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Dr. Sraban Mukherjee

“Learning is more effective when it is an active rather than a passive process.” - Kurt Lewin

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Why Understanding Student’s Learning Preference Is Important?

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Same teaching resources/ methods do not always guarantee best results from all the students due to their individual learning styles/ preferences.

Between 20-30% of learners appear to be auditory, approx 40% are visual and the rest 30-40% learn with the help of their senses.

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Different teachers have different teaching styles but these teaching styles should be in alignment with the student’s learning preferences to motivate student engagement and involvement.

Understanding student’s learning styles/ preferences provide better direction and focus on curriculum design and revision.

Why Understanding Student’s Learning Preference Is Important?

Environmental Elements (Sound, Light, Design)

Sociological Elements (Working Alone, With Peers, With an Adult, or Some Combination)

Emotional Elements (Motivation, Persistence, Responsibility and a need for structure)

Physical Elements (Perceptual Strengths, Intake, Time of Day, and Need for Mobility)

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(Dunn, R.S. & Dunn, K.J. (1979), Learning Styles/ Teaching Styles: Should They.. Can Be Matched? , Educational

Leadership, pp 238-244)

Elements that Impact Students’

Learning and Academic

Achievement

Various Theories on Learning Styles

/preferences

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Concrete Experience (Feeling)

Reflective Observation (Watching)

Abstract Conceptualization

(Thinking)

Active Experimentation (Doing)

Con

tin

uu

m

Continuum Processing

Perc

ep

tion

• Generates ideas & Open to Experience• Seeks background information • Senses opportunities• Investigates new patterns• Recognizes problems• Like Brain Storming

• Defines problems & develop theory• Creates models• Compares alternatives• Establishes criteria• Formulates plans &hypotheses•Inductive

• Selects among alternatives• Focuses efforts• Evaluates plans and programs• Test hypothesis• Makes decisions• Practical and Deductive• Problem Solving

• Advocates positions or ideas

• Interested in results• Sets objectives• Commits to Schedules and resources• Implements decisions• Adaptable

Kolb’s Learning Styles

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Accommodating(Feel and Do)

Diverging(Feel and Watch)

Converging(Think and Do)

Assimilating(Think and Watch)

Experimenting, have concrete experienceActivists

Reflectors

Theorists

Pragmatists

Observes and reflects, Conscious philosophy

Honey & Mumford Learning Styles Model

Keen on basic assumptions, principles, theories, models and system thinking.Draw own conclusions

Active experimentation, trying out ideas , theories and techniques

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VAK Learning Preferences

• Highlight important points in text.

• Use books on tapes.• Use a tape recorder to tape

lectures, presentations, directions, etc.

• Learn to use text glossary, indexes, appendices, chapter summaries, etc.

• Preview texts.

Visual learning

style(learn

through seeing…)

• Discuss their ideas.• Discuss their ideas.• Recite information that is

important to remember.• Review printed material before

auditory information is presented.

• Repeat back instructions just heard to check clarity.

Auditory learning

style(learning through

listening…)

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Kinesthetic (Tactile learning

style(learn

through moving,

doing, and touching…)

• Take frequent study breaks.• Work at a standing position.• Listen to music while they study• Bring some type of “grip toy” to class to hold on to.• Skim through reading material to get a rough idea what it is about before sitting down to read it in detail.

VAK Learning Preferences

Felder & Soloman Index of Learning Style (ILS) Inventory

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Students learn in many ways- by seeing and hearing, reflecting and acting, reasoning logically and intuitively, memorizing and visualizing and drawing analogies, either steadily or in small bits and large pieces.

Felder and Silverman's study among engineering students, using ILS instrument, exhibited a distinct preference for visual learning over verbal learning.

This leads to introduction of more effective visual learning tools in technical curriculum.

SENSING LEARNERS• Like learning facts and solving problems using well-established methods; enjoy courses that have connections to the real world.Benefit From:• Connecting information to real world applications.

Felder & Soloman Index of Learning Style (ILS) Inventory

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INTUITIVE LEARNERS• Like discovering possibilities and relationships, innovation and abstract information.Benefit from:• Finding interpretations or theories that link the facts.• Using care to read the entire question before answering and rechecking work to prevent careless mistakes.

VISUAL LEARNERS• Remember what they see; like Pictures, diagrams, flow charts, demonstration.Benefit From:• Visual representations of information.• Using concept mapping to visually arrange key points, Color-coding notes.

VERBAL LEARNERS• Get most out of written and spoken explanation.Benefit from:• Writing summaries or outlines of course material.• Working in groups to hear classmates’ explanations.

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REFLECTIVE LEARNERS• Prefer to think about the material first.Benefit from:• Periodically reviewing what has been read and thinking of possible questions and applications.• Writing a summary of readings or class notes.

ACTIVE LEARNERS• Prefer discussing information or explaining it to others.Benefit From:• Group Activities in which members explain topics to each other.• Finding ways to apply or use the information.

Global Learners • Learn in large jumps, randomly absorbing material until they suddenly “get it”.Benefit from:• Use skimming to see the big picture first and then fill in the details.

SEQUENTIAL LEARNERS• Gain understanding in linear, logical steps.Benefit from:• Fill in skipped steps by either asking the instructor or consulting references.• Outlining course lecture material in a logical order.• Relating new topics to things already known to strengthen global thinking skills.

Felder & Soloman Index of Learning Style (ILS) Inventory

LEARNING STYLE ANSWER KEY

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  Please (X) your answers below :

Option

Q.No

ACT REF Option Q.No

SEN INT

(a) (b) (a) (b)

1 x 2

5 x 6

9 x 10

13 x 14

17 x 18

21 x 22

25 x 26

29 x 30

33 x 34

37 x 38

41 x 42

Total 7 4 Total

DIFFERENCE  3 in Active

DIFFERENCE

HIGH SCORE HIGH SCORE

LEARNING STYLE ANSWER KEY

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ACT REF

11 9 7 5 3 1 1 3 5 7 9 11

SEN INT

11 9 7 5 3 1 1 3 5 7 9 11

VIS VRB

11 9 7 5 3 1 1 3 5 7 9 11

SEQ GLO

11 9 7 5 3 1 1 3 5 7 9 11

If your score on a scale is 1-3, you are fairly well balanced on the two dimensions of that scale.

If your score on a scale is 5-7, you have a moderate preference for one dimension of the scale and will learn more easily in a teaching environment which favors that dimension.

If your score on a scale is 9-11, you have a very strong preference for one dimension of the scale. You may have real difficulty learning in an environment which does not support that preference.

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Learning Conditions:

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Learning for Mastery or mastery learning (Benjamin S Bloom, 1985)

Flip Classroom

Flexible learning environment

TEACHING STYLES : 5 Questions

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What type of information does the instructor emphasize: concrete-factual, or abstract-conceptual or theoretical?

What mode of presentation is stressed: visual-pictures, diagrams, films, demonstrations, or verbal-lectures, reading and discussions?

How does the instructor organize the presentation: phenomena leading to principles, or principles leading to phenomena?

What mode of student participation is facilitated by the presentation: active-students talk, move, reflect or passive-students watch and listen?

What type of perspectives does the instructor provide on the information presented: sequential- step-by-step progression or global- context and relevance?

Teaching Pedagogy to meet learning preferences

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Use of pictures, graphs, models, animation , power point presentation during verbal lectures

Use demonstration, hands-on experience, visit to work sites, where possible

Assign small tasks so that students can get involved on their own.

Provide small gaps during lecture and writing on board

Provide a balance between concrete examples and concepts, theories

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Teaching Pedagogy to meet learning preferences

Give home or project assignment , some individual , some group

Give a brief introduction of entire lecture in the beginning of class.

Encourage students to ask questions, creative ideas and alternative ways of doing it,

Evaluating the progress by conducting test.

Ask queries to check the understanding.; Incorporate quizzes in the curricula

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Allow students to learn at their own pace. Like e-learning resources, video lectures, etc.

Flexibility in seating.

Conduct brainstorming session and incorporate within the curricula design.

Give some Video lectures, ask students to observe at work place.

Teaching Pedagogy to meet learning preferences

Flip classroom.

Conclusion…

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To make learning effective and to motivate the students, various teaching strategies needs to be incorporated in the curricula design stage before preparing the training materials by the trainers.

Timely assessment of student’s learning style is required to decide appropriate teaching strategies.

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