Teaching and Learning Styles/Preferences Merilee A Teaching and Learning Styles/Preferences Merilee A. Krueger Associate Teaching Professor Department of Psychological Science

Teaching Missouri, traditional route to earn “certificate of license to teach” K-12 requires: four-year, college-recommended course of study student teaching passing designated assessment tests graduating with bachelor’s degree in field of education

Teaching Preparation for teaching at university varies - no comprehensive guidelines. For many faculty members it comprises 1/3 of the job!

Teaching Important to make educated decisions regarding teaching. Formulate a toolkit…

Teaching https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=A0LEVii_SlFamfoAkTQPxQt.?p=Professor+Dance-a-lot+video&fr=yhs-iba-1&fr2=piv-web&hspart=iba&hsimp=yhs-1&type=19pr_7055_CHW_US_tidgra2others#id=2&vid=bbf8871ab9cfb5687f58e1e7fd25947e&action=view

Teaching Some ideas: Provide/Communicate Clear Expectations – students need to be aware of how information will be taught AND assessed

Teaching Check for Understanding – assess periodically and adjust. Teach students to do same as study

Teaching Motivation/Engagement – complicated – educate yourself - make tasks authentic, relevant – ultimately requires student involvement

Learning Style Learning Style – how learners gather, interpret, organize, come to conclusions about, and “store” information for further use. Proposed -part of personality.

Learning Style Despite popularity of learning styles and inventories to assess, important to note research produced mixed results. No evidence to support matching activities to learning style improves learning.

Learning Style Krätzig & Arbuthnott (2006) – College students self-assessed learning style (auditory, visual, kinesthetic). Students then taught using identified style.

Learning Style Results - No improvement in learning. Identified style was preference. No superior performance in identified preferred style

Learning Style Students may not be best judge of own style – especially younger ones Students may prefer “easy” approach, but - not always effective

Learning Style Goal - teachers want students to understand and know meaning of content. Does not depend on learning style – can be accomplished with all types – not necessarily auditory, visual, kinesthetic

Learning Style Illusion of Understanding - surface learning from animated presentations. Students “think” have learned - overly optimistic and may reduce studying. Problematic for lower ability learners

Learning Style Presenting instruction in multiple modalities can be useful - if enhances meaning. Do not do just to say you did! Research reveals hundreds of preferences and intellectual styles of learning.

Learning Style Beneficial students to understand learning preference/style and how information will be taught and assessed. Teachers will not accommodate all styles

Learning Style Zhang and Sternberg (2005) proposes 3 basic intellectual styles to make the number more manageable:

Learning Style Sternberg elaborated on learning: Styles are preferences, not abilities. Styles not “good” or “bad” - goodness of fit more important

Learning Style Styles can change depending on task Styles can change across lifespan Learners capable of adopting and changing styles.

Learning Style Value of considering learning styles – Helps develop appreciation for student differences Can assist students in developing thoughtful self-monitoring and self-awareness.

Learning Style Learning preference/style emphasizes student’s active role in education. Learner must engage. Student needs to adapt and find ways to re-interpret information to suit them.

Learning Learning complicated. Active process with multiple factors. Passive learning – misnomer.

Learning Learning styles only one factor in learning. Research shows specific teaching strategies and social connections have huge impact ~

Other Considerations Multiple intelligences Emotional intelligence Motivation Engaging students…

To Summarize Teaching multi-faceted - more than simply disseminating information. Guidance too. As faculty, more can inform teaching, more can help students succeed! Questions?