1. Sherpath Supporting the “VARK” Learning Style
Helen Murphy, BS, RDMS, CHTS
eSolutions Implementation Consultant

2. Sherpath and the Student
Sherpath is all about Student Agency i.e. Students taking more ownership of their learning
Student agency refers to the level of control, autonomy, and power that a student experiences in an educational situation. Student agency can be manifested in the choice of learning environment, subject matter, approach, and/or pace. Authentic assessment, experiential or project based learning, and mastery-based learning all provide opportunities to increase student agency. With more student agency can come higher levels of engagement and commitment to the learning process. Given these benefits, what are the current limitations to increasing student agency in schools today?

3. Sherpath Philosophy For Students
Encourage student participation in the learning process through metacognition and student agency
Delight and engage students with:
A user interface that is beautiful and intuitive
Content that is built for digital learning
Support students in achieving their goals with tools that help students prioritize their work and study efficiently

4. Sherpath and Metacognition
Metacognition Higher order thinking which involves control over your cognitive process in learning
Metacognition is higher order thinking which involves control over your cognitive process in learning; basically it means you are thinking about learning before you learn. An example would be asking a couple of questions about topics that will be covered in the next lesson before you teach the lesson. From a Sherpath standpoint we use Metacognitive devices in Quiz Coach for the “This weeks topics” the Micro quizzes in the lessons also have a metacognitive purpose which is to help the learner think about what they just learned. Adaptive learning means that a system is finding the shortest route to mastery or is able to identify areas that will prevent a student from reaching mastery. You can use adaptive technology/techniques in a metacognitive application but you can’t replace metacognition with adaptive.
Sherpath uses metacognitive devices in its lesson content, like key points and micro quizzes to help ensure students are engaged and prepared to learn. The quiz coach feature This week’s topics” can also be used as a metacognitive device.

5. Sherpath’s Metacognitive Devices
Key Points
Quiz Coach
Micro quizzes
Adaptive Techniques
Lesson Content

6. Sherpath Addresses Learning Styles
By using the Metacognitive Devices in Sherpath, Sherpath helps students who are best instructed using one or more of the learning styles
Identifying Learning Styles for Nursing students was suggested by Fleming and Mills in 1992

7. Fleming & Mills Learning Styles
VARK
V – Visual
A – Auditory
R – Read/Write
K - Kinesthetic

8. V - Visual Visual learners need: Graphics Pictures Videos/Films
Demonstrations
Visual learners attend to information most effectively when they see something, for example, pictures, diagrams, films and videos or demonstrations. Check to see if some of the following characteristics may apply to you.
Developed by the Study & Learning Centre, RMIT © 2007

9. Sherpath and the Visual Learner
Class Materials Contain
PowerPoints that have detailed figures and illustrations
Group activities that allow students to visualize concepts
Clinical Skills with videos to demonstrate proper techniques and best practice in patient care
Simulations which provide a safe environment to practice nursing process and sharpen critical thinking and decision-making skills
lecturers who use gestures and picturesque language
pictures, videos, posters, slides
flowcharts
underlining, different colours, highlighters
textbooks with diagrams and pictures
graphs
and white          space

10. PowerPoints

11. Group Activities

12. Clinical Skills

13. Simulation

14. A – Auditory Auditory learners Listening to Lectures Taking Notes
Debate and discussion with other students
Enjoy explaining to others
Auditory learners are more interested in learning through spoken words. They prefer to learn by listening to their lecturer or teacher or other students.
Characteristics of auditory learners:
Can follow verbal instructions easily
Like to hear someone explain and like explaining to someone else
Like debating and discussing with others
Tend to talk to themselves while working
Enjoy reading aloud
Like music more than art.
Developed by the Study & Learning Centre, RMIT © 2007

15. Sherpath and the Auditory Learner
Class Materials Contain
PowerPoints that can be presented as a lecture by the instructor or presented by the student
Group activities where discussions are encouraged
Classroom activities where students must demonstrate Knowledge, Skill or Ability

16. PowerPoints with Notes

17. Group Activities

18. Classroom Activities

19. R – Read/Write Read and Write Learners Appreciate notes and handouts
Devise ways to turn diagrams and charts into words
Use Bullet point lists
Take notes. Lots of notes.
This is especially important for Read & Write Learners! The act of writing out notes will help cement the ideas and facts into a student’s head.
Not only does note taking put the information from a lesson into words, it involves the student actually writing them down themselves.
The greatest tip for writing study notes is writing them in your own words!I can’t stress how incredibly important that part is.
To take in the information:
lists
headings
dictionaries
glossaries
definitions
handouts
textbooks
readings – library
notes (often verbatim)
teachers who use words well and have lots of information in sentences and notes
essays
manuals (computing and laboratory)
TOC , headings and subheadings, flash cards and charts are helpful
Outlines and Timelines

20. Sherpath and the Read/Write Learner
Class Materials Contain
Lesson Assignments
SLOs
Activities requiring reading/writing/matching
Write out the words again and again.
Read your notes (silently) again and again.
Rewrite the ideas and principles into other words.
Organize any diagrams, graphs … into statements, e.g. “The trend is…”
Turn reactions, actions, diagrams, charts and flows into words.
Imagine your lists arranged in multiple choice questions and distinguish each from each.

21. Lesson Assignments
Each lesson assignment chosen to be used by the instructor can be used by the read/write learner to write notes, definitions, turn diagrams into words and complete matching assignments.
Each lesson assignment can be used by the read/write learner to write notes, definitions, turn diagrams into words and complete matching assignments.

22. SLOs For Each Module

23. Matching Exercises

24. K - Kinesthetic Kinesthetic Learners learn best by: Doing Moving
Experiencing
Experimenting

25. Sherpath and the Kinesthetic Learner
Class Materials Contain:
Group Activities
Simulations
Skills

26. Group Activities

27. Simulation

28. Skills

29. Conclusion
Sherpath will seamlessly set students on a personalized path based on your objectives and their learning style

30. Questions