Learning Styles
DUE DATE:
Bring the completed survey to the In-Class Training session on
Jan 17
Introduction
Teaching is most effective when the focus is on learning. In order to meet student learning needs, teachers need an awareness and understanding of learning styles —visual language learners, auditory learners, and kinesthetic learners. Different researchers have labeled and described learning styles in different ways. However, no matter how we choose to categorize learning styles, an understanding that there are different learners in our classes is vitally important if we are to plan the kinds of activities that will be appropriate for them. When the teaching style of the instructor and the learning style of the student are in conflict, learning can be frustrating. When mismatches occur, the students tend to be bored and inattentive, do poorly on tests, get discouraged about English and quit the class. Teachers, confronted by low-test grades and poor participation in class, may become overtly critical of their students or begin to question their own competence as teachers.
What do you think your learning style is? Teachers need to be aware of their own styles since they tend to teach according to these styles (to the disadvantage of students with different learning styles).
For further reading on Learning Styles, see:
http://www.usd.edu/trio/tut/ts/style.html
http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Zhenhui-TeachingStyles.html
Task
Read the following information on learning styles. Then complete the questionnaire and score your answers.
Readings and survey taken from The Practice of English Language Teaching, Jeremy Harmer, and Tasks for Teacher Education, Tanner & Green. The Learning Styles Questionnaire was inspired by Reid, 1995.
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