Dawn Duffin of NLN will deliver a webinar on the topic of Learning Syles.
A SIF funded project on learning styles allowed students and lecturers to examine their learning and teaching styles and to apply that knowledge to the process of learning and teaching. Some of the results and conclusions drawn from the project are really interesting and innovative. This presentation will look at the rationale for a Learning Styles approach and provide some tips and tools to get you started on how it may benefit you.
Dawn Duffin is Head of Learning and Assessment Services, National Learning Network. Having held a variety of posts she is now a member of the Senior Management Team and leads the Department of Learning and Assessment Services. As a former teacher with special needs responsibilities, she is an advocate of inclusive education at all levels of society. The Department of Learning and Assessment Services provides training, CPD, Pscyhological Assessment and a comprehensive range of support services within the Rehab Group and in a number of partnerships and projects with mainstream education providers such as CDVEC and the Institute of Technology Blanchardstown. Having completed a Masters in Theoretical Linguistics in 1998, Dawn is currently undertaking doctoral research on inclusive education.
For more information and registration on this webinar and others in the series go to:
http://www.eventbrite.com/org/
We would encourage you to post comment or questions on this blog, before or after the event.
Recording now available at: http://connect.itsligo.ie/p43471290/
Slides are available here.
I'm interested in the seminar but sceptical about learning styles...
ReplyDeleteFrank Coffield and colleagues identified 71 models of learning styles. They considered 13 to be significant (widely referenced in the literature). Models compare different opposites eg. convergers vs divergers, holists vs serialists, activists vs reflectors and many more. There is little agreement as to how learning styles should be me measured or how they should affect teaching practice. There is a risk of stereotyping learners
Coffield et al (2004) Learning styles and pedagogy in post-16 learning - A systematic and critical review, London, Learning and Skills Research Centre. Online at http://www.hull.ac.uk/php/edskas/learning%20styles.pdf
Hi Dawn,
ReplyDeleteVery interesting session- I'd agree that the VARK model is useful in considering different types of learners- and having just watched a session on posters, I can see a number of parallels with some of the images you have used and the ideas about poster design...
I do not agree with the idea of stereotyping learners, but think that the idea of learning styles is useful in understanding how people learn differently (loved the image of all the animals btw) and force us to consider, as educators, different and more creative ways of communicating ideas, theories, or other forms of knowledge.
I often remember phone numbers by the patterns they make on the keypad (sometimes greek characters I learned when I studied electronics- my wife thought I was a bit weird) or recall tunes on the guitar by letting my fingers remember when I cannot consciously think of the notes, and I will often remember the images used in a MM more than the words... similarly songs elicit memories of certain times in my life, or smells remind me of people, places I've been to.
Would it be possible to access more of the problem solving slides? Problem solving and creativity training are topics I have a great interest in...
Loved the MMs for Law- I did the same the last time I delivered a course on Law, and I got the students to make them as well- another thing I got them to do was a storyboard like a comic, showing the main points of case studies... each got a different piece of case law and then I copied all the "cartoons" and the class had a lot of these to hand for revising- made otherwise "boring reading" more interesting and easier to recall.
Thanks once again,
Sean Rattigan.
Dear Niall and Sean,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your comments. I too am deeply sceptical about any attempt to stereotype learners through learning style asseessments and definately do not see learning styles as a magic wand. I did intimate this right at the beginning of my presentation where I showed that the approach we use is related to the naturally occurring diversity in cognitive processing found accross student populations. What I did intimate is that the VARK contains elements that can be linked to cognition and they provide a useful tool to support students in terms of their own ability to reflect on how they operate in the learning environment, understand more of what learning is and identify their own weaknesses and strengths. Personally I dont think think it matters a scrap what tool you use so long as it is inclusive, treats everyone authentically and makes sure that students know they are describing their perceptions and not taking a test. The objective is to set the scene for the current lifelong learning initiaitive for the student and to enhance the abilities of the lecturer to meet the needs of those students. It is hard in fifty minutes to show all sides of the argument and the focus here was to describe some work that had occurred that was really beneficial to both students and lecturers. I hope that these comments go some way to addressing the points you raise. Kind regards Dawn