Matt,
The art of teaching is something that continually evolves with experience.
What matters more than a "right" or "wrong" approach is to know your
own teaching strengths and weaknesses so that you can maximize your
strengths. Second is to know your students if that is feasible. With
technology becoming an integral part of students' lives both in and out of
the classroom, it would seem that infusion of technology into the curriculum
would serve to enhance and enrich the curriculum. This does not mean that
traditional methods should be overlooked. The unit you are teaching and the
learning styles of your students should be reflected in your teaching
methods. In an attempt to facilitate ALL of the students styles at some
point during the semester, I vary my approach from lecture, computer
simulations, debates, guest speakers, group work, field work , etc. One
can incorporate basic principles, theories and experiments in any modality.
It takes a bit creativity and it may be more time consuming at first, but
it is worth it.
In my classes students are required to complete a term project. Last
semester I had such diversity of learning styles in my classes that I gave
them the option of a traditional research paper, a naturalistic observation,
case study or survey with accompanying research, a computer slide show
with accompanying research, a musical song with lyrics based on research or
an "illustrated book" based on research. I was amazed at the creativity
which we so often do not give our students the opportunity to express. Some
of my students who struggled with traditional methods showed such talent in
their projects. Only ONE student chose to do the traditional research
report! It was an eye opener for me.
Hope this is helpful and good luck!
Janice Swartz
