I have found in my school,I teach the night class.They are adults ages from 19 to 40.Most have jobs and familys.most are stuggling with hard times.Understanding their problems.having them talk as a class.talking to them abaot staying focoused.Helps them know its hard for everyone and they work harder as a team helping each other to stay up to speed.
Hi Barbara,
Great examples of meeting diverse student needs. You are right on target with your modifying of how you approach different student groups. This is the sign of an instructor that understands learning methods suitable for all groups. Keep up the good work.
Gary
Hi Tony,
Good way to start a class. Even though the students are there to learn a specific set of skills or knowledge they need time to get settled in. The way you are starting your classes allows that to happen. Once the introductions are completed the students will have a feel for how the class is going to flow.
Gary
Instructors must be aware of the charateristics of their students to be able to write suitable curriculum, to adjust the pace or content, to have sufficient empathy to develop working relationships and to develop the appropriate teaching style for your particular students.
As an example i frequently work with students who are retesting in a specific competancy. I realize that language barriers, learning challenges and other difficulties bring them to this class. I teach it quite differently than if i were teaching to advanced placement students. I use more visual aids, give more breaks, use more humor, design seating for interaction, play games etc. in order to assure a better outcome.i have had better success since i modified my style.
I always start the first class by letting each student get up and talk about themselves (name, major, what they want to accomplish with their degree). I follow that up with a summary of what I accomplished and what it took to get there and that they can always pick my brain on anything they need to get accomplished. This seems to work well; because it generates a comfort factor that no matter what their learning characteristics are I will be there helping.
Hi Cheryl,
Good question that commonly comes up with all of us instructors. I would suggest you do two things in relation to planning your instructional delivery. As you mentioned in your forum it would be good to find out the learning preferences of your students. Once you know this you can balance your delivery to involve the different learning preferences.
Another thing I would do is to have the students fill out a 3x5 card offering suggestions and input on ways they would suggest the content be delivered. I have found that I get very good feedback from the students (meaning they are constructive and not hateful). They don't put their names on the cards so there is no pressure being put on them. They are very candid and helpful.
I often will put the 4-5 students off to the side and talk with them individually about their concerns and solicit suggestions from them directly. In reality many times their suggestions are not feasible to do but they feel involved in the process since I took the time to seek them out and get their opinions. Other times I have them assume some leadership role in the class to get the more involved.
Let me know how this works out for you. I will be glad to talk with you more abut this situation should you wish.
Gary
Hi Dr. Meers,
Where I teach the students have diverse backgrounds. This past quarter has been difficult, for the students and myself as the instructor. A few students had previous college experience, yet had a problem with the presentation of material. I like to use PP to supplement the text (which should be read prior to presentation) and the students felt why read and do the PP, suggesting the PP was a waste of time.
Most liked the presentations, intermingled with group projects and case studies, drawing on the board, etc., yet it seemed that there were always about 4-5 students that were not happy.
Any suggestions? We have talked about all students doing a survey to find out exactly what type of learner they are, which would help tremendously.
Cheryl :-)
Hi Joshula,
Exactly. The more you know the more effective you can be in targeting your students' learning needs. You have zeroed in on the essentials of instructional planning.
Gary
Hi Dennis,
In addition to your comments about knowing learner characteristics for instructional planning you gain knowledge on how to develop rapport with individual students.
Gary
Hi William,
Exactly. The more we know the more accurate we can be in our instruction and delivery.
Gary
Hi Gary,
Instructors need to understand learner characteristics in order to know how to present material. In order to reach your students the presentation of material is key. Knowing if your students are going to understand the lecture better than a slide presentation sets the teaching method an instructor will use.
Joshula
Understanding a learners characteristics will help me to form my teaching format around their individual ability to absorb the material at their pace of comprehension.
Understanding learner characteristics helps to form a formulate a proceder of how to connect with each student to perceive properly the material being addressed.
with better understanding of what motivates the diverse learning styles of students an instructor may better align his/her format and instructional style to serve the class as a whole.
Hi Randall,
Well said. Simple and straight forward. We must know our students in order to be able to support and encourage them for success. The more effort the greater return.
Gary
It allows the student to accept the class as something he needs and will allow them to absorb the material more readily.
If you do not understand how each of the students travels (learns) it is hard for you to properly lead them anywhere. The more you know and understand the makeup of your students and how they tick the more you will be able to bring them with you anywhere you want to take them.
Hi Robert,
You are correct in your statement about knowing student characteristics making teaching easier. This information helps to give you insight to what they students need in terms of instruction support and how to target their learning needs.
Gary
Having an understanding of learner’s characteristics in actuality makes the job of the instructor easier.
These understandings give the instructor the ability to present information in ways that the learner will be more likely to comprehend.
You can match your teaching style closer to the perceived learning style of the student.
