On 1 October 2013, I had my first class for the Learning Styles and Strategies module and the lecturer Mr. Wong started off by introducing himself and also get to know us as well. He explains the module structure of this course by looking into the core references and the assessments that we need to do throughout this course.
This is my first journal of the course, where I will be writing about my personal experiences relating to the journal entitled " Learning Styles: A Review of Theory, Application, and the Best Practices by Frank Romanelli, PharmD, MPH, Eleanora Bird, MS, and, Melody Ryan, PharmD, MPH.
According to the article, the author describes the multitude of training programs and institutions, and with differing learning styles has shown to be effective in educating diverse students learners. Diverse students learners include students from varied race, ethnic, cultural and linguistic background and communities of lower socioeconomic status has begun to expand in the education sector, especially in the higher education(colleges or universities). This diversification will continue to rise with having distance education programs and expansions in the types of instructional media used to deliver information to the students. I'm a student from Nottingham Malaysia campus and it is a place where you can see students who comes from various different countries, race, culture and ethnic background. The types of instructional media used by Nottingham is through advertising in local newspapers and You Tube. This spreads information students on the course they like to pursue.
In Nottingham Malaysia Campus, there are several courses that offered for students to go for exchange either to the Nottingham UK Campus, Nottingham Ningbo Campus and also to some universities in parts of Britain, France, Canada and etc. Many of my friends from varied race and cultural background had gone for exchange to various countries(depends on their course) to further develop in their studies.
With the advancement and changes of technology has questioned educators or teachers whether to use the traditional method or forming new methods in designing the course structure to various students learning styles. There are many different ways of defining learning styles. In the article, the term "learning styles" is defined as cognitive, effective, and psychosocial behaviours that serve as a relatively stable indicators of learners perceive, interact with and respond to the learning environment. There is a saying that the “learning style” that teachers and parents should focus on is the universal learning style of the human mind. This does not mean that teachers should present their material to be learned and the instruction given in just one fashion. All student learners will benefit when information is put forth in diverse ways that engage a multitude of the senses. Upon my personal experiences, I took a foundation in arts course at the same university(Nottingham Malaysia Campus). This course is mainly English and it helps build upon my "real life" experiences. Reading, writing, listening and speaking – these are the building blocks of communication, a process that is central to my life. In this course , my lecturers tend to encourage me to continue working towards the goal and also think critically about the issues that are relevant to our daily lives and then to read, write and speak about those issues. I remember during oral communication class, our lecturers will play a listening audio tape that tells us a story. We have to listen to it carefully and at the same time write the main points or short summary of that story. It is important for me to take notes as it will help me to answer the comprehension questions.
Back to the article, the author says that students with knowledge of their own preferences are empowered to use various techniques to enhance learning, which in turn may impact overall educational satisfaction. This ability is particularly critical and useful when a teacher's teaching style does not match the students learning style. I agree with the author that a good teacher has adapt various teaching styles( using concrete examples and other modalities) in order to accommodate various learners in the classroom. According to Sue Davidoff and Owen van der Berg(1990), has suggested four steps
- plan
- teach/act
- observe
- reflect
I think students learn better and more quickly if the teacher's teaching methods used match their preferred learning styles. Not only the learners learning improve, but also builds up the student's self esteem to learn. This will bring a positive effect on them. As for students who are bored, there will become interested to learn again. The best part is the student-teacher relationship will improve because the student is performing well in their studies and more interested in the learning. Based on my personal experiences, my learning style has been a visual and auditory learning because I
often recognize words by sight , use lists to organize their thoughts, and like the teacher to provide verbal instructions.
I also agree with the author that the shift in educational modality is inconsistent with the learning models with and which most older students and adult learners are accustomed from their primary and high school education. My experience as a student is similar to what the author is saying that I used to be spoon-fed by my teachers since primary school. The teachers in my primary and secondary years just use the chalk board to deliver their teaching. There will less learning models used during that time. When it comes to higher education, it changes my perspective of learning and gaining new information. The lecturers will teach us by making connections to real- life examples and also encourages us to do our own independent study.
In the article, Honey and Mumford developed an alternative instrument known as the Learning Style Questionnaire(LSQ). This LSQ has improved validity and accuracy. There are four types of LSQ
- activists(learn primary by experience)
- reflectors(learn from reflective observations)
- theorists( learn from exploring associations and interrelationships)
- pragmatics( learn from doing or trying things with practical outcomes)
On my first day of Learning Styles and Stategies class, Mr. Wong gave us the Honey and Mumford: Learning Style Questionnaire and it turns out I was a reflector, which is quite true indeed. When it comes to discussions, I would tend to learn by observing my peers and thinking about what happened. I also view my friends experiences and taking my time to work towards an appropriate conclusion.
I believe that cultures do have distinctive learning style patterns. Teachers should use diverse teaching strategies with all students. As the author stated, teachers should be aware of this phenomenon and the influence it has on the variety of learners that are present in the classroom. The Millennial Generation has been described as more technologically advanced that the Generation X Counterparts. This is similar to Generation Y but more usage of computer-aided media in the classroom. Students are now more associated to technological students, including the younger students. They tend to use visual aided images ti enhance their learning even more.
With that, a teacher need to have multiple instruction to coincide with the student learning styles and as the stated in the article " Best practice most likely involves the teaching paradigm which addresses multiple dimensions of learning that build students self-efficacy to learn in a meaningful manner.
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