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As the semester settles into the grind of a weekly
working pace, teachers can use learning psychology to recapture flagging
interest or re-energize the classroom routine.
Adding variety to change the rhythm of your class will help maintain
student interest during this part of the semester. Good teachers can use
the research on learning styles to introduce differences that will
enhance success for a broader range of students.
There are several popular models describing learning styles (and we will
be glad to share our review of them). What they have in common is the
belief that students learn better when able to use cognitive, emotional,
and behavioral strategies that work for them. The following tips suggest
ways you can break the boredom by providing alternatives that engage a
broader range of students' styles -- based on Howard Gardner's theory of
multiple intelligences. |
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Music provides a compelling channel for communication and learning. It
can be used in a variety of ways to enhance the learning environment.
Set the Tone. As students enter the class, play a song on your boom box
to set the mood. On stressful days, try something calming. On dull days,
play something to pick up the pace. Music can make your class a
welcoming place.
Introduce the lesson with a song. Find one that takes a position or
makes a point related to the course material. Do students agree or not?
Why?
Use Musical Examples. Play music from a historical period or ethnic
group related to class material. Ask students to play music that
describes how a poem feels or relates an abstract idea -- is mitosis a
rap song or a lullaby?
Performance. Have students write and perform songs that illustrate their
understanding of course material. A political science rap or country
western ballad about health food offers new ways for students to connect
to course concepts.
Students who depend on their musical intelligence will find activities
like these easy techniques to reflect on their lessons. Use their
abilities to open up a powerful but under-utilized medium for all
students. |
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There are other students in your class who
understand best when they see the picture. They understand relationships
and ideas by mapping or drawing or doodling but are not often sure this
is allowed. Allowing a few activities where they can use (and show off)
this ability will help them pin down ideas that have been presented
verbally.
Use Visuals. Put a cartoon or other image on the overhead
to illustrate your main point and give these learners an important
memory device.
Illustrations. Create diagrams or other visual models of
ideas you are trying to communicate. Concept maps -- visual outlines of
key terms and phrases -- have been found to be effective teaching tools.
They can be effective ways of outlining chapters or summarizing essays
and stories.
Hands-on. It is a great change of pace in most classrooms
for students to work with their hands. Complex ideas can be constructed
by cutting & pasting or working with clay or other materials. Even when
less than artistic, the time spent struggling to put their thinking into
a new medium reinforces many earlier lessons. |
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One of the most discounted intelligences in academe, physical activity
is still one of the important modalities through which many students
learn. While we all use body language to get our points across, when we
create moments of physical activity in the classroom, we not only attack
the doldrums, we open up powerful learning possibilities.
Play Games. Quick games can be effective ways to introduce
or illustrate your points. There are many simulations for experiencing
the social sciences. Games can also be used to make the drudgery of
necessary repetition more palatable.
Movement. A two-minute Macarena break will restore
sleeping students to wide-awakeness (if you have the courage to try it).
Try to think of ways students can physically move that reinforce your
lessons -- can they clap their hands to a pattern, act out a chemical
process, walk to a location that identifies their position?
Touching. Bring in an artifact and allow student to handle
it. Let students make something with their new knowledge. Feeling and
touching will help lessons settle in their minds.
Act It Out. Get students with this kind of intelligence to
role-play situations where your main ideas are illustrated. Short skits
provide an interesting diversion and usually leave an impression.
Do It. Create a chance for students to apply their
lessons. Try a mystery or a scavenger hunt. Have students bring in
examples and share -- the process of selecting items and explaining
their connection can call for advanced thinking skills.
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This tip draws on only 3 of the 7 intelligences
identified by Gardener. The remaining 4 found in the tip entitled, A
Little More Style, provide additional suggestions for adding variety
into our classrooms and re-capturing the interest of students whose
learning styles falls outside our normal routines.
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This Teaching Tip was first published by Indiana
State University’s, Center for Teaching and Learning on February 17,
1997 |
