Online v. Onground
I teach both online and onground courses. What are some strategies for assessing learning styles in both formats?
Hi LeJean, Asking students to apply the concepts they are learning to hands-on activities or situations is a great way to get that sort of information! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Susan Polick
I do think it is important to get direct feedback to see if the student is learning the material "on their own"...rather than just repeating what they heard--whether it is online or on ground!
here is intresting table
Table 2. Distribution of Learning Styles in ME111
Onground
Fall 2000 Fall 1999 Fall1999 Onground Online Number of
students
tested 34 49 12
How students perceive information
Sensing 15 44% 23 47% 2 17%
Balanced 13 38% 19 39% 7 58%
Intuitive 6 18% 7 14% 3 25%
Students’ preferred input modality
Visual 28 82% 34 70% 7 58%
Balanced 6 18% 14 28% 5 42%
Verbal 0 0% 1 2% 0 0%
How students process information
Active 11 32% 19 39% 2 17%
Balanced 18 53% 24 49% 10 83%
Reflective 5 15% 6 12% 0 0%
How students understand information
Sequential 10 29% 14 28% 2 17%
Balanced 18 53% 29 59% 7 58%
Global 6 18% 6 12% 3 25%
Hi Wendy - Best wishes for success in your new teaching career!! Susan
Hi everyone!
I am so glad someone asked this question!
I am relatively new to teaching and will at some point and time dive into the online teaching. I am getting used to the students at this point. I appreciate all the suggestions and the web site you use Susan. I am tucking them away in a folder so that I am ready when the time comes.
Galen - you are so right when you state that identifying learning styles in online students is difficult if not impossible.
Many of my students are considered 'at risk' so I am not only dealing with learning styles, but also with learning deficits - which muddies the waters.
I try to do a combination of visual and auditory information so that students can pull information for each class. Since our lectures are recorded - students can go back to a lecture and review the chat again - often many times until they understand the lesson.
I also provide a lot of extra information, and links to interactive sites that also provide information in a variety of formats.
With online students it is sometimes like bowling in the dark - sometimes you get a strike and sometimes you get a gutterball!
Hi Galen - Thanks for your post to the forum. Getting discussions going in the online environment can be challenging but is very worthwhile as it tends to create the sort of community that exists in the onground classroom. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Hi Allen - Of course it's possible to get visual and verbal clues about their learning styles from our onground students. I talk to my students about learning styles in online and onground classes and often the students can figure out which is their preferred style. I also always offer an assessment for them to take. Here's one that I use - http://www.berghuis.co.nz/abiator/lsi/lsitest1.html
I have taught both online and onground courses. The biggest difficulty with online courses is not being able to see physical and facial expressions. Even if you as for feedback it doesn't mean the student understands the material.
One technique I have found is to have a student online to explain the recent material in his/her own terms. This gives me a better understanding of how much the student understands the material. Then other students must add to the presentation by speaking about other ways they understand the material. This tends to bring in more of the senses and methods of learning.
