Learning Styles

Presentation by: Britta, Brittany, Freeland, Kathryn

and Kelly

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQYW6vYSGXs)
 David Kolb
Social Psychologist who developed ...

● Experiential Learning Theory (1984)

● Learning Style Inventory

Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory
Determining a Learning Style
 Three Learning Styles
Visual

Auditory

Kinesthetic
Visual
Auditory
Kinesthetic
 Culture and Learning Styles
Different cultures have distinct learning styles based on experiences and values

Classrooms typically support learning styles that are based on the Caucasian
American Culture

Examples of Mexican American, African American, Asian American and Native

American culture, values, and learning styles

Educators can view these learning styles as inherent problems to the student

Students are then perceived as oppositional, defiant, inattentive and

under motivated…

THIS IS NOT THE CASE!

 Supporting students to identify with their learning style or styles

Collaboration with students who struggle to connect with traditional teaching molds.
With the goal of developing effective methods to address their individual learning styles.

Helping students discover tools they can use when their less desired learning style is
being used.

Aiding students in understanding their weaknesses, but also their strengths.

By focusing on strengths it gives empowerment to the child.
 The Challenge
Making students accountable for their own learning.
x“But I’m not good at it!”
x “I don’t like my teacher”
x “My teacher doesn’t like me”
Giving students the accountability of both their success and failures, instead of placing
blame on perceived inadequacies.
What happens if a student’s learning styles are not being met?
Being labeled as ADD/ADHD, Inability to focus, Acts out,
Academic achievement suffers, Student drops out
 Accommodating Differences
Teachers have a difficult job of balancing such a diverse group of learning styles.
Determining the importance of what can be taught effectively to the whole group, and
what needs to be taught individually.
Learners do not all fit into one category, so what is the most effective way to teach within
overcrowded classes?
Adaptations Accommodations Diverse use of strategies

‘We do not have evidence of one best way to teach, just as we don't know of
one best way to learn.’
 Game Time: PicCharaTaboo!
● We’ve split you into three teams
● Each team is racing the others in their own challenge game
● We’ll distribute a subject at the start of each round
● One person knows the subject and presents it in the style of the team game to
their teammates, who try to guess the subject
● First team to guess the subject wins the round
 Reference List
Guild, P. B. (2010, October). Diversity, Learning Style and Culture. Retrieved from http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/strategies/topics/Learning

Styles/diversity.html

Hispanic-American Students and Learning Style. ERIC Digest. (n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2016, from

http://www.ericdigests.org/1996-4/hispanic.htm

Interest, B. S. (n.d.). Asian-American Children: What Teachers Should Know. Retrieved September 18, 2016, from

http://searcheric.org/digests/ed369577.html

Kolb, D.A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall

Manolis, C., Burns, D.J., Assudani, R., & Chinta, R. (2013). Assessing experiential learning styles: A methodological reconstruction and validation of

the Kolb learning style inventory. Learning and Individual Differences, 23(1) 44-52. Retrieved from http://www.elsevier.com/locate/lindif

Schools on Wheels. (2010). What’s your learning style?. Retrieved from http://www.schoolonwheels.org/pdfs/3121/Learning-Styles.pdf

The culture/learning style connection (n.d). Retrieved September 18, 2016, from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educationalleadership

/may94/vol51/num08/Th-Culture~Learning-Style-Connection.aspx