ANALYZING LEARNING STRATEGIES Educational Psychology 2110 Instruction begins when you, the teacher, learn from the learner. Put yourself in his place so that you may understand what he learns and the way he understands it. – Kierkegaard

What is a Learning Style? In order to analyze learning strategies, we must first understand what a learning style is. Students learn in many ways— by seeing and hearing; reflecting and acting; reasoning logically and intuitively; memorizing and visualizing and drawing analogies and building mathematical models; steadily and in fits and starts. Students are characterized by different learning styles, focusing on different types of information and tending to operate on perceived information in different ways. Learning styles are characteristic cognitive, affective, and psychological behaviors that serve as relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive, interact with, and respond to the learning environment.

Learning Style & Instruction As every teacher discovers, no two students approach learning in exactly the same way. Just like learning styles, teaching methods also vary. Some instructors lecture, others demonstrate or discuss; some focus on principles and others on applications; some emphasize memory and others understanding. How much a given student learns in a class is governed in part by that student’s native ability and prior preparation but also by the compatibility of his or her learning style and the instructor’s teaching style. Awareness of learning style differences can help instructors teach in a manner that effectively reaches most students rather than putting a large subset of them at a disadvantage.

Assessing Individual Learning Style Connecting learning style with instruction style. Countless students have had their learning styles assessed using a variety of models and associated instruments. Many of these students have benefited from learning about how they learn and how their patterns may differ from those of their classmates. Many instructors have made effective use of learning styles in planning their teaching.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER What we know: Every student has a unique learning style that is an indicator of their cognitive ability. How much a student learns in class is determined by the compatibility of his or her learning style and the instructor’s teaching style. With effective use of learning styles in planning their teaching, teachers can address all styles of learning, optimizing cognitive engagement. By assessing learning styles and adjusting instructions, teachers can optimize learning. Now we can begin to look at analyzing learning strategies!

The entire goal is to teach in a way that addresses the needs of most students in a class. Teaching to address all categories of a learning styles model is not a radical idea, and specific suggestions for how to do it should look familiar to anyone who has studied the literature of effective pedagogy. Felder & Soloman created a survey to assess students on four different scales, each one containing two dimensions of learning. Active & Reflective Learners Sensing & Intuitive Learners Visual & Verbal Learners Sequential & Global Learners Visit http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html to take the survey and read more about analyzing learning strategies.

Understanding the Results According to their responses, an individuals learning style is assessed on each of the four scales. You are able to identify what preference your learning style is on each dimension of the scale. If your score on a scale is 1-3, you are fairly well balanced on the two dimensions of that scale. If your score on a scale is 5-7, you have a moderate preference for one dimension of the scale and will learn more easily in a teaching environment which favors that dimension. If your score on a scale is 9-11, you have a very strong preference for one dimension of the scale. You may have real difficulty learning in an environment which does not support that preference.

My Research: To better understand learning strategies, as well as the correlation between learning styles & instruction styles, I performed the following research. I administered the Felder & Soloman questionnaire to ten of my peers. I then scored each respondent and developed a profile of their strengths and weaknesses. Finally, I asked each respondent to analyze the profile I created.

Respondent 1 Moderate preference for Active Learning. Fairly well balanced in Sensing & Intuitive Learning. Very strong preference for Visual Learning. Fairly well balanced in Sequential & Global Learning.

Learning Strategy Profile: Respondent One Respondent one learns more easily in a teaching environment that promotes active learning. They retain and understand information best by doing something active with it. They learn best by discussing or applying it or explaining it to others. Although they have a moderate preference for active learning, at times they may be reflective learners, taking time to think things through. Sitting through lectures is particularly hard for them. Respondent one is well balanced between sensing and intuitive learning, leaning just slightly toward sensing learning. They are capable of both learning facts, as well as discovering possibilities and relationships. They may choose to use traditional methods or be an innovator. They can work quickly, while still being practical and careful. With both learning styles, they prefer information that connects to the real world.

Continued Respondent one has a very strong preference for visual learning. They encounter serious problems when instructed through verbal teaching methods. They remember best the things that they see – pictures, diagrams, charts, films, and demonstrations. Written and spoken explanations provide little cognitive engagement for them. This preference can make learning difficult, as most classes consist of verbal instruction. Respondent one is well balanced when it comes to sequential and global learning. They are capable of learning in either of two very different ways. They may gain understanding in linear steps, or learn in large jumps, absorbing material almost randomly. They can follow logical stepwise paths in finding solutions, or solve complex problems quickly but have difficulty explaining how they did it.

Analysis by Respondent One I contacted respondent one to discuss and analyze their learning strategy profile. Identify a weakness in their learning strategy profile. Their preference for visual learning makes lecture based courses a big challenge. This problem has become more evident in college, because most classes consist of verbal instruction with very little visual reinforcement. Identify a course they are currently taking, where this weakness might be a problem? They are currently taking History 1700, a lecture based course. There has been no type of visual instruction during lectures, only note taking. Develop a plan for addressing the weakness within the context of the above course? They need to seek out their own visual resources to supplement the professors instruction – diagrams, sketches, photos, charts or other visuals. Consult with your instructor and reference the course materials. They should draw concept maps, as well as color coding their notes with highlighters so that related topics are the same color.

How do learning strategies affect teaching? Learning style & instructional style directly correlate to one another. How much a student learns in class is determined by the compatibility of his or her learning style and the instructor’s teaching style. Teachers should be well prepared to adjust instructional style according the diverse learning styles of their student, optimizing cognitive engagement. Teachers should not only use instructional methods consistent with students preferred or dominant learning styles, but they should incorporate the less preferred styles in order to cultivate and expand methods where a student is less proficient. This will allow students to develop higher learning capacities, that otherwise would have remained untapped. As a teacher, I will have to carefully consider the many different learning styles of my students. With effective consideration of learning styles when planning my lessons, I can successfully address all styles of learning. It is my goal to instruct in a manner that effectively reaches the most students.

Summary The optimal teaching style strikes a balance (not necessarily an equal one) between the poles of each dimension of the chosen learning styles model. When this balance is achieved, all students are taught sometimes in their preferred mode, so they are not too uncomfortable to learn, and sometimes in their less preferred mode, so they are given practice and feedback in critically important skills they might never develop if instruction were perfectly matched to their preferences.

Works Cited Brent, R., & Felder, R. (2004, November 22). Understanding Student Differences. Retrieved from http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Papers/Understanding_Differences.pdf Felder, R., & Soloman, B. (2014, October 7). Learning Styles & Strategies. Retrieved from http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm Felder, R. (2010, October 11). Are Learning Styles Invalid? Retrieved from http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Papers/LS_Validity%28On-Course%29.pdf Felder, R., & Silverman, L. (2012, February 19). Learning and Teaching Styles. Retrieved from http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Papers/LS-1988.pdf   Woolfolk, A. (2014). Educational Psychology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.