Learning Styles

Learning Style

Stewart and Felicetti (1992): those "educational

conditions under which a student is most likely to learn."

a student’s consistent way of responding to and using stimuli in the context of learning

how learners prefer to learn

Traditional Schooling Use of linguistic and logical thinking methods only

Rely on classroom and book-based teaching, repetition, pressured exams for reinforcement/review

Vs.

Use of Learning Styles

Recognize that each person prefers different learning styles and techniques

Use techniques suited to the learner to improve speed and quality of learning

Kolb’s Learning Styles

Kolb (1984) theorized that people develop preferences for different learning styles. According to Kolb, the learning cycle involves four processes that must be present for learning to occur:

Activist - Active Experimentation (simulations, case study, homework). What's new? I'm game for anything.

Reflector - Reflective Observation (logs, journals, brainstorming). I'd like time to think about this.

Theorist - Abstract Conceptualization (lecture, papers, analogies). How does this relate to that?

Pragmatist - Concrete Experience (laboratories, field work, observations). How can I apply this in practice?

Kolb’s Learning StylesThese learning styles are the combination of two lines of axis (continuums) each formed between what Kolb calls 'dialectically related modes' of 'grasping experience' (doing or watching), and 'transforming experience‘ (feeling or thinking):

Feeling - Concrete Experience (CE)

Watching - Reflective Observation (RO)

Thinking - Abstract Conceptualisation (AC)

Doing - Active Experimentation (AE)

Multiple Intelligences

Intelligence can come in many forms.

Learning styles are the way people put the intelligence to work.

Knowing which intelligence you possess enables you to select learning styles that work for you.

Multiple Intelligences Visual (spatial) – use of pictures,

images and spatial understanding

Aural (auditory-musical) – prefer using sound and music

Verbal (linguistic) – prefer using words,both in speech and writing

Physical (kinesthetic) – prefer using body, hands and sense of touch

Logical (mathematical) – prefer using logic, reasoning and systems

Social (interpersonal) – prefer learning in groups

Solitary (intrapersonal) – prefer to work alone and use self-study

VAK Learning Styles

VISUAL

Learning through seeing

AUDITORY

Learning through hearing

KINESTHETIC/TACTILE

Learning through moving,

doing, and touching

VAK Learning Styles

VISUAL LEARNERS

Think in pictures and learn best from visual displays (diagrams, illustrated textbooks, videos, charts)

Prefer to take detailed notes to absorb information

Need to see teacher’s body language and facial expression to fully understand content of lesson

VAK Learning Styles

AUDITORY LEARNERS

Learn best through verbal lectures, discussions, and listening to what others have to say

Interpret the underlying meanings of speech through listening to tone of voice, pitch, speed and other nuances

Benefit from reading text aloud and using a tape recorder

VAK Learning Styles

KINESTHETIC/TACTILE LEARNERS

Do best while touching and moving

Learn best through a hands-on approach

Need for activity and exploration

Integrating the Styles into the Learning Environment

VISUAL LEARNERS

Use graphs, charts, illustrations, or other visual aids.

Include outlines, concept maps, agendas, handouts, etc. for reading and taking notes.

Invite questions to help them stay alert in auditory environments.

Post flip charts to show what will come and what has been presented.

Supplement textual information with illustrations whenever possible.

Have them draw pictures in the margins.

Have the learners envision the topic or have them act out the subject matter.

Integrating the Styles into the Learning Environment

AUDITORY LEARNERS

Begin new material with a brief explanation of what is coming. Conclude with a summary of what has been covered.

Use the method of questioning learners to draw as much information from them as possible.

Include auditory activities, such as brainstorming, buzz groups, or Jeopardy. Leave plenty of time to debrief activities.

Have the learners verbalize the questions.

Develop an internal dialogue between yourself and the learners.

Integrating the Styles into the Learning Environment

KINESTHETIC/TACTILE LEARNERS

Use activities that get the learners up and moving

Play music, when appropriate, during activities

Use colored markers to emphasize key points on flipcharts or white boards

Give frequent stretch breaks (brain breaks).

Guide learners through a visualization of complex tasks

Have them transfer information from the text to another medium such as a keyboard or a tablet

Education and Gaming

The nature of learning supported by use of games in education can be broadly divided into three types:

learning as a result of tasks stimulated by the content of the games

knowledge developed through the content of the game

skills arising as a result of playing the game

Education and Gaming

Categories of Games

adventure games – where the player moves through a virtual world

puzzle games - such as Tetris

role-playing games – where the player assumes the role of a person or creatures, such as Dungeons and Dragons

strategy games – such as Sims, where the player’s strategy drives the game

sports games

Education and Gaming

Use of games in education can support valuable skill development, such as:

• strategic thinking

• planning

• communication

• application of numbers

• negotiating skills

• group decision-making

• data-handling

Education and GamingSkills Developed Using Games

Mathematical Development

Use everyday words to describe position

Creative Development

Recognise and explore how sounds can be changed, sing simple songs from memory, recognise repeated sounds and sound patterns and match movements to music.

Respond in a variety of ways to what they see, hear, smell, touch and feel.

Use their imagination in art and design, music, dance, imaginative and role play and stories.

Education and Gaming

Skills Developed Using Games

Knowledge and Understanding of the World

Use early control software to investigate direction and control

Physical Development

Fine motor control can be developed with the increased refinement in using a mouse for navigation and selecting objects.