How do Students Learn? A Learning Emporium Session

Host The Bagel Emporium Instructional Advancement Bill Vilberg Vilberg.com Student Government Miami.edu/sg

Do all students learn the same way? A) Yes, all learn the same way B) Most learn in a similar manner C) No, most learn in a different manner D) Unsure/I do not know

Classical View of Learning Styles  Auditory  learn best through verbal lectures, discussions, talking things through and listening to what others have to say  Visual  tend to prefer sitting at the front of the classroom to avoid visual obstructions and respond best to graphics  Kinesthetic  learn best through a hands-on approach, actively exploring the physical world around them

Updated View of Learning Styles  iPod/iPad  Listen to music while studying or writing a paper  YouTube  Watch humorous videos or music videos while studying  Facebook  Stays connected with the gossip and this weekend’s party pictures

What do I mean?  Acollege student 20 years ago (most of you!) does not use nor respond to the same studying and teaching methods as you did!

Then vs Now



A few more cool things…

How to Tweak Your Approach "Involving students in discussion fosters retention of information, application of knowledge to new situations, and development of higher-order thinking skills” -Higher Education Journal

Yet 70 to 90 percent of professors use the traditional lecture as their primary instructional strategy!!!

Auditory Learners  Prefer to pay attention instead of taking copious notes  Encourage tape recording  Use AV equipment in rooms to self record and create a podcast  Appreciate being able to hear lecture clearly  Mic yourself if in a large lecture hall  Enjoy audience polling  Ask the audience questions at end of class out loud with students responding  Post questions so they can listen and not write!

Visual Learners  The visual learners like to have a general idea about what they want to learn before they get the details  Write a lecture outline on the board so they can organize their thoughts  Tend to underline using different colors  On your board work/ power point use different colors to emphasize key things  Prefer to recall the pictures that they studied when preparing for the exam  DRAW! And use figures and videos

Kinesthetic Learners  Like to touch what they want to learn  Bring props whenever possible!  Technology that can help the kinesthetic students in learning is technology that allows them to manipulate tools in the classroom  Interactive websites  Enjoy teacher interaction  Step our from behind the podium and join your audience!  Ask for students to come to board and solve problems

iPod/iPad Style  The iPod/iPad style can support the three learning styles.  Allows the kinesthetic learners to touch the screen  Allows the auditory students to listen to audio files  Allows visual students to see and download pictures

YouTube Style  Can help auditory students by allowing them to hear other voices during the class  Allows kinesthetic students to manipulate tools in the class(watch video on their PC or handheld device)  Can help visual students by allowing for pictures and other visual aides to be used on the screen *Create YouTube video watching mini assignments

Facebook Style  Create a Facebook fan page for your class  Post practice questions before a test there  Allows for discussion to occur underneath a post  Allows you to send notifications to students  They will check this more often!

Discussion

What have you tried that has worked?

What could you try to incorporate/change into your teaching strategy?

Do all students learn the same way? A) Yes, all learn the same way B) Mostlearn in a similar manner C) Mostlearn in a different manner D) Unsure/I do not know

Take Away  Tweeking your approach is a consequence of teaching new generations of students  Use Bill Vilberg to help you come up with creative ways to update your teaching style or lesson plan  Poll your students, they give they best feedback for you to use in your classes

Don’t be afraid to try something new!

Next Session