Learning Style

I have often wondered what type of learner I am.  Most educators were successful students.  I learned how to play the school game well enough to get good grades, but I'm not sure that always equals learning.  Over the years, I have figured out that I am an auditory learner in most cases and also display some of the needs of a visual learner.  I learn best by discussing content with other people.  I have also found that I learn best when engaged with the speaker, especially if the speaker uses a story like format to presenting information.  I prefer to listen to the speakers emotion and often use that as a cue on what to pay attention to.  I also prefer to see visuals of what I am learning, especially diagrams or video.  The ideal learning opportunity for me is a visual presentation with voice along with it.  Interestingly, that has been a common format in both CEP810 and 811.

I often find myself struggling in courses that require tons of reading without the opportunity to interact with anyone about the knowledge.  Earlier in this session, I appreciated the analogy that learning is not an empty vessel, but a dialogue.  I need the dialogue to be successful.  I have also learned that while I have a hard time sitting perfectly still, I am easily distracted when asked to perform tactile learning tasks.

The statement that we can't teach every learning style in every lesson poses a challenge to teachers everyday. The OES staff read Brain Rules two years ago and had a similar discussion about incorporating its beliefs.  We concluded that doing things like showing a powerpoint while reading the content can be effective.  We often use a turn and talk strategy for students to discuss content, but we added a stop and write strategy where students take a few minutes to journal write independently about a topic.  Sometimes the students would then switch journals and respond either in the journal or verbally.  I also think that some subjects lend themselves to certain learning styles.  Science tends to be more hands on and we are headed that same direction in math.  I found it interesting that such a small percentage of learners preferred tactile learning.  I wonder if what we prefer always equals how we learn the best.