Curriculum

Understanding Your Learning Styles

 

So You Can Understand Others!

 

Learning Styles Defined: Cognitive, affective, and psychological behaviors that indicate how learners perceive, respond to, and interact with the environment.

Goal: By understanding your own Learning Styles you understand how others may be similar or different.

Take these free online Learning Style questionnaires:

Teaching and Learning are flip sides of the same coin. Learning differences help you to understand your own and others’ abilities to process information on bio-psycho-social levels. The following questionnaires are 2 examples of free, open courseware (OCW) that are based on behavioral and cognitive theories of learning. (WARNING: see Pavlov, Freud, Zimbardo, Bandura and others for the necessary un-learning of old theories.)

These inventories are forced choice (a or b) or answered on a Likert scale (1-4) according to how much you agree or disagree with the statement. After completing each test, your “score” will tell you about your learning styles. Dr. Felder provides your data on a continuum and Dr. Gardner uses a graph: two different approaches.

Remember, no test can ever give you a completely accurate picture of your or anyone else’s learning styles or abilities. These tests are NOT perfect but can give you some idea of how you learn and how to influence, teach, and/or communicate with others. If you have time before Saturday, take these 2 tests online and bring the print-outs to the workshop.
1. Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire from the University of North Carolina
Dr. Richard Felder, felder@ncsu.edu

Complete the test, click submit, and then explore the Learning Style explanations.
http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html
2. Howard Gardner’s Theories of Multiple Intelligences
Organized by Alan Chapman, Leicester, England, Business Balls Website
ac@alanchapman.com

Click on the first test (self-calculating) then save to disc and browse the explanations. http://www.businessballs.com/howardgardnermultipleintelligences.htm#multiple%20intelligences%20tests
3. Check out more Online Learning Resources!
Yale University – Academic Earth
http://academicearth.org/subjects/psychology

TED Conferences on YouTube – Technology, Entertainment, & Design
http://conferences.ted.com/TED2009/program/speakers.php

McGill University – The Brain
http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/index_i.html

University of Michigan – What is Psychology?
http://sitemaker.umich.edu/umichpsychclips/introducing_psychology

JOLT – Journal of Online Teaching and Learning
http://jolt.merlot.org/