te at als Learning Styles Modality Preference Inventory ‘bitevhome at. net/~tmiordan/academic suppori/survey him Often (3) Sometimes (2) Seldom/Never (1) Visual Modality | remember information better if! write it down. Looking at the person helps keep me focused. need a quiet place to get my work done. When | take a test, | can see the textbook page in my head I need to write down directions, not just take them verbally. ‘Music or background noise distracts my attention from the task at hand. | don't always get the meaning of a joke. doodle and draw pictures on the margins of my notebook pages. | have trouble following lectures. I react very strongly to colors. Total Auditory Modality ‘My papers and notebooks always seem messy When | read, | need to use my index finger to track my place on the line, 11do not follow written directions well It hear something, | will remember it. Writing has always been difficult for me. | often misread words from the text-(.e. ‘them’ for “then’). | would rather listen and learn than read and learn. T'm not very good at interpreting an individual's body language. Pages with small print or poor quality copies are difficult for me to read. Myeyes tire quickly, even though my vision check-up is always fine. Total Kinesthetic/Tactile Modality | start a project before reading the directions. I hate to sit at a desk for long periods of time. —— | prefer first to see something done and then to do it myself. |'use the trial and error approach to problem-solving, [like to read my textbook while riding an exercise bike. I take frequent study breaks. Ihave a difficult time giving step-by-step instructions. | enjoy sports and do well at several different types of sports. use my hands when describing things Ihave to rewrite or type my class notes to reinforce the material. Total Total the score for each section. A score of 21 points or more in a modality indicates a strength in that area. The highest of the 3 scores indicates the most efficient method of information intake. The second highest score indicates the modality which boosts the primary strength. For example, a score of 23 in the visual modality indicates strong visual leamer. Such a leamer benefits from the text, from filmstrips, charts, graphs, etc. If the second highest score is auditory, them the individual would benefit from audio tapes, lectures, etc. If you are strong kinesthetically, then taking notes and rewriting class notes will reinforce information.Learning Styles Self Assessment VAKT Learning styles to Serve Learning SEEING RESPONDINGLearning Styles Self AssessmentLearning Styles Self Assessment ® ® GENERAL INFORMATION # FOR ALL TYPES OF LEARNERS INTRODUCTION http/home barton ac.uk/teachandleam/stylesindex htm Retention rates for Information taken in by: © Teacher Lecture 5% + Reading Passively 10% = Audio visual methods 20% = Demonstration 30% + Disoussion 50% = Practice by Doing 75% ‘Teaching Others 90% Can we determine preferred learning styles? There are currently about twenty different methods of identifying learning styles, but overall your learning style is a combination of four factors: 1. How you perceive information most easily — whether you are a mainly visual, auditory, kinesthetic or tactile learner, whether you learn best by seeing, hearing, moving or touching 2. How you organize and process information — whether predominantly left brained, which emphasizes words, logic, numbers, math and sequences or right brained, which emphasizes thyme and rhythm, music, pictures and imagination. Connecting these right and left areas of the brain is the corpus callosum, the area of your brain which acts as a highly complex ‘switching system, balancing incoming messages and linking together abstract holistic ‘messages with concrete logical messages. The most effective learners make use of both parts of their brain in a regular and ordered way. 3. The conditions necessary to help you take in and store information ~ emotional, social, physical and environmental. 4. How you retrieve information - which may be entirely different to the way in which you take in information.Learning Styles Self Assessment How you perceive or take in information Research has shown that: We usually have one dominant strength (Le. visual, auditory, kinesthetic) and also a secondary one. In a classroom, if our main perceptual strength is not matched by the teaching method, we may have difficulty learning unless we can compensate with our secondary perceptual strength. This is why students should be encouraged to develop a range of learning styles. 55-60% are visual learners, who only retain three quarters of what they read or see. These fall into 2 groups - those who process information in word form and those who retain what. they see in diagram or picture form. This should lead us to think about the quality and accessibility of visual material used in our classrooms. Ina class of 30 students, 22 will be fairly balanced in their ability to take in information in a variety of ways and will generally be able to cope (not necessarily the same thing as excell) when information is presented in either visual, auditory or kinesthetic ways; two or three will have difficulty learning because of factors outside the classroom; the remaining 20% will have (great difficulty coping unless the information is presented in their favored style. ALL students should be encouraged to develop a range of learning styles. Conditions needed to help perceive and process information ‘Some things you may not know! Overheating causes a decrease in all round performance level in tasks requiring concentration, accuracy, physical dexterity and sensory acuity. Tur the heating down and open the windows! Dehydration leads to inattention, drowsiness and poor learning performance. The fluid to electrolyte balance of the body is adversely affected by dehydration and some high sugar drinks, Encourage all staff and students to take frequent drinks of water.Learning Styles Self Assessment inattentive and lack concentration when deprived of frequent inputs of food. Encourage all students and staff to ‘graze’ on dried or fresh fruit or nuts in class. To allow food or drink in the classroom is NOT unprofessional, quite the reverse in fact. Ionization of the atmosphere in your classroom from smoke, dust, pollutants, chemicals, ‘computers, and heating systems raises chemical levels in the brain which limits the development of the cerebral cortex. Counteract this and charge the air in your classroom with negative ions by introducing green plants such as spider plants. Color affects the way your students respond in the classroom. Adapt the color of the paper you use for handouts or board covering, according to intended use or purpose Red is good for creative thinking and short term high energy Green is good for productivity and long term energy Yellow and orange are conducive to physical work, exercise and positive moods Blue slows the pulse, lowers blood pressure, helps study and concentration White paper and black type reduce the intake of information by as much as 40%. Use pale blue paper for worksheets which provide information Light levels affect your students’ overall well-being and their intake of information. Research amongst 160 000 pupils has highlighted the link between the use of fluorescent lights and suppression of the immune system. Perhaps they really were ‘sick’! Furthermore, bright light on the white paper used for most worksheets, reduces the intake of information by as much as 50%. Reduce the light levels in your classroom!te at als @® VISUAL LEARNERS 72 Learners who think in images need to ‘see’ what something means to internalize that meaning and understand and remember it effectively. Almost all visual thinkers can understand a verbal explanation but unless they convert it toa meaningful visual image, their understanding is likely to evaporate over a few days. Lectures, seminars, listening to discussion, instruction and information giving are all uncomfortable learning situations for this group. * They relate most effectively to information which they can see e.g. handouts, diagrams, pictures + They are uncomfortable with a teaching delivery where they are unable to make summary diagrams or take notes in detail, for instance if a teacher talks at them very fast with no time for them to convert what they hear to a visual form + They are likely to be most effective with textual or illustrative material * Color, illustrations and diagrams will help them learn best + Highlighting key words or having these available in the classroom above their eye line, will aid their progress, as will converting their notes into a spider diagram or mind map + Converting their notes into cartoons or annotated diagrams and using pictures to explain text are all important tools + They can be encouraged to use post it notes to record the main points of @ topic as they listen to information, so that they can use a process of select and reject later orfand rearrange the order of their points = They should use styled templates for notes e.g. date and title at top, reference at bottom, question box on right, bubbles for ideas, squares for facts. Color should be used to highlight key words. These leamers need to see the teacher's body language and facial expression to fully understand the content of a lesson. They tend to prefer sitting at the front of the classroom to avoid visual obstructions (e.g. people’s heads). They may think in pictures and learn best from visual displays including: diagrams, illustrated text books, overhead transparencies, videos, flipcharts and hand-outs. During a lecture a lecture or classroom or classroom discussion, visual leamers often prefer to take detailed notes to absorb information.Learning Styles Self Assessment VISUAL LEARNERS: + Use visual materials such as pictures, charts, maps, graphs ete + Have a clear view of your teachers when they are speaking so you can see their body language and facial expression * Use color to highlight important points in text + Take notes or ask your teacher to provide handouts + Illustrate your ideas as a picture or brainstorming bubble before writing them down * Write a story and illustrate it + Use multi-media (e.g. computers, videos, and fimstrips) = Study in a quiet piace away from verbal disturbances * Read illustrated books * Visualize information as a picture to aid memorization Clues Learning Tips Visual Learners Should: + Use graphics to reinforce learning; films, slides, Visual Learners Usually: + Need to see it to know it. + Have strong sense of color. illustrations, diagrams and doodles, + May have artistic ability. * Color code to organize notes and possessions. * Often have difficulty with spoken —_ |» Ask for written directions. directions. * Use flow charts and diagrams for note-taking. + May Over-react to sounds. + May have trouble following lectures. + Often misinterprets words. + Visualize spelling of words or facts to be memorized.te at als € 4 AUDITORY LEARNERS ©) < Only 20-25% of learners are auditory learners and these remember only 75% of what they hear during a lesson. They need language to know what something means and internalize it. Many of these learners understand the world sequentially and need the details before they can make sense of larger concepts. Verbal definitions are important to these learners, as are regular snippets of hard data, facts, statistics and important information. * They learn effectively by listening to someone explain something, but often do not look at the speaker while listening. They often have their head tilted to one side. Talking about a new idea ‘and explaining it in their own words, either to themselves or someone else are effective methods for them ‘+ They benefit from hearing explanations a second time, expressed in a different way and often ‘speak in a measured and rhythmic way. + Organize verbal information into well defined steps. = Encourage the use of higher level language, including technical terminology, more challenging vocabulary and complex sentence structure = Listening to a book or tape will be easier than reading for them. If they need to read blocks of text itis helpful for them to read aloud. * They should make use of a tape recorder for notes and thoughts. + Recording key aspects of their revision onto tape, with Baroque music playing in the background will be useful for them Use active listening skill such as questioning and summarizing with them. ‘* Ensure that independent work begins with an action plan, which will help to establish a clear structure for their activities. ‘These leamers like timed questions, but their understanding is best tested through essays or ‘assignments which require them to go into detail. + Encourage them to use their own system of symbols and abbreviations for note taking and technical language AUDITORY LEARNERS learn through listening... They learn best through verbal lectures, discussions, talking things through and listening to what others have to say. Auditory learners interpret the underlying meanings of speech through listening to tone of voice, pitch, speed and other nuances. Written information may have little meaning until it isheard. These learners often benefit from reading text aloud and using a tape recorder.Learning Styles Self Assessment AUDITORY LEARNERS: "Participate in class discussions/ debates "= Make speeches and presentations * Use a tape recorder during lectures instead of taking notes "Read text out aloud + Create musical jingles to aid memorization * Create mnemonics to aid memorization = Discuss your ideas verbally = Dictate to someone while they write down your thoughts + Use verbal analogies, and story-telling to demonstrate your point ifr net/~tmjordan/academic_su les. him Auditory Learner Should: + Use of tapes for reading and for class and lecture notes. + Learning by interviewing or by participating in discussions. + Having test questions or directions read aloud or put on tape. ‘Clues Auditory Learners Usually: + Prefer to get information by listening —needs to hear it to know it. + May have difficulty following written directions. + Difficulty with reading. + Problems with writing. + Inability to read body language and facial expressions.te at als VW KINESTHETIC & TACTILE W* LEARNERS This group of learners makes up about 15% of all students but contains a disproportionately high ‘umber of dropouts from college courses. It is very important that this group is allowed to move around the classroom and participate in the learning process. * They remember what was done rather than what was said or observed, + They are very responsive to their physical environment. "They can be encouraged to focus on a topic by allowing them to fidget with something like a stress ball. "They cannot cope with lessons in which there are few breaks and need a definite pattern of short activities, interspersed with breaks for review, recall of reflection. + They benefit from activities such as field trips and using the computer + Writing things out in a step by step way or in their own words are useful ways to help them remember things * Making mind maps or spider diagrams are effective for them, as is helping other people with a task. + They respond well to role plays and classroom games. * Skills practice is important for them, as are practical workshops, one to one sessions and physical modeling sessions * Revision while they are jogging or doing something else physical will be helpful = They often adopt a slumped posture in a classroom and tend to speak quite slowly http://snow utoronto.ca/l eam 2/ntroll html KINESTHETIC LEARNERSlearn through, moving, doing and touching... Taatile/ Kinesthetic persons learn best through a hands-on approach, actively exploring the physical world around them. They may find it hard to sit stil for long periods and may become distracted by their need for activity and exploration. TACTILE/ KINESTHETIC LEARNERS: + Take frequent study breaks * Move around to learn new things (e.g. read while on an exercise bike, mold a piece of clay to learn a new concept)Learning Styles Self Assessment = Work at a standing position = Chew gum while studying + Use bright colors to highlight reading material = Dress up your work space with posters + Ifyou wish, listen to music while you study = Skim through reading material to get a rough idea what it is about before settling down to read it in detail, hhtto:J/home.s tm jes.htm Clues “Learning Tips Kinesthetic Learners Should: + Engage in experiential learning (making models, doing lab work, and role playing). + Take frequent breaks in study periods. + Trace letters and words to learn spelling and Kinesthetic Learners Usually: + Prefer hands-on learning. * Often can assemble parts without reading directions. + Have difficulty sitting stil. remember farts, “Lean vwinen physical = Use computer to reinforce learning through sense of activity is involved. touch. + Memorize or drill while walking or exercising. + Express abilities through dance, drama or gymnastics. + May be very well coordinated and have athletic ability.Learning Styles Self Assessment VAKTING to SERVE LEARNING some ideas to consider INSTRUCTIONS: 1. CHECK the ideas that you already do in your classroom AND RAISE YOUR HAND ONCE. . STAR the ideas you would like to try. AND SAY “UNHUH" AS YOU WRITE THE STAR. Underline ideas that seem crazy to you! AND SHAKE YOUR HEAD LEFT AND RIGHT |. ADD ideas that come to you as you are doing all of this! AND SAY “OHHHH" ‘Model instructions from the students’ perspective Clap out stress of word Raise hand or fingers to signal a mistake or when you hear a word ‘Tum over cards to show agreementidisagreement Stand on different sides of the room to signal feedback or agreement Facial expressions connected with words or verbal expressions Conversation circles Throw a ball or stuffed animal around to answer questions or check opinions Walk N’ Talk where Ss take an issue and have a few minutes to puzzle it out together Connect a motion with a word or idea ‘Step forward from a line to indicate degree or agreement Do role plays Play music while learning something so that $s can tap feet, etc ‘Write down the directions Have Ss watch the teacher move around the room in a role play to convey meaning Sit in rocking chairs and hammocks Stand while listening ©000000000000000000 ‘Write instructions on the board Apply colors to ideas Put things in rows or columns Use mind maps Use charts and/or making their own Look at pictures Use videotapes Provide handouts to back up the point you're making Fill in blanks in a sentence Cartoons 000000000000Learning Styles Self Assessment ‘AuorrorY Saylrepeat out loud to selves ‘Connect the new learning to a rhyme Interview and/or debate Use audio tapes or CDs Tell and listen to stories Have Ss tell each other the directions to an activity Re-phrase something another student said Offer mini-lectures oo0000g0g000 TACTILE + “Put instructions on fingers” and checking for comprehension by having Ss use their fingers or recall instructions Match pictures to vocabulary cards Use rods to indicate pronunciation point (e.g. of regular *-ed” endings) Use rods to represent parts of a sentence (e.g. parts of speech) Use rods to indicate when they feel something is a mistake Hold a “talking stick” to check in on an issue/conversation point Use rods to represent parts of a grammar structure (e.g. comparative and superlative) Make models or visual aids themselves Play Memory game with cards Use puppets or dolls Use rods to “earn” or “spend’ for some reason Use realia ‘Scrambled sentences with index cards ‘Scrambled human sentences Flashcards Play board games Use dice to signal turn taking or way you need to answer Qs Categorize figures, numbers, objects Put pictures in order