I have been reading about different learning styles and multiple intelligences with pleasure.
I have never taught in such a way as to make my students aware of how they are learning, but after this week's readings, I think it is very important to introduce different learning styles to students.
This extract from Dr. Felder's Learning Styles has been an eye-opener to me:
When mismatches exist between learning styles of most students in a class and the teaching style of the professor, the students may become bored and inattentive in class, do poorly on tests, get discouraged about the courses, the curriculum, and themselves, and in some cases change to other curricula or drop out of school. Professors, confronted by low test grades, unresponsive or hostile classes, poor attendance and dropouts, know something is not working. They may become overly critical of their students (making things even worse) or begin to wonder if they are in the right profession.
Yes, I have questioned myself if I am in the right profession! Now I can see that a balance needs to be achieved for successful teaching and learning to take place.
However, with every new class I do a quiz on multiple intelligences which helps my students to find out which intelligences they are strongest in. They greatly appreciate it as it boosts their self-esteem and confidence. You can find several printable quizzes here, as well as the lesson plan on how to use them in class. The materials were developed by teachingenglish.org. BBC British Council.
Dear Arjana,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your thoughts on the topics of multiple intelligences and learning styles. Like you, I have been enjoying the Week 9 readings!
I concur with your belief that it can be helpful to provide our students with opportunities to recognize their own intelligences, learning modalities and learning styles. Perhaps it is just as important to encourage them to recognize their weaknesses. When students are also familiar with their weaknesses, they are better able to overcome their challenges by capitalizing on their strengths. In other words, a I suspect that a balanced understanding of one's strengths and weaknesses can lead to learner autonomy. For example:
A learner with a visual weaknesses may have a hard time in a class where their teacher relies heavily on charts, diagrams, pictures, graphs, or other visual representations of information. If that learner recognizes their weakness as well as their strengths, they will be able to advocate for themselves within that class. If they are an auditory learner for example, they may ask their teacher to provide more spoken directions or verbal explanations around how the diagrams relate to the topic being discussed.
I think it is interesting that you have noticed improvements in your students' self-esteem and confidence when they learn about their learning modalities. I think this is a sign that they feel empowered by recognizing their strengths and weaknesses - perhaps they feel more autonomous as learners!
Regards,
Stephen
Dear Stephen,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment!
As you say, if we help our students develop insight into the way they learn best, we encourage them to become autonomous learners. They will be more successful in an environment that caters to different learning styles.
However, teachers sometimes do not pay attention to the differences among their students and are unresponsive to their needs. This results in students’ frustration and lack of motivation. In order to avoid that, teachers should become aware of the fact that many roads lead to learning (Chickering & Ehrmann, 1996, 2008: Technology as Lever).
All the best
Arjana
Dear Arjana,
ReplyDeleteBecause as the issue identified for my project plan was that I had not addressed all learning styles I did a little research .
I could suggest you to do with your students the "Reading activities about different types of intelligences and links to tests about the kind of intelligence" from http://www.onestopenglish.com/section.asp?docid=147514.
I have also find interesting http://teaching-strategies-mentorship.suite101.com/article.cfm/creating_lessons_that_use_multiple_intelligences#ixzz0w5XKJqGh and http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec596r/students/Rosen/Rosen.html.
Trying to vary instructional methods, especially with the help of technology, I will aim at the best teaching situation, the one that includes a strong mixture of all the learning types. This way I consider I will be more effective and have more engaged students and I think it is worth resolving.
Additional
Dear Cami,
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for the links to these interesting articles on different learning styles. I really appreciate it.
Just like you, I didn't use to address all the learning styles of my students. However, after these weeks readings, I can see the importance of having our learners understand the role of their learning style, which can help them greatly to enhance their learning.
All the best
Arjana
Hello, Arjana. I'm glad to know you are pretty much motivated about your profession. I'm sure it has something to do with the course we are taking. I have the same feeling about it. So many things we have learned during these 9 weeks and my wish is to put in practice all of the things we tried out.
ReplyDeleteGood luck on your classes.
Regards,
Johwyson.