Learning Styles Project

For this project for focusing on learning styles, I took the ‘Learning Styles Test 1’ test. I went to the site listed at the bottom of the assignment page (http://teachnology.com/currenttrends/learning_styles/), clicking on the ‘Abiator's Online Learning Styles Inventory’ link, and clicking on the ‘» Learning Styles Test 1’ link in the left-hand portion of the page. This particular test asks questions about how I as a learner best take in information. It asks things to determine whether I learn better by listening, by reading, by discussion, what my study habits look like, and what I do to understand new or difficult concepts.
According to the results of the test, I am primarily an Auditory Visual learner. I wasn’t sure what exactly that meant, so I clicked on the links provided for visual learners and for auditory learners. Both links gave lists of suggestions for learners of that type. One thing that both lists suggested was to look through a piece of reading before really reading it, just to skim over the pictures and the headlines and get a feel for what it’s going to be about. I think that that’s actually a really good suggestion for me that I’ve never thought about before now.
The problem with being an Auditory Visual learner is that some of the suggestions listed for those two groups of people conflict. The Auditory learners’ list says that I should “study with a friend so you can talk about the information and hear it, too”, whereas the Visual learners’ page tells me that “Most visual learners learn best alone” and that I should “Try to work in a quiet place”. It sounds like, no matter what I do, I’m distracting one part of me so that I won’t really be able to be in a good position for learning. Personally, I find that I work better alone, so perhaps I’m more of a visual learner than an auditory learner.
From taking this online test and reading the information provided about the results, I have definitely learned that people, like me, can have more than one learning styles, and that they don’t necessarily fit perfectly into one group. Not everyone who is a visual learner will be good at reading, and not all auditory learners will pick up playing music well or connecting with everything they hear. It is for this reason that I hope to offer a variety of different teaching methods in my classroom. It’s true that most likely not all of my students will be reached through their particular learning style all of the time, but at least I can take steps to make sure that everyone receives their specific instruction style some of the time. Examples of this diversity in teaching approaches could be starting out with an entry task in which each student writes in a journal, later moving on to working on groups to read children’s books in groups, and, if we’re working in a block period where there’s a lot of time, I’d have them work on coming up with a way to act it out for the rest of the class to watch. Perhaps we’d do it in a theme, such as melodramatic soap opera style, or country western or something where they can make it funny and not worry so much about peoples’ reactions.
With a plan like this, a teacher would be able to reach most, if not all, of the students at some point, and to make sure that their learning has meaning and will stay with them. The visual learners would be able to work alone during the entry task, could preview the children’s book with a quick flip through, and take notes on it as a summary, which could probably be used as some sort of rough draft for their skit later on, and all of which are suggestions for visual learners.
The Auditory learners would also be stimulated to learn because they’d be working in groups and most likely reading the book aloud because of that. They’d be giving an oral presentation, of sorts, and memorizing lines, which is the same as repeating important information several times to help them remember it. The kinesthetic & tactile learners would not miss out on the learning because a lesson like this caters to their style as well. According to the Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic & Tactile link on the assignment’s website, kinesthetic & tactile learners tend to be those that “gesture and use expressive movements” when talking, which they would do while acting out the scene. It would give them a hands-on experience, and hopefully help them to remember the material being covered.
Learning styles make making learning meaningful for students sometimes difficult, but providing a variety of teaching methods and student activities can, I believe, help to provide students with a well-formed idea of concepts and vocabulary that they learn about in Spanish language and culture classes. As a prospective future teacher, I think I’m finding more and more that I have a greater chance of getting my students to learn when I keep the schedule varied and include a wider spectrum of methods in my planning.