Learning Styles

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Learning Styles

• An Introduction to the Ways People Learn

2
Learning Styles Topics

• Background
• Learning Style Models
• Teaching to All Types
• References

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Background

• Students have different learning styles
• Learning styles describe how students prefer to
  and are best able to receive and process
  information

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Background

• Learning styles indicate preferences for
• Facts and data
• Theories and models
• Visual presentation pictures and diagrams
• Verbal presentation written and spoken
• Active and interactive learning
• Introspective and individual learning

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Background

• Teaching solely in a manner not well suited to a
  students learning style may cause enough
  discomfort to interfere with learning

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Background

• However
• Teaching only to the preferred modes may result
  in students lacking the mental agility to reach
  their potential academically and professionally
• In other wordsthey might not adapt well

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Learning Style Models

• Three common learning styles models include
• Kolbs Learning Style Model
• Felder-Silverman Learning Style Model
• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

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Kolbs Learning Style

• Type 1 Concrete, Reflective
• Type 2 Abstract, Reflective
• Type 3 Abstract, Active
• Type 4 Concrete, Active

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Kolbs Learning Style

• Type 1 Concrete, Reflective
• Typically asks Why?
• Responds well to explanations of how course
  material relates to their experience, their
  interests, and their future careers
• To be successful with Type 1, the instructor
  should motivate

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Kolbs Learning Style

• Type 2 Abstract, Reflective
• Typically asks What?
• Responds well to information that is presented in
  an organized, logical fashion and benefits from
  reflection
• Instructor should function as an expert

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Kolbs Learning Style

• Type 3 Abstract, Active
• Typically asks How?
• Responds well to working actively on well-defined
  tasks and by trial-and-error in an environment
  that allows them to fail safely
• Instructor should function as a coach by
  providing guided practice and feedback.

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Kolbs Learning Style

• Type 4 Concrete, Active
• Typically asks What if?
• Prefers to apply course material in new
  situations to solve real problems.
• Instructor should stay out of the way to let
  students discover things on their own.

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Felder-Silverman

• Sensing/Intuitive
• Visual/Verbal
• Inductive/Deductive
• Active/Reflective
• Sequential/Global

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Felder-Silverman

• Sensing
• Concrete, Practical
• Oriented toward facts and procedures
• Intuitive
• Conceptual, Innovative
• Oriented toward theories and meanings

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Felder-Silverman

• Visual
• Prefer visual representations of material
• Pictures, Diagrams, Flow charts
• Verbal
• Prefer written and spoken explanations

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Felder-Silverman

• Inductive
• Prefer presentations that proceed from the
  specific to the general
• Deductive
• Prefer presentations that go from general to the
  specific

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Felder-Silverman

• Active
• Learn by trying things out
• Prefer working with others
• Reflective
• Learn by thinking things through
• Prefer working alone

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Felder-Silverman

• Sequential
• Linear, Orderly
• Learn in small incremental steps
• Global
• Holistic, Systems thinkers
• Learn in large leaps

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Myers-Briggs

• Extraverts/Introverts
• Sensors/Intuitors
• Thinkers/Feelers
• Judgers/Perceivers

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Myers-Briggs

• Extraverts
• Like to try things out
• Focus on the outer world of people
• Introverts
• Think things through
• Focus on the inner world of ideas

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Myers-Briggs

• Sensors
• Practical
• Detail-oriented
• Focus on facts and procedures
• Intuitors
• Imaginative
• Concept-oriented
• Focus on meanings and possibilities

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Myers-Briggs

• Thinkers
• Skeptical
• Tend to make decisions based on logic and rules
• Feelers
• Appreciative
• Tend to make decisions based on personal and
  humanistic considerations

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Myers-Briggs

• Judgers
• Set and follow agendas
• Seek closure even with incomplete data
• Perceivers
• Adapt to changing circumstances
• Resist closure to obtain more data

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Teaching to All Types

• Appealing to a wide array of learning styles can
  be achieved, based on the Felder-Silverman model,
  by

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Teaching to All Types

• Using plots, graphics, and demonstrations along
  with oral and written explanations
  (visual/verbal)
• Balancing concrete information such as
  experimental results with conceptual information
  like theories and models (sensing/intuitive)

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Teaching to All Types

• Demonstrating the logical flow of material but
  also making connections to other classes, topics,
  and everyday experiences (sequential/global)
• Encouraging or requiring cooperative learning
  (all learning styles)

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Teaching to All Types

• Asking students to explain a general principle
  given only experimental observations (inductive)
• Providing in class time for students to consider
  the material presented as well as for active
  participation (reflective/active)

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References

• Matters of Style, Felder, Richard, ASEE Prism,
  6(4), 18-23, December 1996
• http//www.ncsu.edu/felder-public/