Do Your Students Know Their Preferred Learning Style?

 

One of my goals for my students is to get them to take more responsibility for their learning. I find the following a great homework assignment to give the first day of class.

 

Go to this free website and complete the 44 item Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire. Print out your results. Follow the links to interpret these and to find successful learning strategies that match your preferred learning style.  Then write a 1-2 page (double spaced) summary of your results from the survey along with a list of things you plan to do in order to be more successful in this class. 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Sherman Dorn]

Delaney, I am not a psychologist, but one of our colleagues in the Tampa psych department was a coauthor on a lit review last fall explaining why 'learning styles' has a very thin evidentiary base as a construct.

Besides, shouldn't we ask students to improve their skills rather than justify avoiding a type of activity with reference to theories of innate weaknesses?

[Dr. Delaney Kirk]

Thanks for the tip, Sherman. I'll have to look for the lit review.

I agree with your comment. We SHOULD expect students to improve their skills and they are in the best position to understand what works well for them. That said, I like to use a variety of delivery methods when teaching as I think this helps.

Thanks for commenting.

[Terry Atkinson]

Sherman and Delaney,
As a literacy researcher I contend that time considering or investigating learning styles could be much better spent on substantive strategies that actually enable students to position themselves as more self-directed critical thinkers and construct meaning from texts. I find that the topic of learning styles typically surfaces in the SPED literature and the lit base is, not only thin, but often authored by those who promote the construct. Would appreciate a link or citation to access your Tampa Psych colleague's lit review.

[Sherman Dorn]

Terry, try https://www.psychologicalscience.org/journals/pspi/PSPI_9_3.pdf

[Dr. Delaney Kirk]

Thanks, Sherman, for the link!