Blazing Trails

Leading Student Learning

Learning MODES

Lead them to Water

Auditory Learners

• Learn by hearing

• Remember sounds/remember what was said

• Lectures, recordings, reading aloud, group discussions, oral instructions, books on CD & ebook readers

• Take few notes

• Record own voice

Visual Learners

• Learn by seeing

• Remember a “picture”/remember what was shown

• Reading, video/diagrams/charts/pictures, “print screen” features, turn off ebook audio features, written directions, color

• Take lots of notes

• Will ask you to repeat information

Kinesthetic Learners

• Learn by doing (first-hand experience, tactile)

• Remember what they do

• Experiments/labs, games, field trips, problem-solving, physical props

• Take lots of notes (that they may not read)

• Use movement for experience

Biggest Misconception

Because everyone can learn by hearing, seeing, and doing, it does not matter how the instructor structures or designs the delivery of information.

Ability and preference are NOT the same.

Preferred Mode

Smooth

Automatic

Easy

Fast

Comfortable

Confident

Non-preferred Mode

Shaky

Have to think about

Hard

Slow

Uncomfortable

Unsure

Learning ModePreference

IS Important

Be Purposeful

Best Handout

• Color – paper or ink

• Fill-in Map or Outline – places to write in information

• Key steps/words for assignment -- acronyms/visuals

Nature? Nurture?

Learning STYLES

Get them to Drink

Learning is perceiving and processing information.

Learning style is PREFERENCE for perceiving and processing information.

David Kolb

Learning STYLES

• 1. Imaginative – WHY?

• 2. Analytical – WHAT?

• 3. Common Sense – HOW?

• 4. Dynamic – WHAT IF?

Imaginative Learners

• Perceive through experience, process through reflection

• Seek meaningfulness

• Ask WHY?

• Starting Point

• Gather ideas, brainstorm, various points of view, argue both sides, find connections

• Curious

Analytical Learners

• Perceive through abstract conceptualization, process through reflection

• Seek knowledge/information• Ask WHAT?• Follow Imagination• Gather facts and evidence, evaluate ideas,

build theories, sort and organize• Want to get it right

Common Sense Learners

• Perceive through abstract conceptualization, process through experimentation

• Seek usability• Ask HOW?• Follow Information• Gather evidence through trying it out, trial

and error, make it work, tinker, practice• Figure out what works

Dynamic Learners

• Perceive through experience, process through experimentation

• Seek possibilities• Ask WHAT IF?• Follow Trying/Practice/Tinkering• Gather experience and information to

make it their own, do it their own way, refine what’s been given

• What if I do this?

Freshman Learning Community

library instruction experience.

Instruction Design

• What?– Content and outcome -- Information

• Why?– Past and future – Experience (context)

• How?– Practice -- Usefulness

• What if?– Playing and Becoming -- Integration

Instruction Presentation

• Why?

• What?

• How?

• What if?

• Do not forget the WHY?

Practical/Failure/So You Can Do It Yourself?

• Can skip the WHAT IF?

• www.aboutlearning.com

• $10 – online Learning Type Measure assessment of learning style

• David Kolb, Experiential Learning Theory

• Bernice McCarthy, About Learning

Leading Student Learning

Learning ModesLead them to Water

Learning StylesGet them to Drink