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How Should Instructors Respond to Student Differences?
To summarize the advice on individual differences, the following guidelines are provided.
- While working in a group setting makes it impossible for instructors to respond to each unique need, they can try to be sensitive to individual differences by providing options for participation, for assignments, and for class activities; and by varying the ways in which instruction is provided, trying to supplement lectures with opportunities for discussion, with audiovisual aids, and with hands-on or real world experiences when possible.
- Instructors can try to extend the learning styles of all their students as well as respond to them. Students from an oral tradition can benefit from more writing experiences; students who view knowledge from a dualistic perspective need to be helped to understand that things are more complex; students who rely on concrete experience need to develop greater facility with abstract thinking. It is important, however, that efforts to extend student learning styles and cognitive levels build incrementally on given levels and that instructors not expect major leaps or changes in direction.
- Helping students understand their own styles can lead to better self-awareness of their learning behaviors--the situations in which they learn best, the way in which they respond to particular subject matter, and the like. Knowing about other learning styles can broaden their understanding of others with whom they interact.
- When assigning group projects or tasks, it is often a good idea to mix students of different styles in one group so that students learn to collaborate with others and appreciate differences in style.
- Respecting individual differences, avoiding thinking about students in terms of stereotypes, and keeping channels of communication open are invaluable approaches toward dealing with differences.
- Instructors can be vigilant in avoiding sexist, racist, and homophobic behaviors and humor in their own actions and in correcting these behaviors if they are displayed by students.
Determining Which Approach Is Appropriate
In order to determine which approach is appropriate for a class, instructors can take the following measures:
- Talk to others who have previously taught a course about what can be reasonably expected of the students in that course.
- Use the first class session to obtain information, either on cards or orally, on the backgrounds of the students (major, home town, age, etc.), their prior preparation for the course (previous related coursework, previous degrees or work experiences in the area, etc.), expectations for the course (personal goals and career goals) and the ways they learn best (preferred learning activities or teaching styles).
- Administer a pretest at the beginning of the course or unit to determine students' entry levels.
- Watch students' facial expressions and other nonverbal signs of understanding, confusion, or emotional response in class.
- Encourage students to speak with them outside class or routinely arrive early and talk with students before class. Instructors can make a point of speaking with a wide range of students and not only the high achievers.
- Provide for early feedback through a test or paper that will count only marginally, if at all, toward the final grade.
- Administer a learning style inventory to assess differences in the students or ask students to provide a self-report on the ways in which they learn best. Perhaps the two most popular such assessments are Kolb's 1994 Learning Style Inventory and Grasha's 1997 Psychological Type Index. Both are available through Faculty and TA Development.
- Provide frequent opportunities for students to comment on the instruction. One way is the "minute paper," an exercise that involves asking students to take the last five minutes of class to comment on one main concept that they learned and questions they would like addressed in the next class, or on their assessment of how well the course is going and their suggestions for change.
- Obtain student evaluations of instruction at midterm and at the end of the term, to provide direction for the remainder of the term or for the next time the course is taught.
- Make use of print resources, workshops, roundtables, and seminars that are available through the Faculty and TA Development.
In summary, effective instruction entails paying attention to the "people" dimensions of the learning situation. Instructors who make some effort to get to know their students' backgrounds and learning styles, and to establish a good relationship with them, will find that the efforts are well rewarded in the quality of learning that results. Chapter 4 begins with a discussion of Universal Design, an approach to course construction which ensures accessibility for all students.
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