Search

Students have different levels of motivation, different attitudes about teaching and learning, and different responses to specific classroom environments and instructional practices. The more thoroughly instructors understand the differences, the better chance they have of meeting the diverse learning needs of all of their students. Three categories of diversity that have been shown to have important implications for teaching and learning are differences in students' learning styles (characteristic ways of taking in and processing information), approaches to learning (surface, deep, and strategic), and intellectual development levels (attitudes about the nature of knowledge and how it should be acquired and evaluated). This article reviews models that have been developed for each of these categories, outlines their pedagogical implications, and suggests areas for further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information on active-learning structure called Thinking-Aloud Pair Problem Solving or TAPPS. Cognitive science offers an explanation for the effectiveness of the technique. Studies showed that students are better at solving new problems when they have first gone through worked-out samples in the manner described.

The article presents a list of the top ten teaching mistakes committed by college faculty members. One mistake is calling for volunteers upon questioning the class, which makes the students avoid eye contact. According to the article, calling on students without giving them enough time to think is called cold-calling, resulting to alarmed students who cannot follow the lecture. It also notes that putting lecture notes into PowerPoint is generally a waste of time for everyone.

Discusses the use of portable computers in lecture classes. Suggestions for conducting computer-based tutorials; Ways to help students develop computer skills; Importance of computer simulations.