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literature review on learning styles.
describe and analyse different learning styles
an essay on the different types of learning styles
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In this overview of the topic, I will start by examining the origins of the deep, surface, and strategic approaches to learning in higher education, and the elements that make these approaches distinct from each other. There has been a significant amount of research on the concept of ‘approaches to learning’ especially in higher education. By utilising this research, I will explore the strengths and ‘usefulness’ of these concepts in understanding how students learn and address the implications arising from them. I will also include insights from my own personal experience of education prior to beginning University according to each approach.
Research over the past 25 years has been directed at understanding the ways in which students go about their learning. The study of deep and surface approaches to learning originated in Sweden, deriving from the empirical research by Marton and Saljo (1976) who were examining student learning. These approaches are identified in learning activities such as problem-solving, lectures, essay-writing, exams etc. (Hodgson, 1984; Hounsell, 1984; Laurilland, 1979, 1984; Ramsden, 1984; in Smith, 2005, p.2). They found there were two qualitatively different ways students approached a task which could be characterised as either 'deep' or 'surface' learning. Marton and Saljo’s research has since been elaborated upon by others such as Entwistle and Ramsden (1983) in the UK, and Biggs (1999) in Australia, and is predominantly used in higher education, remaining highly influential in this context.
These two different approaches taken by students were first observed when Marton and Saljo presented a group of students with the task of reading a text; explaining to them that they will be asked questions abou...
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Ramsden, P. (1992) Learning to Teach in Higher Education. UK: Routledge
Sims, E. (2006) Deep Learning – 1: A new shape for schooling? London: Specialist School and Academies Trust
Smith, C. A. (2005) How useful are concepts of learning approaches to thinking about early professional thinking? Contribution to EPL Project mini conference, Early Professional Learning Project, Stirling University, pp.1-1 5. [Online] Available at: http://www.esrc.ac.uk/ (Accessed 15 April 2011)
Zhang, L (2001) Approaches and Thinking Styles in Teaching. The Journal of Psychology, 135(5), pp.547-561. [Online] Available at: www.informaworld.com (Accessed 15 April 2011)
Zhang, L. and Sternberg, R. J. (2005) ‘The role of individual differences in approaches to learning’, in Jarvis, P. and Parker, S. (eds.) Human Learning: An Holistic Approach, Oxon: Routledge
In an article I read written on July 13, 2014 by Ken Bain “Flummoxed by Failure-or Focused?” he discussed how there are two types of students the “helpless” student who think they aren 't smart enough and the “mastery” or “growth” students who will try everything before they cave in and how students the “hopeless” students think their intelligence is fixed. Also in an interview with Ken Bain conducted by the Project Information Literacy on October 10, 2012 , Mr. Bain discussed more of his view on learning like that you don 't learn from your experiences, but about thinking about your experience which is a process he called “deep learning”. He also discusses issues with strategic learner who basically only perform for the high grade and don 't ask questions after they get their answer. Many students have this notion that learning is all about getting a high grade and once they have it they are done, But if they do it just for the grade it can cause some serious problems, they won’t learn how to deep learn, and it can maybe affect their career.
The capability of a person varies from each and every one. Some people can grasp easily but for some it may take time to get information to the mind. the learning styles are divided on the abilities of a person, how he grasps, how he understands the subject, is he capable of listening style, doing style or writing or reading style. In an environment were technology and studies have great importance, the way how a person understands things are widely important. The complex manner in which, and conditions under which, learners most efficiently and most effectively perceive, process, store, and recall what they are attempting to learn (James & Gardner, 1995). There are poor learners, quick learners, and theoretical learners. There is no person who can’t learn anything, some might learn theories, some might learn through practices and some learn by seeing what the work is. Through the reflective analysis my passion for learning comes in through reflective style of learning. reflector style of learning is way of learning through reflecting others work in to our practice i.e., we carefully look on to what a professional learner does and get an idea of what he
Gibbs G. Learning by Doing: A Guide to Teaching and Learning Methods. Oxford Further Education Unit, Oxford Polytechnic; 1988.
I found Kolb's (1984) model of experiential learning a useful way to summarize the process if individual learning. The cycle begins when we each experience the world through our senses. Kolb calls this step ‘concreate experience', to indicate that he does not mean the various experiences we have through books or plays, but real-world experiences. Examples of concrete experience could be as varied as sitting through a boring meeting or suffering the distress of losing a job. Kolb suggest that to learn from our experiences we must engage in a second step of consistency reflecting on what has occurred. This step he calls ‘reflective observation'. We are able to reflect on much less than what occurred in the actual experience. Reflection is selective and influenced by our expectations. The third step in the learning cycle is making sense of what we have experience. In other words, ‘abstract conceptualization'. The final step in Kolb's model is ‘active experimentation'. At this step, we test out the meaning that we have constructed by taking action in the world – which then leads to new experiences. Kolb has shown that over time we tend to get more proficient at some steps of the process that at others, thus we develop a learning style preference. Kolb has noted all the steps are necessary, the smallest alteration to any of these steps can make the learning process less
LeFrancois, G. R. (1999) Psychology for Teaching. (10th ed.) University of Alberta Wadsworth: Thomson Learning.
Snowman, J, McGowan, R, & Biehler, R. (2009). Psychology applied to teaching. New York: Houghton Mifflin.
Veale, F. (2013). Early years for Level 4 & 5 and the Foundation Degree. London: Hodder Education.
“A learning style is a way of learning and refers to the way that you learn new information” (2). Most people have one preferred learning style and perform to a lesser standard when learning in a different style than what they’re used to. Nowadays, children are told to take a quiz in school to determine what their preferred learning style is, but after a few years, not many of these children remember what their preferred learning style is, or even if they do, they don’t apply it to their learning.
In closing, implementing only one theory of learning can be limiting to the success of students in a classroom setting. A more effective approach would be “draw from two or more theoretical perspectives… to better capture the complex nature of human thinking and learning” (Ormrod, 2012). According to Howard Gardner, there are multiple intelligences in human individuals that are based on biological and cultural elements (Brualdi, 1996). Since each of the intelligences work independently of each other, but also complement each other individuals learn, teachers should teach accordingly (Brualdi, 1996).
Four decades of psychological research have taught us there is no one right way to learn. Our minds are as unique as our fingerprints. Our ability to learn is not necessarily related to high or low intelligence quotients, but rather a convergence of four important aspects of our perso...
Olson, M. H. & Hergenhahn, B. R. (2013). An introduction to theories of learning. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Lieberman, D. A. (2000). Learning, Behavior and Cognition (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. [Chapter 7]
Thought out our lives, we are faced with many different learning experiences. Some of these experiences have made a better impact than others. This can be attributed to everyone’s different multiple intelligences or learning styles. A persons learning style is the method though which they gain information about their environment. As a teacher, it is our responsibility to know these styles, so we can reach each of our students and use all of the necessary methods.
The first step of being a successful engineer is to have a systematic and efficient learning. It is very important for a student to understand the fundamentals and basic principles of engineering. For me, an expert engineer needs diverse skills and qualities, which will lift them to the higher level. I am now realizing that my approach to learning is not a way it should be. I found that by memorizing and copying out things are helping me to remember notes, but I know that these only just work for a short period. So I have to set out to understand the meaning of what I have to learn instead of concentrate my time repeating things, which are surface approach to learning. Now, w...
In this course I experienced an important change in my beliefs about teaching; I came to understand that there are many different theories and methods that can be tailored to suit the teacher and the needs of the student. The readings, especially those from Lyons, G., Ford, M., & Arthur-Kelly, M. (2011), Groundwater-Smith, S., Ewing, R., & Le Cornu, R. (2007), and Whitton, D., Barker, K., Nosworthy, M., Sinclair, C., Nanlohy, P. (2010), have helped me to understand this in particular. In composing my essay about teaching methods and other themes, my learning was solidified, my knowledge deepened by my research and my writing skills honed.