Learning Styles

Learning Style Each person prefers a pattern of thought and behavior that influences the learning process.

Teaching Style The way instructors teach, their distinct mannerisms, complimented by their choices of teaching behavior and strategies

75% of Teachers Sequential, Analytic Presenters and 70% of all their students do not learn this way. Jenson (1995, p 25)

Quote “If students cannot learn the way we teach them, then we must teach them the way they learn”

Performance Objective Through a lesson plan for this unit and an assignment to determine student learning styles, describe learning styles and incorporate learning styles into the management practices and instructional strategies to the satisfaction of the instructor of this course.

Enabling Objectives 1. Describe and identify learning styles 2. Identify the various learning styles of your students. Use information about learning styles to develop instruction and manage your classroom.

Categories of the Learning Process Context Input Process

Context The circumstances surrounding the learning

Dunn and Dunn Model Emotional Physical Environmental Sociological Phychological

Input Learners must have input to initiate learning

Brandler-Grinder Model Visual Auditory Kinesthetic/Tactile

Experiment for Determining Input Photo of students & teacher – experiment-like

Process The actual manipulation of the data

Hermann Brain Dominance Model Personality and Learning preferences Left Cerebral Right Cerebral Left Limbic Right Limbic

Gregorc/Butler Model Concrete Sequential Concrete Random Abstract Sequential Abstract Random

Identification of Student Learning Styles Use of instruments

Using the Knowledge of Learning Styles

Methods Preferred by Students in Styles By Concrete Sequential students By Abstract Sequential students By Abstract Random students By Concrete Random students

Concrete Sequential Recreate graphic from CD

Concrete Random Recreate graphic from CD

Abstract Sequential Recreate graphic from CD

Abstract Random Recreate graphic from CD

Methods Frequently Used by Teachers Practice and Drill Questioning Cognitive Memory Questions Convergent Questions Lectures and Explanations Class discussion Teacher Developed Materials Whole-Group Instruction Daily Work Grades

What Good Teachers Recognize Some students do best with hands-on approach Some students learn from books that challenge their imagination For some students, appreciate is essential to learning For others, clarity of presentation is everything Some students are actively attuned to their environments

What Good Teachers Recognize (Continued) Some students are quietly processing all of that information Some students need structure and clear guidelines Some students are free spirits and choked by the same structure that gives security to other classmates

Three Keys to Understanding Learning Styles The brain learns in many ways Use a variety of learning methods Provide a choice so that can choose at least 50% of the time

Best Way to Learn About Your Students Watch Listen Engage

Summary Everyone has his or her own style of learning. It is important for teachers to know about their students’ learning styles The environment affects our learning style as well as what we take in and how we process information. We as teachers must realize certain factors about students The key to helping students learn is to realize that they all have different learning styles and teachers should use a variety of methods to address the variety of learning styles