Elements of Learning Style

Transcription

1 Elements of Learning Style Jig Saw Text Group # 1 Physiological Elements Physiological elements that influence learning include perceptual elements, food intake, time-of-day energy levels, and mobility versus passivity needs. PERCEPTUAL STRENGTHS Perceptual strengths, or preferences, are often neither targeted nor identified in the learning environment. The four modalities or types of perceptual preference are auditory, visual, tactual, and kinesthetic. Most children are not auditory; it is rare for students to remember 75 percent of what is said to them in a typical class period that emphasizes lectures, discussions, and questioning. Those are the least-effective methods of teaching. However, few teachers introduce new and difficult material kinesthetically or tactually, although these are the sensory preferences of most underachieving students. It is important to identify students' perceptual preferences, introduce new and difficult material through those modalities, and then reinforce the required information by using secondary or tertiary modalities. Capitalizing on individual perceptual strengths is crucial to achieving significantly higher standardized achievement test scores (Dunn & DeBello, 1999). The five modalities, or types of perceptual preference, are: Auditory - Visual - Tactual - Learns by Listening Learns by Seeing Learns by Touching Kinesthetic - Learns by Moving Verbal/ kinesthetic - Needs to talk while listening to new information. TIME OF DAY Task efficiency relates to when, during the day or night, a student is likely to learn best. Several 1

2 researchers have shown that matching elementary students' time preferences with instructional study and testing schedules resulted in significant gains academically. Most students are not alert early in the morning. Many elementary-school students experience their strongest energy highs between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM, but only 28 % of students were found to be morning people. MOBILITY Raphael followed his teacher's directions. He placed the crayon into its box, stopped tapping the ruler, sat up in his seat, and pulled his feet in under his desk. However, even with nothing in his hand and the feet out of sight, every inch of the child vibrated with an electric energy that emanated from the depth of his soul rather than from the activities in which he periodically engaged during each lesson. If it could have been harnessed, there might have been enough energy to fuel a motor! The child just could not sit still! Many students, who are restless, apparently disinterested, and sometimes disruptive, often are mislabeled as hyperactive. Most learners exhibiting these characteristics are not clinically hyperactive; they are often normal children in need of mobility (Restak, 1979). The less interested the learners are in the material being taught, the more mobility they require. Studies show that approximately 95% of these so-called hyperactive students are male. When the same characteristics are observed in girls, they correlated with a high degree of academic achievement. When students' preferences to their environment (mobility/passivity) are matched, they achieve significantly higher scores. Suggestions: Establish varied areas in the classroom so that mobility-preferenced youngsters who complete one task may move to another section to work on the next. Whenever possible, incorporate kinesthetic activities: acting role playing interviewing Sources: Elementary Learning-Style Assessment (ELSA, ). Dunn, R., Rundle, S., & Burke, K. Dunn, R. & Dunn, K. (1993). Teaching secondary students through their individual learning styles: Practical approach for grades Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Burke, K. & Dunn, R. (1992) Teaching math effectively to elementary students. (The scholarship of teaching and learning). Academic Exchange Quarterly. 2

3 Elements of Learning Style Jig Saw Text Group # 2 - Global vs. Analytic An analytic student can be characterized as one who learns most easily when information is presented step by step in a cumulative, sequential pattern that builds toward conceptual understanding. Global students, on the other hand, learn more easily when they either understand the concept first and then can concentrate on the details, or are introduced to the information through a story or anecdote replete with visual examples. Both types of reasoning, analytic and global, are a reflection of each individual s attempt to optimize the efficient use of neural space-brain capacity. Whether individuals are global or analytic learners, they are capable of mastering the same information or skills if they are taught through instructional techniques that address their respective styles. This type of reasoning, or information-processing, appears to evolve; the majority of elementary school children have global styles, but as children age and advance through school, some become more analytic. Additionally, analytic and global students appear to have different environmental and physiological needs. Analytics tend to prefer learning in quiet, well-lit, formal settings and often possess a strong emotional need to complete tasks they begin. They rarely feel the need to eat or drink while learning. Global students, on the other hand, appear to function best when involved with what some of us would consider distractions while concentrating They often think best with background sound (music or conversation) soft lighting, informal, comfortable seating arrangements, food intake, and breaks while studying. They also prefer to work on several tasks simultaneously (Dunn & Griggs, 2007b; Burke, Guastello, Dunn, Griggs, Beasley, Gemake, Sinatra, & Lewthwaite, 1999). Analytics: Tend to prefer learning in a quiet, well-lit, formal space Often have a strong emotional need to complete the tasks they are working on Rarely eat or drink while learning Global learners: Generally like working with distractions 3

4 Concentrate better with sound Like soft lighting Prefer an informal seating arrangement Need some form of intake (eating, drinking, gum, etc..) Take frequent breaks while studying Prefer to work on several tasks simultaneously Tend to begin a task, stay with it for a short amount of time, stop, do something else, and eventually return to the original assignment. Prefer to work with peers rather than alone or with their teacher. Want to structure tasks in their own way. Tend to dislike imposed directives. Neither set of procedures is better or worse than the other; they are merely different. Most gifted children with an IQ of 145 or higher are global. Most underachievers are also global. The difference between high IQ and underachieving global students tend to be motivation and perceptual differences (the biological development of their auditory, visual, tactual, and kinesthetic senses). Recommendations for teachers: Teachers need to know how to teach both globally and analytically. Conventional classrooms tend to be geared towards analytic styles. Global students require a different environment, more encouragement, and short, varied tasks. They require new information to be interesting and related to their lives and need active involvement. Some researchers believe that all students require this type of environment. Without doubt, globals must have this type of environment to master academic requirements. GLOBAL AND ANALYTIC APPROACHES TO TEACHING Analytic teaching- Analytic students are concerned with details, rules, directions, and procedures. They like specific, stepby-step directions. Introduce new concepts one fact at a time until, gradually, the students begin to understand the idea. Students absorb many small pieces of information and then synthesize them into an overall understanding. After defining the objectives, explain the approaches and procedures that will be used to reach the objectives. Use printed visuals while you speak. (PPT, overhead, SMART board, etc...) Provide very specific, detailed directions for assignments. Provide information using a step-by-step approach. Provide frequent feedback. Evaluate assignments quickly. Global teaching - Global learners are concerned with end results. They like overviews and the "big picture". They like general guidelines, variety, alternative objectives, and different approaches. Globals learn in an overall 4

5 holistic manner; instead of examining a plethora of facts, absorbing them, and extrapolating into an understanding or conceptual framework, globals try to understand the concept first; only then do they attend to facts or details. To teach global processors, We need to: Introduce each lesson by relating its content to our students' lives. Thus we should begin the lesson with a short (a single paragraph or two) dramatic anecdote that describes how, what the youngsters need to learn, directly applies to their lives. Then we should identify the objectives for that lesson; Teach with humor, songs, poetry, drama, and color. You quickly will see how many youngsters who rarely paid attention suddenly become--and remain--involved in what we are teaching when we teach it differently; Globals tend to draw meaning from pictures, photographs, symbols, and other visual representations. Incorporate lots of pictures, drawings, graphics, and charts into our explanations; Include written and tactual exercises. Have the students graph or map new information. If possible, have them illustrate new information as well. Permit some flexibility in how and where students learn. For example, global learners tend to concentrate best: (a) in soft, rather than bright, lighting; (b) while seated causally in a relaxed environment rather than at their wooden, steel, or plastic desks and chairs; (c) with soft music without lyrics; (d) when permitted short 60-second breaks to review--with a classmate or two, the content they were taught during the previous15 minutes; and (e) when allowed to learn while snacking (Dunn & Dunn, 1992). Although these guidelines defy conventional classroom practice, they produced statistically higher standardized achievement test scores in poverty, minority, poorly-achieving schools throughout the United States (Alberg, et al., 19 92; Andrews, 1990; Brunner & Majewski, 1990; Dunn, 2000: Dunn & DeBello, 1999; Dunn, et al., 1995; Klavas, 1994: Koshuta & Koshuta, 1993; Kyriacou & Dunn, 1994; Lemmon, 1985; McManus, 2000; Neely & Alm, 1992, 1993; Orsak, 1990: Quinn, 1993; Stone, 1992). Sources: Elementary Learning-Style Assessment (ELSA, ). Dunn, R., Rundle, S., & Burke, K. Dunn, R. & Dunn, K. (1993). Teaching secondary students through their individual learning styles: Practical approach for grades Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Burke, K. & Dunn, R. (1992) Teaching math effectively to elementary students. (The scholarship of teaching and learning). Academic Exchange Quarterly. 5

6 Elements of Learning Style Jig Saw Text Group # 3 - Sociological Preferences Many teachers present new material and instruct their students in a direct, didactic fashion. Students who have difficulty absorbing and retaining the new information often are considered inattentive. Few teachers realize that despite the quality of their teaching, some children are incapable of learning from an adult in a conventional classroom situation. These young people are physically distressed and become tense when under pressure to sit still and think academically in teacher- dominated, authoritative situations. For such youngsters, learning either alone or with peers is a better alternative than working directly with their teacher in either an individual or group session. Four studies have examined the effects of sociological preferences on attitude-toward-learning and found statistically higher attitude-test scores when students were taught in ways that complemented their learning preferences (Dunn & Griggs, 2007b). Breakthrough Education Your child sociological preferences By HENRY S. TENEDERO The thing to remember at the outset is that no one learning style is better or worse than another. The preferences that comprise an individual learning style are simply part of being a person, being unique. The Dunn and Dunn Learning Styles identify a learner s set of preferences in terms of being with other people under the category of sociological. Among these preferences are: Learning alone Learning with one other person Learning with a group of fellow learners. Certainly, one objective of education should be to enable all learners to function well in any situation. Nonetheless, provision must be made for individual learning styles as much as possible. 6

7 SOLOISTS or lone learners, must be given plenty of opportunities for self-study and self-pacing. Maybe the learner is easily distracted, or just basically shy. No matter the reason behind the preference, give the learner the needed personal space, and slowly encourage positive interaction with other learners. SOCIALIZERS on the other hand, will benefit much from pair or group activities that involve shared planning and collegial decision-making. PAIR OR PEER LEARNERS will also have to be taught, over time, to study well by themselves. To top it all, a learning styles teacher must teach students to recognize and respect one another s learning style and to help each other grow socially. In this way, the loners will slowly learn interdependence and be comfortable in the company of others, while socializers will learn independence and be comfortable with being alone. In this way also, a bit of the teaching burden becomes shared by the teacher and the learners. This is one instance when many cooks would not spoil the broth. Source: Elementary Learning-Style Assessment (ELSA, ). Dunn, R., Rundle, S., & Burke, K. 7