The Effect of Learing Styles With Young Learners - Research Paper Example

Running head: Learning The effect of learning styles with young learners Introduction It is not necessary that a standardized learning style may suit all the people (especially the young ones), irrespective of their intellectual level or grasping abilities. Different people may like different learning styles because of their individual differences. For example, some people try to write everything they need to learn many times for making it thorough while some others may read many times for effective learning. Another learning style commonly prevail among young students are the discussion methods in which they try to discuss the topics with their friends and try grasp as much as possible. The taste of the subjects can also affect the learning styles. Some students may like mathematics whereas some others may have interest in science or art subjects; some students may like the lecture method for learning whereas some others may like the problems solving method; some students may like the class works whereas some others like the lab works; some students like the assignment based learning whereas some others may not have. Thus learning styles are different among students because of the individual differences, differences in tastes and intellectual levels. In my opinion, recognition of the learning styles of different students is important in classrooms for effective learning and better teaching as well. Background Traditional methods of teaching never addressed the needs of each and every people in the class. The teacher often adopts a common strategy for everyone irrespective of whether the student is brilliant or not. The teacher never bothered about teaching individually. In the traditional methods of teaching, punishments were implemented as part of motivating the students. Traditional methods never focused in developing the skills of the students. It focused simply in injecting volumes of content into the minds of the students. In other words, traditional methods emphasized more on knowledge and understanding while avoiding the needs of application and the skill development. As per the current learning concepts, the curriculum is revolving around the student rather than the teacher. The needs of the students have given more priority in the current classroom teaching methods. Based on these changing concepts of learning, the learning styles were given more importance in the present curriculum. The learning styles theory is based on the fact that the effective learning would takes place only when the students get learning environment suitable to their learning styles. “In fact, educators should not ask, “Is this student smart?” but rather “How is this student smart?”(Learning styles, 2008). There is no segregation between the students at present in the classroom with respect to the intellectual levels. It is the duty of the teacher to make the student smarter using the suitable learning styles in the curriculum. How learning related to Cognitive or Meta Cognitive system? Many people have believed that learning has direct relationship with the cognitive system of a person. They argue that the person’s mental conditions have lot to do with the learning process. Tileston (2005) has mentioned that the motivation to learn is controlled by the self system of the brain, not the cognitive system. He argued that it is in this system that decided whether the student will pay attention and whether the student will begin a task. Once the decision has made to pay attention or begin a task, the meta cognitive system of brain takes over and makes a plan for carrying out the works (Tileston, 2005, p.1&2). Cognitive system has less role in learning process compared to the self system or the meta cognitive system. “A (meta)cognitive system is self-aware – it can adapt to the user, and may propose self-regulation strategies to help the user learn and deploy self-regulatory processes and facilitate dynamic adaptivity during learning” (Cognitive and Metacognitive Educational Systems, 2009) The relationship of learning with meta cognitive system clearly suggests that learning styles may have definite role in the learning proces. The meta cognitive system works differently for different students and based on that each student might be comfortable with a particular way of learning. Heridity and environemnt have a direct relationship in shaping the meta cognitive system and it is not possible that all the students in a class may have the same meta cognitive system because of the unique heridity and environment. The teachers should realize these pecualiarities of each student while they try to transfer the knowledge. How the Learning Styles Impacts Education? Learning styles can be concrete or abstract and active or reflective. Learners who uses concrete methods normally absorb information through direct experience, by doing, acting, sensing, and feeling whereas abstract perceivers, take in information through analysis, observation, and thinking. On the other hand active learners make use of an experience by immediately using the new information whereas reflective learners make sense of an experience by reflecting on and thinking about it (Learning Styles, 2008). “There is a self motivated eager learner in every child. Avoid compulsion and let early education be a matter of amusement. Young children learn by games; compulsory education cannot remain in the soul-Plato” (Willis and Hodson, 1999, p.1 &4). Compulsive learning would never help the children to develop a passion towards their learning process. If the students develop difficulty at an early stage of his education in learning certain topics, such difficulties would prolong in his career as a student if compulsive learning implemented. For example, many students have difficulty in learning Mathematics. If a teacher adopts compulsive teaching strategies in order to teach mathematics, the student may develop a harsh feeling towards it. On the other hand, instead of using compulsion, if the teacher was able to simplify the task of learning Mathematics, the student may develop passion towards it. In other words, the teacher must adopt differentiation in his teaching considering the diversity of students in the class as far as learning needs are concerned. “The process of differentiation offering students multiple ways of information, begins with educators examining four areas; content, process, product and environment” (Sprenger, 2008, p.2) The learning style theory emphasizes curriculum, instruction and assessment as the major means for effective learning. In the curriculum area, educators must place emphasis on intuition, feeling, sensing, and imagination, in addition to the traditional skills of analysis, reason, and sequential problem solving (Learning styles, 2008). For example, it is not possible for the teacher to teach everything related to a specific topic. On the other hand if the teacher was able to develop interest among the students about that particular topic, the students will do the rest part of the learning process by themselves. In other words, developing positive feeling, imagination, intuition etc can make the learning process easy. On the other hand, teachers should design their instruction methods to connect with all learning styles, using various combinations of experience, reflection, conceptualization, and experimentation. They can utilize variety of experiential elements into the classroom, such as sound, music, visuals, movement, experience, and even talking (Learning styles, 2008). Sounds and visuals can catch the attraction of all students especially the young ones. In order to obtain proper interaction between the subject and the student, these mediums will help the teacher immensely. “Teachers should employ a variety of assessment techniques, focusing on the development of whole brain capacity, and each of the different learning styles” (Learning styles, 2008). Assessment is the last part of every learning process in the classroom. There is no point in using the medias mentioned above in the class if the students were unable to understand anything. In order to realize their understanding, the teacher should use different assessment techniques such as questionnaire, examinations, assignments or project works etc. Learning Chart The chart given below explains different aspects of learning with respect to the visual, auditory, kinesthetic and tactile aspects of learning. When you.. Visual Auditory Kinesthetic & Tactile Spell Do you try to see the word? Do you sound out the word or use a phonetic approach? Do you write the word down to find if it feels right? Talk Do you sparingly but dislike listening for too long? Do you favor words such as see, picture, and imagine? Do you enjoy listening but are impatient to talk? Do you use words such as hear, tune, and think? Do you gesture and use expressive movements? Do you use words such as feel, touch, and hold? Concentrate Do you become distracted by untidiness or movement? Do you become distracted by sounds or noises? Do you become distracted by activity around you? Meet someone again Do you forget names but remember faces or remember where you met? Do you forget faces but remember names or remember what you talked about? Do you remember best what you did together? Contact people on business Do you prefer direct, face-to-face, personal meetings? Do you prefer the telephone? Do you talk with them while walking or participating in an activity? Read Do you like descriptive scenes or pause to imagine the actions? Do you enjoy dialog and conversation or hear the characters talk? Do you prefer action stories or are not a keen reader? Do something new at work Do you like to see demonstrations, diagrams, slides, or posters? Do you prefer verbal instructions or talking about it with someone else? Do you prefer to jump right in and try it? Put something together Do you look at the directions and the picture? Do you ignore the directions and figure it out as you go along? Need help with a computer application Do you seek out pictures or diagrams? Do you call the help desk, ask a neighbor, or growl at the computer? Do you keep trying to do it or try it on another computer? (Rose, 1987) Apart from visual and audio Medias, learning can occur through kinesthetic and tactile Medias as well. It is evident that most of the teachers use visual and audio mediums for teaching. At the same time he can teach the students using emotions, gestures and other nonverbal Medias of communication. For example, consider a teacher is trying to teach nuclear fusion or the technology behind the atom bomb or nuclear bombs. He can use audio and video mediums to explain all the theoretical aspects of the nuclear bomb. At the same time consider a teacher teaching the romantic literatures of Shakespeare. If the teacher simply tries the passive and dull lecture methods to transfer the feeling of romance, the students may get bored. On the other hand if the teacher was able to demonstrate the romance involved in the Shakespeare literature through some kind of gestures or emotions, even the dull people may try to become more active in the class. Thus the teacher would be more effective and successful in making the students aware of the romantic touch involved in the Shakespeare literature using nonverbal means. Conclusions Learning styles have an important role in helping the student for proper learning. Different students may have different learning styles because of their individual differences due to heredity and environment. Instead of avoiding passive students, the teachers should try to understand the learning styles of each student and in order to teach them effectively and to make them active in the classroom. The teacher should adopt audio, video mediums along with kinesthetic and tactile mediums for making the learning meaningful. Meta cognitive system is more dominant compared to the cognitive system in the learning process and the teacher must realize it in order to devise effective teaching strategies. References 1. Learning Styles, (2008), Retrieved on 27 November 2008 from http://www.funderstanding.com/content/learning-styles 2. Cognitive and Metacognitive Educational Systems, (2009), Retrieved on 27 November 2008 from http://rossini.dinfo.unipa.it/mces2009/ 3. Rose Colin 1987 Accelerated Learning, Retrieved on 27 November 2008 from http://www.chaminade.org/INSPIRE/learnstl.htm 4. Sprenger Marilee B. 2008, Differentiation Through Learning Styles and Memory, Publisher: Corwin Press; 2nd edition (April 25, 2008) http://www.amazon.com/Differentiation-Through-Learning-Styles-Memory/dp/1412955459/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259302527&sr=8-3 5. Tileston Donna E Walker, 2005, Ten Best Teaching Practices: How Brain Research, Learning Styles, and Standards Define Teaching Competencies Publisher: Corwin Press; 2nd edition (March 30, 2005) http://www.amazon.com/Ten-Best-Teaching-Practices-Competencies/dp/1412914728/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259302527&sr=8-1 6. Willis Mariaemma M.S. & Hodson Victoria Kindle M.A, Discover Your Childs Learning Style: Children Learn in Unique Ways - Heres the Key to Every Childs Learning Success Publisher: Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House (October 13, 1999) http://www.amazon.com/Discover-Your-Childs-Learning-Style/dp/0761520139/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259302527&sr=8-2 Read More