is the learner who needs to dot every "i" and cross every "t" to ensure processes are met. You need to be able to help this learner identify all of the processes, forget about it being somewhat retentive, it is their need. There is the "I need support and attention" learner. These are the learners that are learners who are so afraid that they are going to look foolish in front of their colleagues. This is common and it is important to identify that every learner brings something new and unique to the class. Help them find it. Be their cheerleader, FIND something interesting and important in what they have to say. I have had learners who write in such a manner that sometimes I have to think about what a word means :-D and then they are concerned when no one responds to their postings (I teach online). These learners need to be guided, reassured and moved forwarded. We never want to discourage scholarly discourse. A class, whether on ground or online, has many personalities, differences and similarities :-) I try to focus on similarities to keep us all bound together. Kathleen
Hi Laurie,
I love hearing these types of success stories. This is what teaching is all about. We are making a difference in the lives of our students and we need to remember that when times get tough in the classroom.
Gary
Hi Ellen,
I really like your approach to including all of your students into the course format. Each student is unique and as a result wants to be treated as such. As an instructor you can customize the course somewhat to the individual needs of students but you still must adhere to the standards of the field and the course. You are doing a good just of finding that balance.
Gary
Hi Brian,
These kinds of current topics do help with engaging students into the discussion. Since the course is online these types of discussions are even more important because you want to draw every student into the course and related activities.
Gary
Only when an instructor understands the specific learning characteristics of each student can they adjust their instructional style to adapt to those individual intrensic/extrensic needs, which is necessary to promote a supportive learning environment.
I think understanding political positions can also have an impact. I teach legal courses online and often some topics related to political issues. I try to use that diversity in discussion board topics so students can learn from each other. For example, we might have a discussion on the arguments for and against the death penalty.
I agree that each student has their own unique abilities. I teach law and some students have very poor writing skills and I have to provide them with a lot of positive and constructive fedback.
