Week 1

So after hours of fiddling around I have finally worked out how to navigate my way around and write something on my blog. So here goes...

Learning Styles

This week the focus of my learning has been around the importance of knowing your learners and that each student learns in a slightly different and unique way. As a teacher it is vital in achieving learning outcomes that these differences are catered for.

According to Felder and Solomon there are a huge variety of teaching styles that can be utilised in the classroom. It is when teaching styles do not match the learning styles of the students that they become bored, disengaged and off-task. Felder and Solomon recommend that a balance of instructional methods should be incorporated into the classroom to account for differing learning styles. This is when profiling becomes a vital part of teaching – getting to know your learners.

Gardner has also observed the variety of student abilities when learning and developed a series of eight different intelligences; kinaesthetic, linguistic, logical, interpersonal, intrapersonal musical, visual/ spatial and naturalistic. Each student will favour a different combination of these intelligences therefore making up their individual learning style.

1.      What is your learning style? What sorts of learning experiences would suit you best with your learning style?

After completing the online Multiple Intelligences quiz I have discovered that I am predominately interpersonal and visual/ spatial smart. After researching this learning style I have found that to be interpersonal smart means that the individual will get along and work well with other people and is in tune with the thoughts and feelings of others. They enjoy being around people and respond well to social situations. People that are predominately visual/ spatial smart may think in pictures and images, they learn best through seeing. Graphs, maps and diagrams are extremely useful learning tools for these students.

Activities that suit the learning style:

Interpersonal – group activities, teamwork, experiments, etc

Visual/ Spatial – diagrams, posters, images and visual representations

 

 

Learning Theories

Behaviourism

Behaviourism is characterised by an observable change in behaviour. The theory of behaviourism believes that learning is achieved in response to conditioning. Students learn through practice. Reinforcement and positive encouragement from teachers shape the learning process. Not aimed at higher order thinking, rather low level, routine skill development.

Constructivism

Learning is founded upon social interactions within a learning community or expert community. Online collaboration tools including blogs, wikis and discussion forums are highly valuable toward constructivist learning.

                Cognitive Constructivism: how the individual learns things – developmental stages and learning styles

                Social Constructivism: meanings and understandings emerge from social encounters and interactions

Connectivism

A learning theory for the digital age - It identifies the networking nature of learners, in this modern age it is no longer imperative that all the answers are known rather that the learners know how to access the relevant information. It is about connectivity and making connections with others and with knowledge.