Discovering How You Learn
Your Turn Which of your current classes would you describe as your favorite? Do you think that your choice has anything to do with the instructor’s teaching style? Why or why not?
The VARK Learning Styles Inventory VARK Inventory focuses on how learners prefer to use their senses Knowing your VARK score can help you develop your own study strategies and do better in college Visual Prefer to learn information through charts, graphs, other visual means Aural Prefer to hear information Read/Write Prefer to learn information displayed as words Kinesthetic Prefer to learn through experience and practice
The Kolb Inventory of Learning Styles Focuses on abilities we need to develop in order to learn Effective learners need four kinds of abilities: Concrete experience Reflective observation Abstract conceptualization Active experimentation Opposite styles of learning: Abstract-concrete and Active-reflective Four discrete group of learners: Divergers, assimilators, convergers, and accommodators
Your Turn Where do you see yourself in the Kolb Inventory? Are you more like a diverger, assimilator, converger, or accommodator? How can you use this knowledge in your courses?
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Represents a “psychological type” on the combination of four different scales Extraversion (E) vs. Introversion (I) Indicates where you direct your energy and attention Sensing (S) vs. Intuition (N) Indicates how you perceive the world and take in information Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F) Indicates how you prefer to make your decisions Judging (J) vs. Perceiving (P) Indicates how you characteristically approach the outside world
Your Turn Do you consider yourself an extrovert or an introvert? Why? Do you ever wish you were like the other? If so, when and why?
Multiple Intelligences Theory of multiple intelligences developed in 1983 by Dr. Howard Gardner Proposes eight different intelligences to describe how humans learn Verbal/Linguistic Logical/Mathematical Visual/Spatial Bodily/Kinesthetic Musical/Rhythmic Interpersonal Intrapersonal Naturalist
Your Turn Do you agree with Howard Gardner that there are eight styles of learning? Why or why not?
When Learning Styles and Teaching Styles Conflict Instructors tend to teach in ways that conform to their own styles of learning When you recognize a mismatch between how you best learn and how you are being taught Take control of your learning process Don’t depend on your instructor Employ your own preferences, talents, and abilities to study and retain information
Learning with a Disability Different learning disabilities affect people’s ability to interpret what they see and hear Attention disorders Daydream excessively, easily distracted ADD, ADHD Cognitive learning disabilities Dyslexia—a developmental reading disorder Learning disabilities are not related to intelligence
Tech Tip: Branch Out Finding ways to adapt to teaching techniques that lie outside your comfort zone For auditory learners Read your notes and textbook passages aloud as you study For visual learners Take notes and illustrate them For hands-on learners Build models or spreadsheets, take fieldtrips to gather experience