Learning Styles and Student Differences - Research Paper Example

Learning Styles Learning styles are what people use to take in information and understand it better. It is the way that children learn best but often some children do not gain the knowledge they need because they are not taught in their learning style. Children entering school for the first time are often taught with one learning style. They are usually bombarded by a style of learning that makes them recite from memory certain facts. Because of the No Child Left Behind legislation teachers are forced to teach every child in the same way. As the child grows some children can adopt to this one way and other find it difficult. As an example, some children learn how to read by moving when they are reading aloud. Teachers have a difficult with this style because to them it disrupts the classroom or it means that the child is "hyperactive." This may not be the case. In the movie, "Akeelah and the Bee" Akeelah learns her words for a spelling bee by tapping the letters out on her leg as she is standing; she also recites in the same way. The movie shows that each child has a quirky way of learning and reciting but this is according to their learning style. Understanding learning styles is important to everyone but it is especially important for both students and teachers. When different styles can be incorporated into a classroom setting, more children have the opportunity to learn. Don Clark suggests that a learning style is "a student's consistent way of responding to and using stimuli in the context of learning" (Clark 1). This statement suggests that students are different and they will respond differently to the way they take in information. Stewart and Felicetti define learning styles as "educational conditions under which a student is most likely to learn" (qtd. in Clark 1). LEARNING STYLES AND STUDENT DIFFERENCES Learning styles point to the fact that students are different so they should not be subjected to a "one size fits all" type of education. Although educational reform attempts to find ways to help students learn, they have not taken into consideration that there are many different learning styles within a classroom. When a teacher has the opportunity to use a variety of styles to show the same information their teaching style will improve more children. In a college classroom teachers have a tendency to teach through lecture which is only one way that some students learn. Students who need a different type of teaching will be bored in the class and they will not get anything out of it. Some students learn well by lecture, others learn through small group activities and still others learn through a combination of written and oral learning. Each style is important to a classroom and when a teacher or professor takes this information into consideration they are able to create a stronger teaching environment. Richard M Felder and Rebecca Brent found that engineering students who were more involved in their learning were more motivated to learn. They gained motivation because they were in classrooms that used a variety of learning styles. According to them, How much a given student learns in a class is governed in part by the student's native ability and prior preparation but also by the compatibility of the student's attributes as a learner and the instructor's teaching style (Felder and Brent 57). LEARNING STYLE MODELS There are several learning style models that teachers and students explore that provide a way to look at how students learn. One of the ways that some teachers or professors measure is through the Myers Briggs Type Indictor (MBTI). The MBTI is a very important instrument because it is one of the most used for personality. It asserts that certain personality types do better in certain careers or tasks than others. An individual can take a test that is a short or long version of the MBTI and they get a four letter code; this code is then used to help them understand their learning style better (Tieger and Tieger 2001). This is one of the many ways that students in college use to find the perfect career but it does reveal more about each individual. As an example, an individual will find that their code will show that they are an extravert or an introvert, an intuitive person or a "sensing" person, or a thinker or a feeler or a judger. An introvert learns better in small groups while an extravert learns better in a larger group. An intuitive person will do better with classes and tasks that are abstract where a sensor type needs specific rules and step by step directions. Someone who is a feeler will be more social in a classroom setting while a thinker may appear to be cold and distant in these situations (Felder and Brent 59). While this is just one way of understanding learning styles it may be interesting to explore it for each individual; a sample of the MBTI short form can be found at http://www.personalitytype.com/career_quiz. HOWARD GARDNER AND MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES Howard Gardner proposed that instead of one learning style people actually had several intelligences. These intelligences came together to formulate a learning style that had many components. In his initial list of intelligences there were eight. Tom Armstrong has simplified the seven included here: 1. Linguistic intelligence - word smart 2. Logical intelligence -- number/reasoning smart 3. Spatial intelligence -- picture smart 4. Bodily kinesthetic intelligence -- body smart 5. Musical -- music smart intelligence 6. Interpersonal intelligence -- people smart 7. Intrapersonal intelligence -- self-smart 8. Naturalistic intelligence -- nature smart (Armstrong 1). Gardner saw intelligence as "the capacity to solve problems or to fashion products that are valued in one or more cultural settings" (Smith 2). This information broadens what an individual could do in any setting and allowed for an individual to have more than one style to learn within. On the Internet there are several different types of learning style inventories that an individual can take to find out their preferred way of learning according to that individual scale. When you are looking for your own learning style it is a good idea to think about the environment where you learn the best. Suzanne Miller showed on her learning inventory four areas that she saw students learn within: 1. Visual/verbal -- where an individual needs charges, the use of the blackboard and verbal information to learn best. 2. Visual/nonverbal -- where an individual learns best when the information is given through film, video or other means of visual prompts. 3. Auditory/verbal -- this is the type of student who learns best through lecture. 4. Tactile/kinesthetic -- this is the individual who needs more "hands on" learning because they have to feel the information in their space. Learning styles are important for students and teachers to understand so that all children learn easier. When the classroom style is foreign to the student's learning style the classroom can be disrupted or students walk away from the class without learning. Works Cited Armstrong, Tom. Multiple Intelligences. 2000. 19 May 2009 Clark, Don. "Learning Styles and Preferences". Big Dog, Little Dog Productions. 10 April 2008. 15 April 2009. . Felder, Richard M. and Brent, Rebecca. Understanding Student Differences. Journal of Engineering Education 94.1 57-72. (2005). 15 May 2009. . Miller, Suzanne. "The Learning Style Survey: The Four Learning Styles in the DVC Survey". Metamath: DVC Online. 2000. 16 May 2009. . Smith, Mark K. "Howard Gardner and Multiple Intelligences." The Encyclopedia of Informal Education. 2002, 2008. 16 May 2009. Tieger, Barbara Barron and Tieger Paul. Do What you Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type. 2001. NY: Little Brown and Company. Read More