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Humor:
Teacher: I hope I didn't see you looking at Maria's answers.
Learning styles
Mr. / Girgis
1-Cognition: How Do I Know?
Perception,
the initial stage of cognition,
involves receiving, obtaining, taking
possession
of, and discerning information, ideas, and
concepts. Some of
us best perceive what is
real; others clearly see possibilities with
their
imaginations.
Some people see parts of a whole, separating
ideas
from their context, while others see the
whole, not unlike the
difference between seeing
the forest or the tree .
People
get information in different ways. Some
people use abstract sources,
reading about
things and listening to others' descriptions.
Others need
concrete experiences.
The concrete person often will depend directly
on
the senses for information: "I see it; now I
know what it is."
Some
people have to touch something or
see it operate before they accept it
as real,
while others can imagine a vivid reality without
needing to
experience it.
These different ways of getting information
and gaining
knowledge reflect distinct personal
styles.
2-Conceptualization:
How Do I Think?
People
also exhibit differences in what they do
with the knowledge they gain:
how they process
information and how they think. Some people are
always
looking for connections and ways to tie
things together. Others are more
divergent: One
thought, idea, or fact triggers a multitude of new
directions.
Others
organize their thoughts in clusters and
random patterns. Some people
think aloud; they
verbalize ideas as a way of understanding them.
Others
concentrate on understanding concepts
and experiences privately in
their own minds.
Some people think quickly, spontaneously, and
impulsively; others are deliberate and reflective..
3-Affect: How Do I Decide
Differences
in motivation, judgments, values, and
emotional responses also
characterize individual
style. Some people are motivated internally;
others
seek external rewards.
Some people actively seek to please
others: children
to please their parents and teachers, adults to and
spouses. Some people simply are not attuned to
others'
expectations, and still others will rebel
against any such demands.
Some
people make decisions logically, rationally,
objectively, and coolly.
Others decide things
subjectively, focusing on their own and others'
perceptions and emotions.
Some people seek frequent feedback on their
ideas and work; some are crushed by slight
criticism. Others welcome
analytical comments,
and still others would never ask an outsider for a
critique.
4-Behavior: How Do I Act?
We recognize a variety of differences in how
people learn
and how these basic styles affect the
individual learner's behavior.
Reflective students
are slow to respond to questions and need to think
through a response carefully. Impulsive learners
respond quickly and
blurt out their thoughts.
The
step-by-step person learns best when each
stage is clear and the
transitions are spelled out.
Another kind of learner makes intuitive
leaps.
After several weeks of struggling with division of
fractions,
this student may suddenly announce,
"I've got it!"
This same intuitive
learner also will be impatient
with sounding out parts of a word and
doing
phonetic worksheets when she has already
grasped the essence of a
story.
Role of the teacher:
To provide an equal opportunity for all students to
be successful in school, educators must first
develop
a deep understanding of individual
differences in learning.
The
research and theories on culture and learning
style adequately document
learning differences
among individuals. While these theories are
familiar to many educators, and generally
accepted, their application is
relatively shallow.
For example, many teachers know that it is
important to provide a "visual"
learner with visual
information. But if the visual is words on an
overhead projector mimicking the words spoken
orally, this is a
superficial accommodation of the
learner's style.
Far more significant
would be an image, symbol,
or visual representation of the information
so that
the visual learner could learn through his or her
strengths.
Teaching Forum 2004, Volume
42, Number 2
