Sarah McDonald

Learning preferences and learning disabilities are different. However, some of the same educational strategies can be used to address both. I plan to present educational content in a variety of ways to promote learning for those with specific learning preferences as well as learning disabilities. 

The neural pathways of a person who is bilingual or multilingual are different from a monolingual person. This fact can place the student in a different light and adds to the diversity of the group and could lead to different ways of thinking about a problem. 

It may be tempting to use idioms as these are very common in spoken language. However, this can lead to confusion for ESL students. 

It is important to realize that there are multiple types of diversity and to be inclusive of all types. 

It was interesting to read about the pros and cons of the different types of test questions. When I teach, I will try to ensure that my type of question matches with my goals and the students' knowledge level. 

This module covered Bloom's taxonomy, which describes increasing levels of complexity in understanding. I will incorporate this concept when teaching by starting with basic knowledge questions, advancing to comprehension type questions, and then seeing if students can reach the application and analysis levels. This will of course depend on how far the students are in their studies. 

I found the portion about the Socratic method to be particularly interesting. In nursing, there are many physiological processes that nurses have been taught over and over. It is easy to simply memorize these things and eventually just accept them as the way things are. However, I will attempt to use the Socratic method to get students thinking about the reasoning behind them so that they will be able to understand the content more deeply. 

During this module, I was surprised to learn that teaching using the students preferred learning style can improve grades by 10%. That could be a full letter grade difference. I plan to use this information by incorporating as many learning styles into my instruction as possible, ideally all of them. 

In this module I learned about the benefits of consistent positive reinforcement. When I'm with my students, I will try to provide positive reinforcement as much as possible. I think this can even be helpful if the student has answered incorrectly because I can complement their effort and their thought process and willingness to participate. 

I thought the section about the mid-course "slump" was an important point to consider. I will be aware of the malaise that I or my students may experience and try to plan an activity to have the group reflect on how far they've come in their studies.