Strong (2002) states, “Teachers who successfully employ a range of strategies reach more students because they tap into more learning styles and student interests” (p. 43). Has this been your experience as a student? Give an example to either support or refute this statement.
Strong, J.H. (2002). Qualities of effective teachers. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
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I agree with this most definitely! I think teachers who use different instructional strategies in the classroom engage students and it make learning more fun. I have experienced this in a few of my classes. I have one teacher that all he does is lecture and it is so boring! You know it's boring when he doesn't even use a background on his powerpoints. It is hard to pay attention, there is no engagement, and the test scores of his student's weren't great. On the other hand, I had a teacher who incorporated a different instructional strategy everyday. Her instructional strategies were more hands on and partner activities. Most of her lessons were engaging which helped me remember most of the information presented and in turn helped for the tests. She also presented material in different ways which met many of the learning strategies in the room. Any way you can reach the different learning styles of the students will be beneficial to them in the long run. Getting the students involved in lessons will help them gain more understanding of a topic. Overall, I think it is a good thing when teachers use different instructional strategies in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteGood comment Stolla! I think that there are as many good ways to teach as there are teachers. Ultimately we must do some things like keep a focus for learners, manage the environment, pace the instruction and have clear objectives. But, most importantly we need to develop some sort of relationship with our students so that those other dimensions can thrive. Sometimes the student group can be very large and sometimes very small. That is no excuse for not trying to relate to the students in some way. Last I checked...I don't remember a textbook or PowerPoint (with our without backgrounds!) ever having a meaningful conversation with a teacher! Maybe we should start teaching students and not curriculum! :-)
ReplyDeleteI think that this statement is very true and applies from an early age all the way through college. I still find that I do better in classes where we do multiple kinds of activities, assessments, and projects, rather than the classes where I sit in lecture, and then take a mid-term and a final exam.
ReplyDeleteAs an elementary student, if you are always taught to the same way, you will get bored very quickly, even if that strategy seems to work out very well for you. If you are the student that no matter how hard you try, that teaching strategy just isn't working for you, then not only will you not be learning the material, but chances are that student will begin hating school or at least that class.
In many of my college classes right now, they are teaching us how important it is to teach in a variety of ways to keep students motivated and to reach every student. Teaching to all of the multiple intelligences is important, not just the one that suites you. After all, you already know the material, it's the students who still need to learn it.
This statement is completely correct just because everyone learns differently so you have to use different strategies. I have found this to be true with my instructors. I am a linguistic learner so lecture isn't bad for me but if you don't care about your topic then even I can get lost in my own thoughts instead of listening. A powerpoint or following along in a book helps keep me interested and then I know where I can find the information myself. I do not do well in classes where the teacher lectures from an imaginary text and then you are tested on information that you hope you jotted down in your notes. I also prefer to get up and move when I learn so hands-on projects help me apply my knowledge better and I seem to retain the information better as well.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Bpanther as well! No one likes to do the same thing everyday. Well educators don't, thats part of why we are educators. No day is the same. I think that different instructional strategies will also keep the children involved and active. I know that I look forward to the classes that are less predictable because I seem to learn more and I am more motivated to see what is going to happen next.
ReplyDeleteI believe that statement is correct. Anyone would tell you that sitting and listening to a teacher lecture the same way every single day would get old. I also have a teacher (like Stolla) that uses different teaching strategies every day in class. I have heard of other students taking the same class with a different professor and they always said it was "so boring," but my professor makes it fun and interesting! We never know what to expect when we walk into the classroom. Sure, there are those students who like reptition and sameness, but they are the minority. For example, the other night I was up until 3 am studying for a test, and then had to be up at 8 am for a full day of classes. If all my teachers just lectured all day, it would have been so hard for me to stay awake, but instead, they all have amazing teaching strategies that grabbed my attention so I COULD stay focused!
ReplyDeleteStephanie-
ReplyDeleteI completely agree on the "imaginary text" lectures! Sometimes, it's so frustrating! Especially when they move at such a quick pace. That is not differentiating your teaching at all because some students have the ability to register info quickly, and others do not. I think that is why it is important to have information provided a variety of different ways such as on a powerpoint, projects, discussions, etc (aka different teaching strategies!).
Stephanie, the imaginary text this is really true. I have had test questions where I think "where did this information come from" and even after the test when I am looking for the right answer, it is no where to be found. As teachers, sometimes it is fun to throw out random facts that we happen to know or think that the students would be interested in, but we shouldn't test them on those facts because chances are they aren't going to remember it after that class. Also, even if you are going to lecture to the students (because lets face it not everything can be best taught with an awesome hands on activity), then we need to make sure that students are staying with us by asking questions, writing down their responses, and repeating important information several times.
ReplyDeleteIn my experience, using multiple teaching strategies has always a positive way to promote student involvement and to ensure student comprehension. A great teacher is one who can balance lessons so that it incorporates information-giving with student activities, so the class is not falling asleep at their desks but is still receiving the necessary information. One of my favorite professors preferred using lecture and story-telling in her classes but also realized that it was difficult to keep students' attention through lecture alone. Several times a week, the professor would then incorporate a student activity to invovle the class that related back to the information we were studying at the time. The professors that use multiple learning strategies have tended to be the professors I enjoyed the most since they were considerate of the needs of the students rather than just their own preferred style.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with the quote as well. Students learn best in many different ways, and most students learn best in a combination of situations. The difficult part as a teacher is incorporating all of the styles into your lessons and activities. Students all deserve the opportunity to grasp the material, and it is our job to make sure they get that chance! In my experience, I am a visual/kinesthetic learner. I can learn by just hearing something, but it helps a lot if I can see it or actually do it myself. A lot of the professors just stand in the front of the room and 'preach' at us, using a PowerPoint. The PowerPoint is great, but if they don't give us handouts to take notes on or allow us enough time to take effective notes, I might retain 1/3 of the information. In my opinion, I can read the textbook and learn the concepts on my own. What I would appreciate to learn from the professors is 'how' it applies to my future career and how I will use that information to become a better teacher.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree Stephanie! I think each of us have chosen education for a career, on some level, because we can expect our lives to change day-to-day. Whether I teach something different every day, or the children behave differently, each day will be different and that is exciting!
ReplyDeleteI agree with that each of us have chosen education for a career because we want to make a difference in peoples lives and for it to be exciting! I also think many of us want to be eduators because we had a teacher in the past who was just horrible and we think there are ways to make learning more fun. One thing I think that might benefit a lot of classrooms is more discussion and getting everyone involved, that way everyone participates and everyone's opinions are heard. I also think moserj23 hit it right on the head, we expect our lives change from day to day, so we really can't expect anything less from our students.
ReplyDeleteInteresting comments about the classes you are currently taking. Sounds like the large majority of us believe that lecturing is problematic for student learning. If that is the case why do so many teachers lecture? We know the best way to learn is by doing. If true why don't we teach that way?
ReplyDeleteBpanther- I agree with your statement about elementary students getting bored in class when the teacher does not incorporate different learning styles. Especially at the elementary level, using multiple learning styles is very important to engage students and to keep them motivated to continue learning. Being bored in class is not only an epidemic that occurs at the elementary level however; it has appeared in several of my classes in college when the professor is too consumed with their own lecture style than in using different teaching styles to engage students.
ReplyDeleteNelia makes an important observation that effective professors use a variety of learning strategies to motivate and help students learn the material being presented in the classroom. Using a variety of instructional strategies can address the diversity that exists among the students learning in the classroom. Exposing students to different learning strategies will offer them insight on how they best learn new information or skills. According to our textbook written by Ormrod, incorporating several instructional strategies like discovery learning, technology-based collabrative learning, and cooperative learning models the approach scientist and other scholars use to advance their own learning. This approach can help students acquire the skills needed as they become adults and continue their journey as life-long learners. The professors who teach the classes I am currently taking at the University of Northern Iowa model a variety of instructional strategies that I will one day utilize in my own classroom.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with the quotation. I find a class more interesting when information is being shown in many different ways. I know I for one, and I'm sure that many other students agree, that lecturing is truly not the answer to teaching. For me, I like hands-on instruction versus just sitting and listening. I can grasp a concept faster if I am working on it in an activity or learning exercise then just talking about it. However, most of my classes through middle school and high school, and even now, consist mostly of lecture. Just this alone, makes me lose interest in the topic as well as lower my motivation to want to learn or even listen for that matter. Students become bored in the classroom. We as teachers need to use different methods of teaching because every student is different. Every student learns in a different way. We need to be able to use every method possible to help our students become better individuals and succeed in school.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the statement. Just lecturing to a class doesn't help those who are visual learners or those who need to hands on with learning. Students would definitely excel more if we had more teachers that were teaching to multiple intelligences instead of what's convinient for them. Even in some of the college classes I've taken I feel that I would have benefited more if it wasn't just a note taking class and we got to be out in the field working on what we were be taught.
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