Aah ha

This video was shared a couple times during the discussion forums.  Tesia Marshik discusses learning styles and how for years we have bought into having to teach to these learning styles because it is the best way for the student to learn.  Well this is not true, learning styles are a myth. 

Tesia you had me at "olfactory learning" during a Math class!  Discovering this knowledge has become one of my biggest Aah ha moments in this program and taught me valuable lesson when I am thinking about anything and creating beliefs.  I must ask myself does this make sense, what evidence is there, does it create harm and is the information coming from a credible source. 


Learning styles & the importance of critical self-reflection | Tesia Marshik | TEDxUWLaCrosse

I now view learning styles (audio, visual, kinetic) as instructional tools.  Whatever tool I do use will be the best means for delivering the course content, rather than trying to form lessons based on the students preferred learning method.  Learning will be enhanced by varying the multiple modes of delivery, by keeping lessons fresh, increasing student engagement and maximizing understanding. I am committed to using activities that take my students past surface learning to a deeper level, where the real learning is.

Learning styles

There has been some debate whether learning styles are relevant or not.  Learning styles are common learning behaviors grouped together and of course not all persons learn the same so these behavior groups help educators to develop lessons that incorporate at least a few of these learning preferences into their lesson plans. After doing more research, I have come to realise that learning styles are a myth.  They are not as a method to which I must instruct for or towards, but sensory pathways to help students make connections or find meaning to the content or material they are receiving.  I will use sensory instructional strategies that best fits the course content I am delivering.  By doing this I hope to engage students, present more creative and diverse lessons which ultimately will help students learn more efficiently and effectively. 

Maryellen Weimer, (2014), suggests

“The most powerful message of the learning styles movement is that content must be delivered in different ways.  Moreover, variation in instructional methods develops a broad range of learning skills. Students may have a learning preference, but that is not the only way they can learn, nor should it be the only way they are taught.”

Weimer, M. (2104). What’s the Story on Learning Styles? Retrieved from: http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/learning-styles/whats-story-learning-styles/