Learning Styles

1. Learning Styles Or, how to get the best marks you can….. Lynda Thomas ltt:aber.ac.uk

2. Why Now? • You have been here long enough to have some idea of ‘University Learning’ as opposed to ‘School Learning’. • We want to see you reflect on your learning.

3. A personal interest: as a Welsh Learner and a parent • Dw I wedi bod yn dysgu ers talwm! • Having more time and less pressure I have tried to see what helps me • I find that I write notes (even though I often don’t look at them later). That’s OK • I became interested in how different people learn differently.

4. Lynda Thomas, Mark Ratcliffe, John Woodbury and Emma Jarman. 2002. Learning Styles and Performance in the Introductory Programming Sequence. SIGCSE Bulletin, 34, 1 (March 2002) Laurie Murphy and Lynda Thomas. 2008. Dangers of a fixed mindset: implications of self-theories research for computer science education. In Proceedings of the 13th annual conference on Innovation and technology in computer science education (ITiCSE '08) S. Fitzgerald, G. Lewandowski, R. McCauley, L. Murphy, B. Simon, L. Thomas and C. Zander. 2008. Debugging: Finding, Fixing and Flailing -A multi-institutional study of novice debuggers. Computer Science Education - Special Issue on Debugging, 18, 2 (June 2008) Carol Zander, Lynda Thomas, Beth Simon, Laurie Murphy, Renée McCauley, Brian Hanks, and Sue Fitzgerald. 2009. Learning styles: novices decide. SIGCSE Bulletin, 41, 3 (July 2009)

5. Learning Styles • Various approaches: left/right brain, Meyers Briggs, Kolb Learning styles, Felder-Silverman model of preferred leaning style, Perkins research on stoppers, movers etc., Dweck and self-efficacy

6. We discovered: • That our students had different learning styles – surprise, surprise! • General research shows that if you reflect on your own learning you do better.

7. Felder-Silverman Learning Style • This identifies what is easy for the student. Felder believes that students need to improve other styles of learning too – you need to get better at all. • Remember this is what you may find easiest – it isn’t actually a test with right and wrong answers. • It may not actually describe you take it all with a pinch of salt

8. Try it for yourself Felder Learning Style http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm (we’ll do a short version in the lecture)

9. Active Reflective • Active: try things out, work with others • Reflective: think things through, work alone When I am learning something new, it helps me to(a) talk about it.(b) think about it.

10. Sensing Intuitive • Sensing: concrete, practical, facts, procedures • Intuitive: conceptual, innovative, theories and meanings I find it easier(a) to learn facts.(b) to learn concepts.

11. Visual Verbal • Visual: pictures, diagrams, flow-charts • Verbal: written or spoken explanations In a book with lots of pictures and charts, I am likely to(a) look over the pictures and charts carefully.(b) focus on the written text.

12. Global Sequential • Global: holistic, learn in large leaps • Sequential: incremental, orderly steps I learn(a) at a fairly regular pace. If I study hard, I'll "get it."(b) in fits and starts. I'll be totally confused and then suddenly it all "clicks."

13. Inductive Deductive • Inductive: the specific to the general • Deductive: general to specific Felder believes that undergraduate education should always be inductive

14. What Kind of Instruction do Universities usually offer? The kind at which most of your lecturers have been successful • Reflective (work alone), • Intuitive (theories and meanings), • Verbal (not visual), • Sequential (linear not global), • Deductive (general to specific)

15. Classic University Learning • Lectures (no slides) • Reading many books to construct your own knowledge • Exams (sometimes completely ‘new’ ways of thinking about the material).

16. Times have changed (somewhat) • Lectures with slides or printed notes • Have one or more textbooks that you can use for reference • Practical assignments as well as exams • But is there is still an element of this? • So, how do YOU work with it?

17. Recommendations • Give students a wide range of opportunities for learning • Especially students who prefer active, sensing, visual, global

18. Examples • Active: group work, experiment • Sensing: practical, not much ambiguity • Visual: diagrams • Global: beware of getting bogged down in detail, or depressed about lack of progress

19. How to make learning better for yourself – after all it is up to you! • Active: try things out, work with others, write • Reflective: think things through, work alone • Sensing: concrete, practical, facts, procedures • Intuitive: conceptual, innovative, theories • Visual: pictures, diagrams, flow-charts • Verbal: written or spoken explanations • Global: holistic, learn in large leaps • Sequential: incremental, orderly steps • Inductive: the specific to the general • Deductive: general to specific

20. Meyers-Briggs The sort of grand-daddy of all this Groups people based on 4 criteria (we’ll do a short version in the lecture)

21. Try it for yourself Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory http://www.personalitypathways.com/MBTI_intro.html (we’ll do a short version in the lecture)

22. Meyers-Briggs and Stereotypes Recent study of advanced CS students found: Extravert Introvert 45% 55% Sensing Intuition 30% 70% (women students were 70/30) Thinking Feeling 77% 33% Judging Perceiving 77% 23%

23. Programming can be a particular problem Perkins: Stoppers, Movers and Tinkerers How do you approach doing things on the computer?

24. Stoppers, Movers and Tinkerers Perkins, D. et. al. (1989). 'Conditions of Learning in Novice Programmers'. They see the following as being useful things to think about: • Breaking Problems down • Stopping/Moving: When a clear course doesn’t present some students just stop. Others try one idea after another. • Close Tracking: They see this as a vital skill for filtering out bugs in advance and diagnosing them when the program is run. ‘Although in principle it is a mechanical procedure, in practice ..students neglect to do it.’ Why?   • Tinkering: with sufficient tracking and systematicity may solve problem. But often students tinker without those and end up with horrid mess.

25. And what about the way you think about your selfDweck – self theories Dweck What you believe about your ability affects what you do and that affects how well you do. ‘Math block’

26. C. S. Dweck. Self-Theories: Their Role in Motivation, Personality and Development. Taylor & Francis, 1999 Students carry two types of views on ability/intelligence: • Entity View – This view (those who are called “Entity theorists”) treats intelligence as fixed and stable.  These students have a high desire to prove themselves to others; to be seen as smart and avoid looking unintelligent. • Incremental View – This view treats intelligence as malleable, fluid, and changeable.  These students see satisfaction coming from the process of learning and often see opportunities to get better.  They do not focus on what the outcome will say about them, but what they can attain from taking part in the venture.

27. So….. Enough of all this theory ….

28. How can you get the best marks possible? Some basic things: • Print the notes before the lecture - maybe • Bring a pen and write on them (even doodles may help some people). Draw pictures. • Look up material ASAP that you don’t understand. • Talk to others (teach someone!) • Ask questions (outside lecture if you are shy) • Pin the lecturer down to be practical • Do a ‘bit more’ on the pracs. Don’t just go through motions • Ask yourself ‘what is this module about?’ (global) • Revise the basics really well – don’t just read the notes, rewrite them, say them out loud, tattoo them on your arm….

29. Attendance correlates with performance!