Learning Styles and You

1. Learning Styles and You Dr. Polly Cushman GISAT 160 February 9, 2007

2. History of Learning Styles • Early in 20th century - Carl Jung – theory on human personality differences • After WWII - Isabel Briggs Myers – developed instrument (MBTI) • Early 1980’s - David Kolb – Developed model indicating preference for • How students take info in: concrete experience or abstract conceptualization • How students internalize info: active experimentation or reflective observation

3. Index of Learning Styles • = An on-line instrument used to assess preferences on four dimensions • ACTIVE/REFLECTIVE • SENSING/INTUITIVE • VISUAL/VERBAL • SEQUENTIAL/GLOBAL • Model formulated by Richard M. Felder and Linda K. Silverman • Instrument developed by Richard M. Felder and Barbara A. Soloman of North Carolina State University

4. How You Learn • All of you take in and process information in all these ways: • by seeing and hearing • reflecting and acting • reasoning logically and intuitively • analyzing and visualizing • steadily and in fits and starts • BUT – each of you has a preference for one way or the other

5. What is the makeup of our class? X X X X 11 9 7 5 3 1 1 3 5 7 9 11 ACT REF SEN INT VIS VRB SEQ GLO

6. Learn best by doing something active with info “Let’s try it out and see how it works” Often prefer working in group Particularly hard to sit through lectures! Learn best by thinking about it before doing anything “Let’s think it through first” Often prefer working alone Hard to sit through lectures Learners who are ACTIVEREFLECTIVE

7. Tend to like learning facts Like solving problems by well-established methods Tend to like details, memorizing and hands-on work Don’t like courses with no connection to real world Prefer discovering possibilities Like solving problems by innovation Often better at grasping new concepts and abstractions Don’t like “plug-and-chug” courses Learners who are SENSING INTUITIVE

8. Remember best what they see: Pictures Diagrams Flow charts Time lines Films Demonstrations Get more out of words Written explanations Spoken explanations Lectures Textbooks Handouts Learners who are VISUAL VERBAL Everybody learns more when info is presented visually AND verbally!

9. Logical steps are necessary Tend to learn in linear steps, logically following each other in order Tend to follow logical stepwise paths in finding solutions to problems BIG Picture is necessary Tend to learn in large jumps, absorbing material and suddenly “getting it” May be able to solve complex problems quickly, but may have trouble explaining HOW they did it Learners who are SEQUENTIAL GLOBAL Everybody experiences sudden flashes of understanding!

10. you are an ACTIVE learner in a class that allows little or no class time for discussion or problem-solving activities? you are a REFLECTIVE learner in a class that allows little or no class time for thinking about new information? Learners who are ACTIVEREFLECTIVE • How can you help yourself IF

11. you are a SENSINGlearner in a class where most of the material is abstract and theoretical? you are an INTUITIVE learner in a class that deals primarily with memorization and formulas? Learners who are SENSING INTUITIVE • How can you help yourself IF

12. you are a VISUALlearner in a class that is mostly lecture? you are a VERBAL learner in a class that uses mostly hands-on and visual tools? Learners who are VISUAL VERBAL • How can you help yourself IF

13. you are a SEQUENTIALlearner in a class that where the instructor jumps around from topic to topic or skips steps? you are a GLOBAL learner in a class that where the instructor plunges directly into new topics without bothering to explain how they relate to what you already know? Learners who are SEQUENTIAL GLOBAL • How can you help yourself IF

14. Need for Balance between Teaching Methods and Learning Styles • Teaching methods of professors vary • Some lecture only and others demonstrate or lead students to self-discovery • Some focus on principles and others on applications • Some emphasize memory and others understanding

15. Need for Balance between Teaching Methods and Learning Styles • When mismatches exist between learning styles of most students in a class and the teaching style of the professor, the students • may become bored and inattentive in class • do poorly on tests • get discouraged about the courses, the curriculum, and themselves • in some cases change to other curricula or drop out of school

16. Two Important Points To Remember Number 1 • ILS provides an indication of your learning preferences • Even better indication of the preference profile of a group of students • SO - if you disagree agree with the ILS assessment of your preferences, trust your judgment • Why might the ILS be wrong?

17. Two Important Points To Remember Number 2 • Provides an indication of possible strengths and possible tendencies or habits that might lead to difficulty in academic settings • Does not reflect your suitability or unsuitability for a particular subject, discipline, or profession • A learning style preference also does not serve as an excuse for a bad grade on your last physics test!

18. Questions???