MULTISENSORY INSTRUCTION
Introduction:
Education, whatever be its goals and
objectives, involves learning. Learning is modification of behavior as a result
of past experience or prior activity. Behavioral modification arising out of
learning may be cognitive, affective, sensory motor or an amalgam of these in
different proportions. Human learning may occur at different level of
complexity whatever be the level of learning or type of learning the basic
learning experience or the inputs of learning have to reach the pupil through
his senses.
Importance of Senses along
with the intellect are vital to learning in one way senses appear to be even
more important than cognitive interpretative abilities for learning as there
could be nothing in the intellect which has not been transmitted through
senses.
Our senses are the gate
ways to acquire knowledge. These receptive mechanisms vary in their functions
as much as the individuals themselves. The receptive mechanisms feed us the
necessary data, the sensory impressions. The natural way of learning by
children is principally through the employment of senses. If a new object is
given to the child the child makes sound with the object, bites it and tastes
it, looks at it closely and slowly learns about the object by making use of the
senses. This is the basic reason for emphasizing sense of sight is most vivid
and provides rich experiences to the individual. Nearly 80% of the experiences
a person gains in this world are through sense of sight Impression created by
the sense of sight cannot easily be affected. A visual not only attract the
attention of pupils but also hold it for long as it appeals to the sense of
sight. Visual experiences are more effective than auditory experiences.
All though the learning
process uses the senses as the avenues to reach our minds it is important which
sense is used to conduct the message. Experience and research have shown that
the following figures are generally valid.
We
learn
10 percent through TASTE
1.5
percent through TOUCH
3.5 percent through SMELL
11.0 percent through HEARING
8
percent through SIGHT
We
remember
20 percent of what we HEAR
30 percent of what we SEE
50 percent of what we SEE AND HEAR
80 percent of what we SAY
90 percent of what we SAYAND DO
The importance and
superiority of Visual impressions and their interpretation over other sensory
channels of information are exemplified to day in the stress on what is
referred to as visual literacy.
Visual literacy refers to
group of vision competencies one can develop by seeing and at the same time
hearing and integrating other sensory, verbal learning experiences. The
following competencies appear to be involved in visual literacy.
v To
read visuals with skill
v To
write with visuals expressing one self effectively
v To
be familiar with the tools of visual literacy and their use
v To
appreciate the master works of visual literacy and to be able to translate from
visual and Verbal language and vice versa.
Visual literacy appears
to have special benefits not only for those with limited skills but also
equally useful for verbally competent and articulate students. The various
components of education technology such as still pictures, drawings, group
displays, demonstration etc, all are tools and channels of visual literacy.
Good Instruction makes a
difference and research has shown that good, multi sensory instruction yields
changes in the way the brain is processing information. So if everyone got
really good instruction from really good teachers at a pace they could handle,
we would have large numbers of literate people (A Teacher) Ferting 2009.
Two of the greatest
challenges for teachers in the years ahead will be student engagement and
achievement. Multi sensory learning techniques provide an effective highly
adaptable method for addressing both. The premise of multisensory learning is
simple.
When students invoke more
than one sense simultaneously over a period of time, they tend to interact with
the material more intensely and there by retain what they have learned for
longer periods of time. In multisensory learning a teacher engages students
through hands on visual auditory and olfactory stimuli then links the activity
to relevant academic objective. It is through the reciprocal relationship
between sensory input and thinking that multi sensory techniques gain their
power.
Meaning of Multisensory Instruction:
As students take
information they SEE it SAY it, HEAR it, FEEL it with their hands and WRITE it.
Multi means more than
one, sensory means involving or derived from the senses thus multisensory
refers to god relating to or involving several bodily senses. (The American
heritage dictionary of the English language Fourth edition)
Multisensory teaching
combines learning through each of the senses while teaching students.
v Auditory
(hearing and speaking)
v Visual
(seeing and perceiving)
v Tactile/Kinesthetic
(touch, movement and doing)
Thus when more than one
sensory organ is involved in the teaching of instruction, it is called as
multisensory instruction.
Multisensory teaching techniques:
“If a child is not
learning in the way you teach, change your teaching strategy and teach the
child in the way he learns”.
Multisensory techniques
are frequently used for children with learning differences. Studies from
National Institute of child health and human development USA have shown that
for children with difficulties in learning to read a multi sensory teaching
method is most effective teaching method. Multi sensory teaching techniques stimulate
learning by engaging students to use some or all their senses to.
v Gather
information about a task.
v Link
information to ideas they already know and understand.
v Perceive
the logic involved in solving problem.
v Learn
the problem solving tasks.
v Tap
into non-verbal reasoning skills.
v Understand
the relationship between concepts.
v Store
information for later use.
Using a multi sensory
teaching technique means helping a child to learn through more than one sense.
The child’s sight is used when reading information looking at a text, pictures
or reading information on the board. The learning sense is used to listen to
what the teacher says. The child’s vision may be affected by difficulties with
tracking or visual processing. Sometimes the child’s auditory processing may be
weak. The solution for these difficulties is to involve the use of more of the
child’s senses, especially the use of touch (tactile) and movement
(kinesthetic). This will help the child’s brain to develop tactile and kinesthetic
memories to hang onto as well as the auditory and visual ones.
Students with learning
difficulties in one or more areas of reading, spelling, writing, maths,
listening comprehension and expensive language. Multisensory techniques enable
students to use their personal areas of strength to help them to learn.
Advantages of multisensory
instruction.
1.
Helpful in reinforcing memory.
2.
Particular valuable in teaching and
learning.
3.
Provide a variety in teaching and
learning.
4.
Makes learning rich, full and whole.
5.
Makes leaning life related.
6.
Adds depth and quality to sensory
learning experiences.
7.
Caters to individual needs
8.
Remove non essentials
9.
Reinforces learning
10. Makes
learning durable, enduring and permanent.
11. Enlarges
the range of experience.
12. Holistic
approach to instruction
13. Breaks
monotony and brings variety to classroom instruction.
14. Suitable
to children with learning differences.
Concept of Learning styles:
“Learning
is experiencing everything else is just information”. –Albert Einstein
Learning style refers
solely to perceptual preference to different ways of learning visual, auditory
or sensory motor. Most students do not necessarily show a strong preference for
one learning style over another. It is defined as the way each person perceives
process and retain information Generally learners prefer to exhibit some of the
characteristics of the three learning styles leading to the concept of
multisensory instruction.
