How do you deal with multiple level learners?
I teach an Algebra course to prospective chefs. Many of them have not had this class in several years, while some of them could pass the final exam on day 1. I have been catering to those who need more help, and letting those that understand the material to work on their own, but I can tell they are bored. Any suggestions?
Scott,
Is it possible to create strands for the students where they would work through applications of Algebra based upon their abilities and knowledge of Algebra? These activities could be created in the form of case studies so the interest would be there for the students to work through them. This would enable you to work with those that needed more attention as they develop or refine their skills in Algebra.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Personally, I like to find activities in which students cannot form their little clicks, but still they are working on teams. Especially, since i also teach mathematics, and most students seem to have a certain attitude about the subject their expectations start low. Different levels are difficult to teach since the students that had had college algebra want to go faster and the other students they get fustrated. I like to play jeopardy with them, putting their names inside a hat and randomly placing them in teams of different strenghts, writing a problem on the board and they need to find the solution in teams of 2 or 3 people with different strenghts, they get evaluated on team work, besides of who solves the problem fastest or more creatively.
I also try to divide my time so i will take questions from both groups and step it up a bit more with the ones that get bored.
Susana,
Like the way you mix up your students when forming groups. I follow a similar method to provide my students to work with others that are of different ages, backgrounds and knowledge levels. I feel this helps them to learn how to work with others which is one of the needed career skills for individuals working in today's environment.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Would it be possible to set up a "pre-test" to identify those students who truly are ahead of the rest, and with that information set up groups where those students are mentors and "teacher's assistants" in the classroom?
It would add a bit of classroom participation, allows the better performing students to stay involved and engaged, and gives the struggling students a second go at the information.
Everett,
This idea has a lot of merit. You would want to make sure when giving the pretest to make sure you let the students know you are trying to determine what knowledge and experience they are bringing into the class. You don't want to give them the idea that you are trying to find those that are ahead of the rest of the class because it can discourage those that don't do as well right from the beginning. I use pretesting in my classes so I can get a baseline on my students so I know how to customize my instructional content and delivery. My students know I won't be grading them but I will be scoring them for my own use. The results I get quickly show me those students that come into the course with experience so I can use them as discussion leaders and team leaders.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
One of the ways that I have attempted to deal with a similar situation is by creating group instructional activities that give the students with the best comprehension of the material the opportunity to explain their thought process to other students. This allows students who do not understand the material the chance to hear another perspective of thinking, creates a discussion, and involves everyone. I've found that this helps with the students that are further ahead in their understanding of the material feel more engaged.
Tim,
This is a great strategy to use. Thank you for sharing it with us. I am sure it will be helpful to other instructors, especially those just starting their teaching careers.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
This is something my high-school math teacher used to do: at a point (after teaching us something) everyone would need to get a grade to demonstrate learning a certain concept. When time to earn that grade came around, he would have several categories of problems - easier ones that were worth less points and harder ones that were earning us more. We would get a time limit and pick the problems we wanted to solve to earn out grade. When time was up, he would collect and grade the work. I actually found this quite fun and the benefit was that students that were at a lower level would get to do a lot of easy problems , practice their skills and earn a good grade while students that were more advanced would get a good grade from more advanced problems and did not feel they were wasting their time. Makes sense?
Simina,
Thank you for sharing this strategy with us. It is a good one that I know will be of use to other instructors looking for additional ways to enhance their instructional delivery.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
