Do All Students Learn

the Same Way?

Learning Styles
Professor Dancelot
What would help the students in this
class be more successful?
Teaching and Learning Styles/Preferences

Merilee A. Krueger
Associate Teaching Professor
Department of Psychological Science
Teaching
In Missouri, the traditional route to earn a
certificate of license to teach K-12
requires:
a four-year, college-recommended course of
study
student teaching
passing the designated assessment tests
graduating with a bachelors degree in a field
of education
Teaching
The preparation for teaching in a
university varies by institution, but there
are no comprehensive guidelines.
Yet, for many faculty members it
encompasses 1/3 of their job description!
Teaching
Therefore, it is important to gather as
much information as possible to make
educated decisions regarding teaching
formulate your own toolkit
Teaching
A key component to teaching is to Know
Your Students. This was illustrated in
the opening video; another way to do this
is to become familiar with different
learning styles, preferences, intelligences
and motivation.
Learning Style
Learning Style refers to how learners
gather, sift through, interpret, organize,
come to conclusions about, and store
information for further use the
educational conditions under which a
student is most likely to learn
It is proposed that this style is a part of
ones personality.
Learning Style
Despite the popularity of learning styles
and inventories to assess them, it is
important to know that the research has
produced mixed results.
Some have found no evidence to support
the idea that matching activities to ones
learning style improves learning.
Learning Style
Learning is complicated. Some educators
do not accentuate learning styles, but
instead stress the importance of the
students role in the learning process.
Learning Preference
Learning Preference - emphasizes that
the student has an active role in their
education. It focuses on how the student
needs to adapt and find their own ways to
re-interpret the information.
Learning Preference
Regardless of how the information is
received, it is important for the learner to
make choices regarding with whom they
study, where they study, under what
circumstances they learn, etc.
Learning Preference
If you look at all the studies on learning, you
could find hundreds of preferences and
intellectual styles of learning.
Zhang and Sternberg (2005) proposes 3
basic intellectual styles to make the
number more manageable:
Learning Preference
Type I: The student prefers unstructured,
free-flowing, creative, complicated and
autonomous learning. Likes to decide
what to do and how to do it, rather than
being told.
Learning Preference
Type II: Students prefer structured,
straightforward tasks that follow
established traditional teaching and
authoritative answers.
Learning Preference
Type III: Student does not have one
preferred style, but varies depending on
the task at hand, interests, etc.
Learning Preference
Sternberg elaborated further on a learners
style or preference and proposed:
Styles are preferences, not abilities.
Styles are not good or bad -- what is
important is goodness of fit.
Learning Preference
Styles can change depending on the task
as well as across the lifespan, and
learners are capable of adopting and
changing learning styles.
Different tasks require different styles,
therefore the learner has to adapt.
Learning Preference
The value of considering learning
preferences/styles is that this knowledge
can assist students to develop thoughtful
self-monitoring and self-awareness.
It also helps develop appreciation for
student differences.
Other Considerations
Multiple intelligence
Emotional intelligence
Motivation
To Summarize
Teaching is multi-faceted. It is more than
simply disseminating information. As
faculty, the more we can inform our
teaching, the more we can help our
students succeed!

Questions?
Example Problem 1
Example Problem 1 (Solution)
 Example Problem 1
(Work)

http://iit.edu/arc/workshops/pdfs/Center_of_Mass.pdf
What would you change to
make this more adapted to
multiple learning styles?
Voice-Over PowerPoint
Real-World Example
 NSF - Class Discussion Prompts
Ask students to think about how they walk a line, cross a
balance beam, or stay upright on inline skates or a
skateboard. What kinds of actions do they do to ensure
they stay upright? Why are these actions necessary?
Extending arms while balancing oneself helps....
Bending low helps maintain balance by....
When maintaining balance the bodys center of mass....
When involved in the complex physical movements
required to play a sport, the bodys center of mass...
The center of mass can be located experimentally by.
http://
www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/winterolympics/docs/Winter_Olympics_Figure_Skating_Inquir
TedEd Lesson
Applying Different Learning Styles

Think of a lesson you teach.

How would you approach this concept
from a different learning style?
The Closer