Caroline Koh - Diversifying Learner Experience: A kaleidoscope of instructional approaches and strategies

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All mammals undergo a certain degree of diversification. Darwin knew that. When he drew a family tree, it had many branches on it.

(Donald Johanson, n.d.)

For too long, classroom instruction and practice have been driven by the so-called one-size-fits-all model, based on the premise that all students respond equally well to the prescribed pedagogy and curriculum structure. However, the individuals within the classroom form a microcosm of the world outside and reflect its diversity in every aspect of the word. In its simplest form, diversity can be defined as variation within a population, but many authors, such as Zepke () seems particularly apt. In this instance, diversity is conceptualized as the understanding that each student brings unique experiences, strengths, and ideas to our classroom, and the process of diversification is thus the exploration and incorporation of these differences to enrich learning and in our classrooms. Hence, diversifying learner experience involves being cognizant of learner differences and, on the basis of these, designing and creating resources, teaching strategies, learning modes and opportunities that would engage learners and enrich their experiences.

With improved transportation, international migration rates have risen steadily over the years (He, Phillion, Chan, & Xu, ) highlighted the need of high-ability learners to be provided with a wide spectrum of learning experiences, given the diversity in the group. These authors found that when students were given the opportunity to explore different kinds of functions independently, they performed better than those who went through the conventional, text-based program.

Thus, one of the main shortfalls of the one-size-fits-all approach lies in its failure to recognize the diversity of individuals within and outside the classroom, the need to differentiate between their varied needs, and finally, the imperative to develop diverse tools and approaches to instructional design and delivery. The idea of diversifying learning opportunities arose in the 70s, when Baker and his colleagues () investigated student preferences in terms of three different modalities of instruction: conventional mass lecture, small groups and independent study. These authors found that the majority of students still preferred the conventional lecture style, followed by small group learning whereas independent study was generally not favored. It is easy to understand why students and educators subscribed to the one for all mode of delivery despite its shortfallsa decade or so ago, it would have been highly impractical to design different modes of instruction and/or curricula for different groups of students within the school/educational institution, let alone within the classroom.