Last week, Edutopia posted a learning styles quiz. I've always liked these kinds of quizzes because it helps me think about how I learn and can help my students think about how they learn.
When I was teaching psychology I always used a quiz similar to this when we talked about learning. Of course, the quiz was on paper and I never had students do the quiz more than once.
Now, I am thinking about using a learning styles quiz more than once in a year. Does your learning style change? Mine did. I used to be heavily linguistic, but when I took the Edutopia quiz I came out highly naturalistic. It might have to do with summer and the nice weather or it might be that my learning style preference is changing. Whatever it is, it's interesting to think about.
I love the idea of doing this with my students. As I begin to integrate more technology, I wonder how I can use their learning styles to enhance what I teach. I am a physics teacher, so it is often a math-intensive classroom. But by using online virtual labs and trying to bring in new ways of engaging the students (such as a recent attempt to have them "teach" a lesson using screencasting), I can hopefully reach all of my students. Since so much of my course is supposed to be conceptual understanding of physics, and not necessarily the math, these tools can help all learning styles! I do wonder how I can make use of knowing my students’ learning “styles” and incorporate that with the tools and the content. It is a lot to try to integrate and a whole new way of planning classes. I also love the idea of doing it more than once a year. Maybe with each new semester?
ReplyDeleteI have also tried the idea of creating learner profiles for each student so get a better understanding of how each student learns best. I think it is a great tool to help teachers figure out how to meet the needs of the students while delivering respectful tasks and material. I have a new set of students at the beginning of each semester so I do not get to be with them long but I find that if I can adjust instruction to meet their needs. By doing this they seem to learn better and look forward to learning more. The old method of "teaching to the middle" does not work anymore. Yes, I understand sometimes lectures have their place but in the world of education today it is much less effective than it once was, especially with all the new technology that keeps coming onto the scene. Students want to be involved and engaged and not have things dictated to them. Thanks for your posting, it is great to see someone else has a similar perspective.
ReplyDeleteI think that looking at individual learning styles is essential in today's classroom. Every student learns a little differently. I assess student learning styles at the beginning of each semester so that I can adjust my instruction to include a variety of meaningful and respectful tasks that hit on almost every learning style. Although lectures do have their place, this method if far less effective as it used to be. Students are used to being engaged with media and if it gets infused into their learning at school it will create great opportunities that will help them once they start work or go to college. Thanks for your posting, I am glad to hear others have similar perspectives.
ReplyDeleteits a great blog for technology era!
ReplyDeleteThis quiz was dead on for me. I was shocked to see how accurate this was. I am not yet a teacher but soon I will be. When I make my lesson plans I always try to incorporate the most learning styles as possible. I would like to see a quiz like this for eled teachers to use at the beginning of the year so that we use that information to teach to how the students learn.
ReplyDeleteI like doing the learning style quizzes. For the students it allows them to recognize themselves as a learner. They can get ideas of how to study and what may work best for them to learn. As a teacher, you know what kinds of learners you have which will help create lessons. I have taken a few learning style quizzes. The results are mainly the same with what type of learner I am. I believe these are a great get to know the student and for them to get to know themselves during the first week of school.
ReplyDeleteLearning styles became an important aspect of teaching after attending a professional development. Since, I have administered the assessment to my students at the beginning of each year and use the results for the purpose of grouping for both class instruction/practice and projects. I have even played with using different learning styles in the same group to observer how the different styles took different roles in performing the overall task at hand.
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting quiz to do and it was very accurate in describing me! I've printed out and will be reading the description of each learning style. I teach pre-k and I can see different learning styles for students already. It will be interesting to apply the 'tips' provided to help improve their learning.
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