At college and university level
education, learning becomes a very unique and personal for each student in the class. Reason being, each student comes from diverse backgrounds and possesses a unique learning style that differentiates his/her comprehension capacity and ability from others.
Similarly, there are moments that form over the course of their degree program tenure. These moments are difficult to predict, but this is what makes them special and unique.
However, the same thing for teachers is more challenging. Teachers are expected to locate such moments and make them special on regular basis in every lecture. Regardless of the degree program, nature of course, your instructional strategy, and types of students in the class, you are required to make the most out of these moments.
This is where the element of critical thinking and problem-solving steps in!
How to create personal learning moments?
Creating new ways for students to make personal learning moments for themselves in a never-ending process. The exercise both teachers the students and help the teacher learn more about him/herself.
Apparently, we already know that regular practice, patience and the ability to adapt to different situations is the key to creating personal learning moments.
Let’s discuss some additional steps in detail.
Encourage reflection before response
Obviously, no one expects to come across the fundamental questions at college and university level questions with straightforward answers. Teachers should ask conceptual, challenging questions and give ample time for students to ponder over them.
The point of allowing students time on the topic or question is to awake their deep thinking and personal learning temptation before answering.
Each students will comprehend the question in a different manner by associating it with their personal memories, knowledge and relevance with their interests. In this phase, the teacher is in a powerful position to steer the students wherever he/she wants.
Talk about students’ interests
Time to bring creativity into action! As stated above, personal learning occurs when students are given the opportunity to answer questions through relevant associations. Ranging from a traditional learning style to incorporating powerful digital media tools, everything in between takes place.
In short, whatever tempts students the most plays a major part in shaping their personal learning moments.
Consider the example of an essay homework. Rather than writing the content in MS Word, students can also present their paper through infographics, illustrations, or design a short webpage. For further work with more advanced features, you can develop a short documentary explaining your research, arguments, claims, and conclusion.
Note that here we are talking about recognizing the interests of each student, and allowing them ample liberty to call their passion and preferences into action.
Accept differentiation
One of the major drawbacks of traditional learning was that it restricted all the students in the class to learn at the same pace and style. The brightest in the class may catch up with pacey lectures, often the case at graduate degree programs, but many others might start lagging behind.
Nevertheless, the repercussions are severe in terms of students falling
Cheap Essay 247 under stress and pressure of struggling to maintain their grades.
This is why differentiated learning came into existence!
The strategies helps the teachers to focus on each student’s needs on personalized basis—an aspect which is essential for the development of personal learning moments. Furthermore, detailed pre-assessments will help teachers discern the students who are struggling to keep up, and help them accordingly.
