Learning style of the instructor.
We should all be careful to consider what our own learning style is. How will the instructor's learning style color their perception of the learning styles of the students? How will it affect the preference of the style of delivery?
Wardell,
Good point and one we need to consider as we develop our instructional delivery for our students. Knowing our preferences will help us to target our students' preferences and enable us to more accurately target their learning opportunities.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I was thinking a very similar thought as I progressed through this section of the course. I believe that instructors have a very unique opportunity since they are in a prime position to explore the differnt learning styles.
An instructor may even find that they learn better under a different style than they had initiallty believed. By exploring the various styles, we can be better instructors as well as better learners ourselves.
Anthony,
Yes, we can. The more we learn about ourselves the more we know about how to teach others. It is a life long growth experience as we strive to share our content and expertise with our students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I raised four boys each with differant learning characteristics, the son that shares the same characteristic as myself I have a deeper connection with that individual as to the son that is oppisite of my learning, we struggle to converse with one another. The same could easly happen in the classroom if the instructor is not aware of learning styles.
Roy,
Thank you for this example of how we communicate with each other and the impact it can have on our interaction. We need to plan for this when we select our instructional delivery venues.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I am a "mixed" learner ~ depending on the subject matter I can be very much a kinesthetic learner, other times auditory, yet others oral. It makes it interesting to see how I relate to my students with similar likes and dislikes in ways of learning. The hardest thing to do is to recognize those "prejudices" prior to teaching a class so that I don't taint the experience for my students.
Jackie,
You make a good point about your learning preferences and how you have used these preferences to your advantage during your student experiences. This is why it is important to offer variety in terms of instructional delivery to your students so they to can work within and among their different learning preferences.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
The instructor's learning style does influence his delivery. I always try to pinpoint those conflicting students early in the course, engage them, detect their style and tailor my instruction accordingly. Some of them often need one on one attention outside of regular class time. I have seen great results.
Jeffrey,
Good strategy for working with such students. Many of them do, just as you mention need the personal attention. By spending a few minutes learning more about them and listening to their stories instructors can establish a connection that will last during the class as well as beyond.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Reading this part module helped with my own assesment. I was able to reconize how i learn and quickly realized i have been teaching to myself. This will be very helpful for me to redo lesson plans to suit my students and not myself. This was a GOOD module!
Wendy,
Thank you for these kind words. Glad the module was able to give you valuable information that will help you to expand your instructional delivery and student support.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I agree, this is particularly difficult with some topics. I'm not tactile in learning, but some students are. When teaching math it is particularly difficult for me to find ways to reach them. My wife suggests physical toys with numbers, but that doesn't seem like a good idea for adults. I compromise with graphs, but am not sure it has the same impact. I can visualize the results quite easily, but doubt if everyone can "feel" numbers a well by looking at them, so I try to find real world situations where they use them. And that is harder for me without concrete examples.
I would try asking each class of students how they would deliver the information after you go through a lesson.
Two things, one is that they are then going to relate what they got out of it, kind of like a review.
Second, you will get ideas from them as to other ways you can present the information to other classes.
William,
This is a win win for everyone. Thanks for sharing this idea with us.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I feel fortunate that my learning style seems to be the most common in my field but when I encounter a student with a style different than my own I have to pull from past experiences with similar learners or get advice from other instructors.
Justin,
Good way to customize your instructional delivery to meet the learning preferences of your students. This is how you are going to keep your students engaged and focused on the content being delivered.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
