WGU D187 TASK 2: ANALYZING STUDENTS
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES | ACCURATE AND
VERIFIED 100% | 2026 UPDATE
Master of Science, Curriculum and Instruction–
Differentiated Instruction
, A. Describe strategies relevant to the practice of differentiated instruction that you can use to
learn the following information about the students in your classroom:
• individual students’ learning preferences
To learn about individual students' learning preferences, I would mainly rely on personal
interactions and observations of the students. I typically spend a week to start the year
giving students different tasks to work on individually and in groups, and sometimes at
tables and other times moving around the room to teach them how to work together, but
probably more importantly, learn about how they work with others, how they problem
solve, and what skills they bring to my class. Student surveys can be unreliable in what a
student claims are their learning preferences, and so it's far more reliable to observe those
preferences with your own eyes (Tomlinson, 2017).
• intelligences
Like determining students’ learning preferences, a large part of identifying students’
intelligence preferences will come down to the interactions I have with students and the
observations I make in the classroom. It is also advisable to plan for multiple intelligence
preferences as I plan my lessons, incorporating as many preferences as possible to provide
opportunities for as many students as possible while also allowing for various
representations of the content for all students. In addition to observations and interactions
with students, I can give students research-based surveys, designed by researchers such as
Howard Gardner (“Find Your Strengths”), to help them begin identifying their intelligence
preferences.
• culture and gender influences
To gain an understanding of culture and gender influences, a teacher could employ a
student survey. Simply asking questions about the student’s background, home, and family
life would not yield biased answers, as we might expect when surveying students about
their learning styles (Tomlinson, 2017). Still, it could yield insights into their lives that we
would not typically see in a school setting. Again, this is an instance where interactions
with students and building relationships with them can have a profound impact on how we
plan lessons to account for the many different personalities we encounter in our classes.
• interests
Like understanding students’ cultural and gender influences, I would have students
complete a survey about their lives outside of school. Asking them questions about what
they do in their own time, what they spend their summer doing, and any specific things
they enjoy or don’t want. Students’ answers would help me find ways to incorporate their
interests into my lessons when an opportunity arises, which is always a way to increase
student engagement. This is also an opportunity to build relationships with students
through interactions. Talking to students between classes and having conversations in
class that are not about the class content, so I can better understand who they are as
individuals and find ways to appeal to them when I plan my lessons.
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES | ACCURATE AND
VERIFIED 100% | 2026 UPDATE
Master of Science, Curriculum and Instruction–
Differentiated Instruction
, A. Describe strategies relevant to the practice of differentiated instruction that you can use to
learn the following information about the students in your classroom:
• individual students’ learning preferences
To learn about individual students' learning preferences, I would mainly rely on personal
interactions and observations of the students. I typically spend a week to start the year
giving students different tasks to work on individually and in groups, and sometimes at
tables and other times moving around the room to teach them how to work together, but
probably more importantly, learn about how they work with others, how they problem
solve, and what skills they bring to my class. Student surveys can be unreliable in what a
student claims are their learning preferences, and so it's far more reliable to observe those
preferences with your own eyes (Tomlinson, 2017).
• intelligences
Like determining students’ learning preferences, a large part of identifying students’
intelligence preferences will come down to the interactions I have with students and the
observations I make in the classroom. It is also advisable to plan for multiple intelligence
preferences as I plan my lessons, incorporating as many preferences as possible to provide
opportunities for as many students as possible while also allowing for various
representations of the content for all students. In addition to observations and interactions
with students, I can give students research-based surveys, designed by researchers such as
Howard Gardner (“Find Your Strengths”), to help them begin identifying their intelligence
preferences.
• culture and gender influences
To gain an understanding of culture and gender influences, a teacher could employ a
student survey. Simply asking questions about the student’s background, home, and family
life would not yield biased answers, as we might expect when surveying students about
their learning styles (Tomlinson, 2017). Still, it could yield insights into their lives that we
would not typically see in a school setting. Again, this is an instance where interactions
with students and building relationships with them can have a profound impact on how we
plan lessons to account for the many different personalities we encounter in our classes.
• interests
Like understanding students’ cultural and gender influences, I would have students
complete a survey about their lives outside of school. Asking them questions about what
they do in their own time, what they spend their summer doing, and any specific things
they enjoy or don’t want. Students’ answers would help me find ways to incorporate their
interests into my lessons when an opportunity arises, which is always a way to increase
student engagement. This is also an opportunity to build relationships with students
through interactions. Talking to students between classes and having conversations in
class that are not about the class content, so I can better understand who they are as
individuals and find ways to appeal to them when I plan my lessons.
