The most surprising myth to me was the one about the different learning styles (audio, visual, etc.). I have spent much of my life believing that these styles really do affect how each child learns. Many of my lessons that I have written have had different learning styles in mind. I had never heard about the percentage thing so that was also very interesting. It did not seem very plausible though.
I'm not really sure how to phrase this because I don't necessarily disagree because it's backed by research, but I feel like students do have different learning styles to an extent. It is definitely easier for me to learn when I have things written out for me versus when I have things told to me. But, it really does depend on the situation and I would not say that I need things written all of the time. Perhaps it's not necessarily a thing that's ingrained or specific to each student, but some things are more helpful than others.
I have had professors that want me to speak to each learning style when planning lessons or activities. Especially in high school did I see these different learning styles mentioned. I often took tests or quizzes to figure out what learning style I was. The teachers never did much with it, but they made sure that we knew which style we were.
To change someone's mind, I would suggest that it is not true and offer to show them some research. I would simply say, "huh. I actually heard that that is untrue. I read an article about it in my fifth year at GV." I would then suggest that it is nice to plan lessons for different learning styles or to make sure that students really get it, but it's more important to focus on making sure the student is focused and interactive. If a teacher plans a whole lesson toward auditory learners and the kids get nothing out of it, then it's not because they are not auditory learners, but because the lesson was not captivating or the teacher went to fast or another reason.
Amie, I do agree with you that I too have always believed there were different types of learners. I always thought I was a visual kinesthetic learner. BUT, through reading the research provided for this assignment, I learned that maybe I am really ALL of the learners! I'm probably just a little bit less of a spatial, audio learner but more of a visual kinesthetic learner. So, this being said, I feel like we are all learners with different ways we learn best, but those ways we learn best differ from subject to subject. I think it's really true what you said, "It's more important to focus on making sure that the student is focused and interactive."
ReplyDeleteFocus and interaction can be further involved in lessons by using technology. (Great segway there ;)). By using technology, students can be active learners IF the teacher finds the right resources for his/her learners. I think it would be unfair if a teacher would make all of his/her instruction and assessment online because they had the technological resources to do so. I said this in the previous post I commented on but I think it is so true-You can not replace the teacher with technology! A teacher is able to see the learner as a person, the computer is really only able to use their algorithms to gage where the learner is at-not the whole of the student. Technology is great, but we shouldn't have so much in our instruction that it actually impedes the learning for the students.
Yes! I totally agree Jenna. I feel like I'm a little bit of everything as well. I truly feel like I am a visual and kinesthetic learner. I don't learn very well when someone is just talking at me. I have to practice and be able to do it as well as read it. I also agree that some students have difficulty with technological learning, especially students that have problems looking at screens for a long time. If everything was on a computer, there is not much hands on action and it would be extremely difficult. Great things to keep in mind!
DeleteI am with you in that I have always heard about the different learning styles.
ReplyDeleteJust a suggestion on confronting someone, depending on the situation, encourage people to do their own research to see it for themselves. But make sure you suggest it with a complement "I've heard you are really good at researching education topics and learning styles/strategies, maybe that is something you would be interesting in researching that learning style."
Just a thought. :)
Thank you for your suggestion! I definitely think it would make a difference and make the situation less confrontational. I definitely would be open to pointing people in the right direction but letting them do their own research. It's kind of difficult sometimes to just take someone's word even when they say, "oh, I read this here" or "yeah, I saw that online."
DeleteDefinitely!
DeleteMy favorite response to someone saying "I read it online" is all the "quotes" about internet validity supposedly quoted by Abraham Lincoln.
:)