Audience Analysis

Analysis of the students I teach regularly

Age - 16 years old
Gender - Male and Female; roughly half and half
Location - Las Vegas Nevada/Sierra Vista High School
Life Experience - Varied. Some students come from high socioeconomic class with minimal worries while others come from homeless situations. Most students are in the middle of these extremes.
Technical Experience - Varied. Most students have home access to the internet. Many are quite proficient in their use of the internet. Others lack access and therefore don't have the proficiency.
Experience with the Topic - Minimal. This is the first exposure they have had to the Biology course. Some basic life science work was done in 6th grade assuming they've been in the district since then. A majority of the students are transient and have come from other states.
Technical Skills - Varied just like the experience and access. See above.
Education level/Prior Courses - 10th grade educational level. Some life science exposure in previous grades but this is the first time they are taking a concentrated life science course.
Motivations/Demotivators - Motivators: Activities. Students love to participate in activities which come mostly in the form of labs where they are measuring, playing a game, interacting with other students using the course materials, etc. De-motivators: excessive lecturing and note-taking, yelling in the classroom, lack of appropriate classroom control.
Learning Styles (VARK) - I believe most of the students are going to be strongest as visual learners. A few auditory learners are always present as well as the kinesthetic learners. The visual and kinesthetic learners really enjoy the labs and visuals that go along with demonstrations and discussions. The auditory learners like the lectures.
Language and Literacy/ESL - Half of the student body at the school is Hispanic and many of which are ESL kids. Their ability and skill with the language is as varied as the students themselves. I would say that 80% of these ESL students are proficient enough in the language that they can perform and function well in the classroom. I do not speak Spanish but really wish that I did.