The Art of Effective Instruction [10:06m]:
Play Now |
Download
The mission of PrepMasters and these podcasts is to create effective instructors. Are you an effective instructor? Does your expertise translate into student learning?
The art of effective instruction produces great instructors. A great instructor is someone who can turn their expertise into learning that makes a difference in their students’ lives. Below is an article with more information on Teaching to Individual Learning Styles.
Teaching to Individual Learning Styles (a 5-part series)
Part 1: Visual Learners
Welcome to Part 1 of Prepmasters’ five-part series of articles on Teaching to Individual Learning Styles. Part 1 is about catering to visual learners. This article talks about what visual learners are first, and then it gives some tips on teaching in a way that makes it very easy for visual learners to learn.
What is a visual learner?
Visual learners are students who learn best by seeing. In other words, if you are talking about a concept, a visual learner might not understand it until they read about it in print or they see the concept illustrated with a picture, a graph, or a demonstration. They need visual input of some sort, or they might not understand or remember what you’ve told them.
Visual learners may or may not be able to understand concepts when you present them in a non-visual way. So if you have two students who are visual learners, the first student may be able to understand a lecture if you simply speak and don’t do any illustrations or use any visual examples. That’s because that student might be good at auditory learning, too. The other student, however, might not understand what you’ve talked about until you literally show them.
So to make sure that all the visual learners will get a fair chance at understanding your topic, you should cover it in a visual way.
Of course, the visual learning style is not the only style you should teach to. Many of the students will certainly NOT be visual learners. For example, some will be auditory learners, and others will be kinesthetic learners. It’s just as important to teach those students in their own preferred learning styles as it is to teach visual learners in the way that they learn best.
So how do you know if someone is a visual learner? Visual learners often learn easily by reading silently. They usually like to take notes or make lists during a lecture. And they like to learn by watching videotapes, filmstrips, demonstrations, and things like that.
If any of this sounds familiar to you, it should. There is a two-thirds chance that you, yourself, are a visual learner. About 65% of students are visual learners. That’s a very good reason to make sure that you back up every single oral presentation or lecture you make with an equally informative visual lesson on the same topic.
Here are some ways to do that:
- The easiest way is to have a printed outline or a printed copy of the full lesson available to the students. That way, they can read it as you go, or read it later. Even better, if you print out your own copies, leave space in the margins for the students to take notes.
- Write down important points on the chalk board or dry erase board or use slides while you talk. PowerPoint slides can be your friend, but we will talk about them in another module.
- Show examples or photos of what you’re talking about. Show a film about it or do a demonstration of it, if you can.
- Whenever they’re available, pass out charts, diagrams, or graphs; or draw them on the board or the overhead projector.
- Remember that visual learners understand instructions better when they see them written down. So have written instructions available for assignments, and make to-do lists. You should still read them out loud, however, so the auditory learners will understand what’s going on.
By following these simple tips, you’ll make classes easier and more fun for at least two-thirds of your students. For any questions you can contact me by email through questions@prepmasters.com.
The next time you look at your class remember that many of them may be visual learners looking to you for visual stimulation!
Come back in two weeks when we will be discussing auditory learning styles.
Suki Reed
PrepMasters
