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Learning Style
Models :
Research shows that adults learn best based upon their experiences.
We, as instructors, need to work with adult learners to provide
activities that they see as relevant and with real-life application.
This will improve their involvement and learning. The following
are three models for identifying learning styles and methods
of engaging the adult learner in our classroom.
- VARK – Adults have preferences in how they receive
information. Some students are visual learners (V), meaning
they like to see the information on the board, in chart form,
or in a web graphic. Some students are aural learners (A),
meaning they like to hear the information and like to listen
to stories about the materials. Some students are reading/writing
learners (R) and they like to read the material and write
about it. Finally, some learners are kinesthetic learners
(K) meaning they learn best through hands-on experiences or
like physicality applied to learning certain concepts.
The following website and document, Learning Styles (VARK
Website: http://www.vark-learn.com/english/index.asp),
and Knaak Learning Inventory for Adults contain surveys that
will help you and your students learn more about their interests
and learning styles. Take a moment and fill out one of the
inventories to see what your preferred learning style is.
These inventories are quick, easy, and provide a great deal
of information to you about what your students might want
to focus on and how to work with individual students who have
different learning styles. (To obtain a copy of the Knaak
Learning Inventory for Adults contact Nancy Givens).
- Multiple Intelligences
Howard Gardner, recognizing that not all intelligences are
the same, developed a system that defines multiple intelligences
that encompass different people’s learning. He recognized
that each learner has a unique learning style, and tends to
learn more effectively in some areas than in other areas.
Based on his research, he defined eight intelligences that
learners may exhibit. This is not to say that learners are
intelligent in one area and not in others. Most learners are
strong in two or three areas. Your job as adult educator is
to determine which areas are the learner’s strengths
and work with those strengths to find ways of helping the
learner acquire the material. Examine Gardner’s intelligences
and think about the case study you have chosen. Then, determine
which intelligences your learner exhibits more strongly and
what activities you can use to emphasize those strengths and
help the student learn the material more effectively.
- Bloom’s Taxonomy
Dr. Bloom, having studied learning in the 1950’s, discovered
that learners “knew” material better if they worked
with it at different levels. He devised a taxonomy, or way
of classifying, the degree of one’s learning. The very
basic level is ‘Knowledge’ or general awareness
of a concept. The most advanced level is ‘Evaluation’
in which the learner can determine which set of knowledge
is best applied in a particular situation. (To obtain a copy
of Bloom's Taxonomy visit http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html).
What are some activities you could develop, based on the student’s
experiences and learning style, that would help him/her learn
the material at each of the levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy?
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