The Effectiveness of my Teaching Style in a College Setting
As part of this course, Laureate Educator in the XXI Century, all of us participants were dared to analyze how effective our teaching style is when dealing with students who are not used to it. This questioning of my teaching style made me think about this issue in terms of the Use of the Case Study Methodology to arrive at a possible accurate answer.
A teaching style that is not compatible with students’ diverse learning styles is doomed to be a failure and become student and teacher frustration from the very beginning. Whether we consider that kind of students you have sitting in class or not, Generation Y students or Adult Learners, as teaching professionals we have to find the right alignment for one’s teaching style and students’ learning styles. Otherwise, the expected learning outcome on the students’ side is bound to be ineffective and unsuccessful.
Aligning one’s teaching style with Adult Learners’ learning style seems to be an easier task. Based on the extrinsic motivation that drives this sort of student, my personal teaching style can fit his/her need for learning new skills and for accepting new challenges as part of his/her previously-conceived goals for his/her education and enhancement in his competitiveness at work. Due to his/her working experience, it is probable that the learner’s learning orientation becomes beneficial to find the golden means needed to get aligned with my personal teaching style to really profit from my college courses. A mere talk with them can actually trigger the desired alignment, and then everything will go on target.
In the case of the Generation Y students, echo boomers require a different orientation or alignment that implies the use of technology. For this reason, having most of these students in college classes, it is important to use Web 2.0 tools to access their intrinsic motivation. By means of Web 2.0, one can fulfill the needed reinforcement of course contents, information retention and retrieval, and the transfer of knowledge to other learning or day-to-day situations in life in society. A bit of learning of these Web tools is needed and required from the teacher.
To conclude, using these two approaches regarding these two types of college students, we can assess the needs of each group of learners and strengthen the learning objectives for each course we teach. Using this simple exercise regarding the Case Study Methodology, it is possible to find the most suitable way out for both kinds of students, to guarantee learning, and to assist one’s teaching in class.
Jonathan Acuña
Universidad Latina
Costa Rica
Post a Comment