Knowing your students' learning styles can not only help you during planning of course material presentation, but also it can help you during assessment. Thus, in an assessment it may be useful to incorporate various learning styles like having a question that requires students to perform some aspect of the test, another part that is reading and writing, another part that is visual interpretation, and last but not least an auditory question.
Hi Dyana, Thanks for your post to the forum. Another benefit is that instructors also are less likely to feel "bored" as they are regularly changing their delivery. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
The instructional benefits of knowing the learnign styles of your students is that it makes teaching easier and instructors see better results from their students. This knowledge can be used to help you be a more effective instructor by effective delivery of the course content. Students are also able to retain information rather than memorize content just to pass a test.
I think learning styles are very important for instructors to understand that students learn in various ways. It also adds variety to the classroom and changes the atmosphere from being stagnant to flowing in different direction. This is great because you always captivate students and they will never be bored.
Knowing the students and the various learning styles within the class can greatly enhance the effectiveness of the instructor imparting knowledge. Classes consist of individuals that are contributing to the group. Each of these individuals will possess different learning styles. If the instructor can get a sense of what these styles are hen the instructor can sculpt delivery to address the learners needs.
Hi Anita, Thanks for your post to the forum. I usually ask my students to do an online learning style assessment and share the results with me. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
Hi Terry, Great examples of teaching aids for the various styles!
Susan Polick
Hi Terry, Thanks for sharing those observations - very interesting! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
It is extremely important to know my student's learning styles on the first day of class so I can present the material in the most effective way. I think my school should give a learning assessment survey to each student and provide the results to the instructors.
In the program which I teach (massage therapy) we cover all grounds, but it is helpful to know which area to start with. For instance, lecturing with powerpoints may not be the best place to start. Maybe doing hands on first, taking a break, then coming back to review the material through lecture and powerpoints would be the most effective method.
Dear Ed,
I too was skeptical back in the 1980's when I was introduced to the learning style topic. As I thought of my preferences though, I realized I learned better with the use of pictures or seeing someone due a procedure in person. I can hear it explained till the cows come home and sometimes it still does not make sense if I have not seen it.
Now, I test all of my students to learn their learning styles. although I use different teaching methods, in a medical class, some of it is cut and dry, memorization type of information.
With the learning style information, I do vary my styles more. Animated drawings show the characteristics of diseases while I explain the pictures to my audio students who sometimes do not even look at the pics. Hands on is always good. I have used plastic body parts, e.g. bones, kidney, heart, lungs and brain to help my kinetic people have hands on time learning anatomy.
It makes it more fun and interesting for all of the students in class. Since beginning this technique, the grades for the kinesthetic learning students have risen. These are numbers enough for me.
One thing I have learned about my student's learning styles is their choice of seating. I noticed the visual learners are the front row students. When speaking to them about their choice for the front row, they verbalized "by sitting on the front row, I do not see the movement behind be that would cause distractions." As a visual learner myself, I had not realized this until I paid attention to that comment. The auditory learners are in the middle as it doesn't matter if they see everything while the written and kinesthetic students sit in the back. To increase the visual learner space, I have their seating in a circle. I can also see what the others are doing. In addition, those hands-on students are closer to the front to see demonstrations, show demonstrations and not be scared of being in the "front of the class."
Hi Wanda, Thanks for your post to the forum. I also try to use all four styles in my delivery as I think it is the best strategy overall. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
Susan Polick
It is very important to understand the different learning styles of our students. I like to incorporate all four styles. I use instructionals, like powerpoint, demonstrations, reading and open discussions. So I ultimately engage all my student with one of these techniques.
Luckily, in massage therapy school most of my students are kinesthetic learners. Some students still vary in learning styles and extra materials and presentations tends to close the gap.
Hi Emily, Thanks for your post to the forum. As you mention, combining delivery formats can be very effective. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
By learning the different styles I can add to/change the way I present a lecture to keep all students interested.
Knowing the learning styles of your individual students will help you to deliver the content in a way in which the students can best retain the information and thus succeed in the course. Starting with learning how you prefer to learn, you can then become familiar with these different learning styles and incorporate them in to your delivery. I think trying to incorporate two styles of learning at once is an excellent way to help the students, for example through a powerpoint presentation with illustrations and text, or a lecture with an illustration handout or handout summarizing the material covered.
Knowing the learning styles of your students gives you an insight into how your students might achieve better grades and how they react to the world. It gives you a way to go if any of them seem to not be achieving. You can use that information to structure your plans in a manner that will help the students.
Hi Nicole, Thanks for your post to the forum. You have a very balanced approach to teaching to the learning styles! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
Every student is different and as instructors we must help them learn their field in the most cohesive manner possible. I like to employ a variety of technqiues throughout a term. This exposes the students to different styles, in case they aren't sure what works best for them. It can help them discover what type of learning technique they prefer.
