1b introduction to learning styles

Editor's Notes

• #2: Welcome to our second lecture for this week
• #3: Imagine for a momentIt’s your first day teaching and the following students are seated before you:
• #4: Marguerite is busy writing a poem on scraps of paper while you’re teaching
• #5: How could you know that she will become Maya Angelou, one of the most respected poets, writers and educators in the 21st century?
• #6: Tommy is not paying attention in class because he’s sketching flowers, trees, rivers, and cottages on the cover of his school notebook cover
• #7: How could you know that he’d becomeThomas Kinkade will become the world’s premier Christian artist and one of the most celebrated and collected painters of our time?
• #8: Carolewho is distracting her class neighbor as she hums a tune and pretends to be taking notes while she writes the lyrics to a song…
• #9: How could you know that she’d become Carole Kingone of pop music's most gifted and successful composers and listed in the Music Hall of Fame as the most prolific woman composer?
• #10: Sherylis fidgeting because she can't wait to get to PE class and shoot some 3-point baskets
• #11: How could you know that she’d become Sheryl Swoopes and win TWO Olympic Gold medals, be the WNBA’s MVP in the year 2000, and hold the all-time career record for three-point field goals?
• #12: Clivejust can’t wait until the end of class to share the fascinating stories he’s read
• #13: How could you know that he’d become C. S. Lewis,one of the most well-known and loved Christian writers of the 20th century?
• #14: Let us pray that we see our students the way God sees them and the way He created them…UniqueFull of potentialCapable of learningWe will encounter challenges as we try to teach students of different temperaments, learning styles, and abilities. The Learning Theory we will begin to explore provides a context from which we can begin teaching effectively… then we have to accommodate students who may not fit the mold or the context. We will approach difficult questions such as…How do we address learning disabilities in our ministry settings?For now, let’s continue….
• #15: By now, you have learn a little about your own learning styles, using two simple tests:Take the VARK testTake the Multiple Intelligences TestArticles and resources provided will also enhance your understanding of the two tests. And although there are other tests that are coming along based on the latest research, they all confirm what Howard Gardner asserted in his Theory of Multiple Intelligences:That “… students possess different kinds of minds and therefore learn, remember, perform, and understand in different ways.”
• #16: Howard Gardner's advice is …Instead of asking, “is this student smart?”
• #17: Let’s ask, “How is this student smart?”In the slides that follow, you will gain more than one frameworks and vocabulary to approximate the answer to this question.
• #18: Here’s another way to look at students’ “Learning Styles”Since individuals perceive and process information in different ways, learning style is an important component to consider when planning instructional methods. Failure to gear methods to how students learn best can result in students not acquiring skills and knowledge from the instruction.The first dimension is how a learner perceives information. Concrete and abstract perceivers take in information in very different ways. Although individuals can be a combination of both, they tend to favor one over the other.Abstract perceivers learn information best by analyzing it. They prefer to watch, observe, and think about the information. This student learns well from traditional lecture style teaching methods.Concrete perceivers learn information best by having direct or hands-on experience. In other words, they learn by doing, acting, sensing, and feeling. This student would learn better from simulations, using models, and direct experience.How about you? Pause for a moment and think about how you perceive information. How about some of the people in your life?
• #19: The second dimension is how learning is processed. This is what the individual does with the new knowledge or skill once it is introduced. Once again an individual can be a combination of both types, but tends to favor one over the other.Reflective processors prefer to reflect and think about the new information. This helps them to make sense of the information. Traditional instruction methods, such as theoretical readings or reflective thinking, helps this type of student.Active processors prefer to put this new knowledge to immediate use. They want to further test and process this information through direct experience. Further hands-on type experiences or group work would help this student to process the information.
• #20: Here’s How Perceiving and Processing Work TogetherAlthough it may seem that concrete perception and active processing always go together, an individual can actually be any combination of perceiver and processor. Therefore, there are four possible types: abstract perceiver/reflective processor (assimilator); abstract perceiver/active processor (converger); concrete perceiver/active processor (acommodator); reflective perceiver/reflective processor (diverger).These four types make up what is know as Kolb's Experiential Learning Styles. Kolb (Kolb Theory) uses a proprietary 12 item assessment to determine learning style, but similar web based tools can also be used for free … like the ones you’ve already used.
• #21: Here’s another consideration: Generational learning. Spend some time exploring this slide, noticing how researchers have been able to see learning change from one generation to another. Do you agree?
• #22: Here’s one challenge you’ll have to face: If we have diverse learners in our educational settings, how could we meet the needs of each and everyone of them. It’s not a simple answer, but what’s important for you at this point is to become aware that methods should take into consideration how students perceive and process information, in addition to other learning style theory attributes. For example, if only traditional lecture style instruction is used, many learners will be excluded.Therefore, teachers should ideally analyze student learning styles and plan instruction accordingly. If that is not feasible, they should at least vary instructional methods in order to benefit a range of learning styles.Food for thought: Jesus used parables to teach. Stories have the power to evoke the senses and activate multiple areas of learning. In the slide that follows, you will watch a video of Joyce Tepfer, who has been using Storytelling as a ministry for more years than she cares to admit. Every year, she memorizes a Christmas story and delivers it to hundreds of audiences as a gift. Last year, I invited her to share her story to our Educational Ministries class. I share it here as well as her bio (in the handouts section) so you an partake in the experience as well and begin to think about stories that can engage students’ multiple learning capacities.
• #23: Video Intro: Joyce Tepfer is the Director of Servant Ministries at Shadow Mountain Community Church. She uses the power of story every Christmas to bless and reach thousands of people and multigenerational audiences. She visited our traditional class last December to share her Christmas story. I hope you can enjoy it and glean from this amazing ministry before you watch her interview.
• #24: In this interview, Joyce responds to students’ questions about the process of preparing her story and what it takes to use story as a ministry.