“How much a given student learns in a class is governed in part by that student’s native ability and prior preparation but also by the compatibility of his or her characteristic approach to learning and the instructor’s characteristic approach to teaching.” (Felder and Henriques, 1995)
While doing this week’s readings this was a sentence that caught my attention. I have always been interested in learning styles and read a lot on the subject, and the above quotation clearly shows that styles are not just about learning, but also about teaching. It’s important to know about our students’ learning styles, but it is also paramount to know what our teaching style is because we will have to work on both if we want to be successful.
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| This is me! |
Reading about the different activities and tools that we can use for each of the learning styles or for combined styles was very important, too. I know it gave me a more complete insight into what I can do for them, it refreshed my mind and my head is now full of ideas I can hardly wait to put into practice.
I must confess that when I saw this week’s topic I thought our task this week would be to plan a lesson where all the styles would be addressed. I even started thinking about what I could do, but fortunately there was no such assignment, which was good as time was scarce with the final report to finish and tests all week. Still, there has been a good deal of sharing going on in the discussion board.
I do feel a bit relieved now that I have uploaded my final report. Maybe I could have worked a bit more on it, but I think I had got to that point of exhaustion: if I read it one more time, I would delete it. I thank my peer-review partners - Natasa and Ricard - for their valuable feedback that helped me improve my work, but I also thank all the others in class and, Robert, of course, because all these discussions have helped us throughout the different stages of deciding and developing our projects. This is quite a nice group!
Hi Luisa,
ReplyDeleteSimilar feeling here with the final report.
Thanks to Ky Nguyen and his comments, I was more confident with my report.
You have done a great job in this class. And you are always the person with brilliant ideas and posts. Understanding our students' learning styles will help us much in adjusting our teaching and also in designing appropriate and relevant assignments and materials for the course.
The
Thank you for your nice words, The!
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed this course very much and whenever I like something I dedicate myself to it. Or maybe this course just appealed to my learning style! :-)
I think we have all worked hard and become better teachers!
Hi Luisa..
ReplyDeleteThis week's discussion on Learning Styles have really helped us to take notice of our learners who possess different learning styles. The reading materials have introduced us to the world of our learners isn't it. We must thank Robert and his team at the University of Oregon!
I have just posted my Final Project Report in the Wiki page. Finally a great relief.. But still there are lots to learn as what we have done now is just a tiny part of the web world. What do you say?
I should thank you who have always come forward to help us with your knowledge of the web world. I had never been so deeply involved with this kind of tasks. But now I feel a new horizon has opened up before me.
Let us be in touch even after the course gets over.
Love,
Nizara
Hi, Nizara.
ReplyDeleteYes, this was just the beginning of a greater adventure. This course has broadened our horizons and we will be able to learn a lot more from now on and do many more different things.
I also hope we'll stay in touch: you have my email address and if you're on facebook, just add me: Luisa Lima. There are always things to share and I'm usually very active there.
After reading the texts this week, and right after reading your post, I have the feeling that one day or another, things will change. We have finally realized that teaching must be different, that if we want to help most of our students, we can't just use one speed on the gear of our teaching car. Multiple intelligences show that WE must change. It's just a matter of time that all teachers take that in and assume the change. That can be achieved if proper training is provided on multiple intelligences, on PBL. on 2.0 tools. It's not only a matter of multiple intelligences, but also of emotional diversity... do all of us take things in in the same way? Do all of us express our emotions in the same way? That is also part of the learning process... and part of the teaching as well!
ReplyDeleteI want to thank you Luisa as well for your crisp posts in your blog and in the discussions, and thanks for your feedback in my project draft. Yours and Natasa's helped me reflect on matters mmore efficiently, and this course was about that as well... about reflection!
Things are changing, Ricard and we are changing, too. Sometimes it's a bit scary to jump into the unknown, but it's also a thrill. I couldn't live without change! The only thing where I want stability is family. That's my background, what I rely on and what lets me be different and crazy sometimes.
ReplyDeleteYes, we are all different and we express ourselves differently. We could see that in our blogs, discussions, assignments, projects, but all those differences only made us learn more. You were a real asset in this group with all your expertise. I'm really glad I once had this idea of enrolling in this programme.
Luisa, thank you for a wonderful post. I love the quotation you started it with. It is so true. Now that I have finished my "obligatory" weekly post, I am going to do a more personal one on my learning styles and I'll try to get some insights of my teaching style.
ReplyDeleteI am grateful to you and Ricard for your revisions of my report as well. I wouldn't have been able to do it without the two of you.
You say the only thing where you want stability is your family and that's another thing we have in common. I am not surprised that you are predominantly linguistic/intrapersonal (so am I), but I am quite impressed by your kinaesthetic intelligence.
Well, Natasa, as I said somewhere before I am very theatrical and that also implies being body-conscious. Although I like to work alone (maybe because I'm bossy and always like to do things my way), I have no problem interacting with others and I like hands-on projects. I need to do things, feel them, experiment...so, don't be surprised.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to your next post!
A comment from Yuliya
ReplyDeleteHi, Luisa!
You have a good eye for details and always point out the most important information. The sentence you have highlighted is of paramount importance as it stresses the combination of four factors that show the way to success. I think that our task as teachers is not only to adapt to each learner’s style but also teach them to acquire techniques which will help them learn in the best possible way. This new age of technology is here to assist us with video and audio materials which address different styles.
Luisa, I see that we are much the same in our styles (probably, most foreign language teachers are !!!)
I felt quite differently about this week’s task. The only way to see how technology works in addressing learning styles for me was to put it into practice. I am not that good with theory, I am more practice-oriented. Now I can say that it is challenging to build a lesson in such a way. Though it realy pays. What I wish is to have more time to plan such lessons, in my context it is just a dream (with 8-9 classes a day it doesn’t seem to be possible)
Luisa, thank you for your compliment to all of us! I am here with you sharing the idea that our group is the BEST. And our instructor, Robert, play a great role in our being so fantastic!
Yuliya