Students Learning Styles and Implications for Teaching By Joanna Badara

1. STUDENT
LEARNING STYLES
AND IMPLICATIONS
FOR TEACHING
Joanna Badara, Ph.D.
School of Education
University of Bridgeport

2. ž Learning styles;
¡ Science classroom;
ž Diversity in the classroom;
ž Implications for paraeducators.
ž Instructional support:
¡ one-on-one tutoring,
¡ assistance with classroom management,
¡ instructional assistance in a computer laboratory,
library, media center,
¡ conduct parental involvement activities,
¡ act as a translator.

5. ž Proposed by Howard Gardner in his 1983 book Frames of Mind: The
Theory of Multiple Intelligences.
ž Intelligence exists in multiple forms:
¡ Verbal-linguistic
¡ Logical-mathematical
¡ Intrapersonal (insight)
¡ Interpersonal (social)
¡ Musical-rhythmic
¡ Kinesthetic
¡ Visual-spatial
ž All present in varying degrees in an individual

6. brain" would be oversimplifying the theory and the brain's functionality.
Intelligence Description
Linguistic
An ability to analyze information and create products involving oral
and written language, such as speeches, books, and memos.
Logical-
Mathematical
An ability to develop equations and proofs, make calculations, and
solve abstract problems.
Spatial
An ability to recognize and manipulate large-scale and fine-grained
spatial images.
Musical
An ability to produce, remember, and make meaning of different
patterns of sound.
Naturalist
An ability to identify and distinguish among different types of plants,
animals, and weather formations that are found in the natural world.
Bodily-
Kinesthetic
An ability to use one's own body to create products or solve
problems.
Interpersonal
An ability to recognize and understand other people's moods,
desires, motivations, and intentions.
Intrapersonal
An ability to recognize and understand one's own moods, desires,
motivations, and intentions.
(Table from Davis, Christodoulou, Seider & Gardner, 2011)
Traditional teaching is unilateral: verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, intrapersonal

7. ž Characteristic cognitive, affective, and
psychological behaviors that serve as stable
indicators of how learners perceive, interact
with, and respond to the learning
environment
ž Do not encompass the ability to learn
ž Correlate with preferred career
environment, gender, ethnicity, and parental
SES

8. ž To make teaching and learning a dialogue

9. ž To respond to a more diverse student body
ž To communicate our message
¡ In a typical 50-min lecture, students retain 70%
of what is conveyed in the first 10 min., and only
20% from the last 10 min.
ž To make teaching more rewarding
ž To ensure the future of our disciplines

10. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
(Personality-based)

11. ž Preferences patterns of faculty and students
Orientation to Life
Perception

12. Learning styles and the learning cycle based on Kolb’s model

13. ž Sample activities and role of faculty for each
Kolb learning style

14. ž Felder-Silverman
learning styles
dimensions in
science
ž Soloman’s
Inventory of
Learning Styles

15. ž Beginning students tend to be active
(processing), sensing (perception), verbal
(input), and sequential (understanding);
ž Advanced students tend to be more
reflective (processing), visual (input), and
global (understanding), than beginning
students
ž Faculty tend to be more reflective
(processing), intuitive (perception), and
inductive (organization), than students

16. Several major implications are apparent
ž Most of your students learn differently than you do.
ž Each of your students learns differently from your other
students.
ž No one teaching method will effectively reach all of your
students.
ž You cannot address all of your students' learning styles
all of the time.
Use different teaching approaches all of the time!

17. ž Balanced approach in teaching to allow for diverse
learning styles
ž Provide a context for learned concepts – global
learners;
ž Include theory and models along with demonstrations/
examples (intuitive & sensing learners);
ž Use both visual and verbal info;
ž Use numerical/algebraic examples along with abstract
concepts (inductive & deductive learners);
ž Provide time for both student active participation and
reflection on the material (active & reflective
learners)

18. ž Respect diverse talents and ways of learning
ž Engage students in activities
ž Encourage cooperation among students
ž Encourage student-faculty contact
ž Give prompt feedback
ž Emphasize time on task
ž Communicate high expectations
ž Principles for Good Practice in Post-Secondary
Education
Chickering, A. W., & Gamson, Z. F. (1987). AAHE Bulletin, 39(7), 3-7

19. “No matter how you try to make instruction
better for someone, you will make it worse for
someone else.”
Richard Snow, Educational Psychologist (1989)

20. ž Physical, mental, social,
emotional differences
ž Cultural diversity
ž Students at risk
ž Gifted and talented
students

21. Diversity Solutions
ž Socio-economic status
ž Different cultural values
ž Different language
ž Gender differences
ž Topics that relate to
students’ background
ž Community resources
ž Role models
ž Regular contact with
parents
ž Overcome language
barriers

22. ž Social, emotional, or physical deprivation
ž Inclusion
ž Mild mental disabilities
¡ Need structure, direct instruction, one task at a time
ž Vision/hearing impairments
¡ Learning through other senses, specific classroom
location
ž Special social needs
¡ Hands-on instruction, peer tutoring

23. ¡ Structured activities within students’ capabilities
¡ Involvement in all school activities
¡ Cooperative learning in heterologous groups
¡ Sincere praise
¡ Communication with parents
¡ Opportunities for sharing

24. ž Outstanding capabilities
¡ Above average abilities
¡ Task commitment
¡ Creativity
ž Evaluation of the ‘Intelligence Quotient’ and the
‘Interest Quotient’

25. ž Allow freedom of topic
ž Model construction
ž Make contracts with self –
independence and structure
ž Emphasize process skills
ž Community involvement