Learning and Teaching Styles
In the last section on SEN, we talked about individual differences and how each student with an SEN condition will have their own unique combinations of certain symptoms. But why stop there? Surely not just all SEN learners, but all students everywhere are individual and unique? Shouldn't we have ways of finding out what works best for each individual, in order to make their learning as effective as possible? These ideas are the basis for the study of learning and teaching styles.
The 'myth' of learning styles
This point is really too important to be buried in an evaluation section halfway down the page, so I'm putting it at the top:
Although learning styles are widely accepted and used in education (and although many companies make a lot of money promoting ways that schools can 'identify' and cater for a child's learning style), in many scientific circles it is felt that learning styles do not exist! Paschler et al (2010) reviewed the experiments on learning styles and found no evidence that they improved the learning of students. Read this article and watch the video below for more.
Although learning styles are widely accepted and used in education (and although many companies make a lot of money promoting ways that schools can 'identify' and cater for a child's learning style), in many scientific circles it is felt that learning styles do not exist! Paschler et al (2010) reviewed the experiments on learning styles and found no evidence that they improved the learning of students. Read this article and watch the video below for more.
What does the evidence say about learning styles?What is true and what is false?
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So what can we say about theories of learning styles...?Here are some tips on identifying the more successful theories of learning styles. The better theories...:
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... and what should teachers do about it?Just because there isn't evidence that teaching to learning styles is effective, that doesn't mean that teachers should treat everyone the same, or use only one type of teaching in their lessons.
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Bullet point 1 - Learning and Teaching Styles
• learning styles and teaching styles
Learning styles: the onion model (Curry, 1983); Grasha’s (1996) six styles of learning.
Teaching styles: formal and informal styles (Bennett, 1976); high-initiative and low-initiative (Fontana, 1995)
Learning styles: the onion model (Curry, 1983); Grasha’s (1996) six styles of learning.
Teaching styles: formal and informal styles (Bennett, 1976); high-initiative and low-initiative (Fontana, 1995)
The Onion Model (Curry, 1983)
Curry's model compares our learning styles to an onion, suggesting that there are a number of layers involved.
Outer layer refers to instructional preference. Of course the student has little control at this level. This level is likely to change most frequently.
The middle layer is the informational processing style. This concerns the various strategies the student uses to process information. The student has more control here.
The inner layer is the cognitive personality style. This is the underlying approach to thinking that the student uses. Approaches include being divergent or convergent in your thinking. Being extrovert/introvert, intuitive/sensing, thinking/feeling, judging/perceiving are other examples; these are derived from the Myers-Briggs Type Indicators. This layer is supposed to be the most stable - personality is not supposed to change regularly.
Outer layer refers to instructional preference. Of course the student has little control at this level. This level is likely to change most frequently.
The middle layer is the informational processing style. This concerns the various strategies the student uses to process information. The student has more control here.
The inner layer is the cognitive personality style. This is the underlying approach to thinking that the student uses. Approaches include being divergent or convergent in your thinking. Being extrovert/introvert, intuitive/sensing, thinking/feeling, judging/perceiving are other examples; these are derived from the Myers-Briggs Type Indicators. This layer is supposed to be the most stable - personality is not supposed to change regularly.
Grasha's six styles of learning
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Evaluation
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Perhaps a more effective way of finding out about teaching and learning styles is to try to measure them objectively... (see next bullet point)
Teaching styles
Bennett's (1976) formal and informal styles
Formal teaching styleThe video above is a good example of a formal classroom (in Malaysia!) The teacher is in charge of the lesson, choosing what to teach, how to teach it and so on.
What do you think are the pros and cons of such a teaching style? |
Informal teaching styleAn informal style is the contrary position to a formal style. It involves greater input from the students into the lessons.
N.B. it is important to remember that informal is not the same as 'disorganised'. Informal lessons often have to be very carefully planned and prepared, in fact more so than formal lessons, if they are to be successful.
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Which approach do you think is better? Which have you had most experience of in your school life so far? Bennett (1976) found in his research that in most cases (although not always) a formal teaching style led to the best exam results.
Fontana's (1995) high-initiative and low-initiative teaching style
An alternative way of categorising teaching styles comes from Fontana (1995), who divided teaching into high- and low-initiative styles. This is different from Bennett's classification above. High-initiative teachers could have either formal or informal style lessons, for example. Look at the table below of examples of the characteristics of high-initiative teachers (the characteristics of low-initiative teachers will be the opposite), and for each row in the table think of at least one specific example of what a teacher could do in their lesson.
Assignment 1 - Complete the table
Look at the table below of examples of the characteristics of high-initiative teachers (the characteristics of low-initiative teachers will be the opposite), and for each row in the table think of at least one specific example of what a teacher could do in their lesson.
Bullet point 2 - Measuring learning and teaching styles
• measuring learning styles and teaching styles
Learning: Approaches to Study Inventory (ASI) (Entwistle, 1981), Kolb's (1976) learning styles.
Teaching: teacher-centred and student-centred styles (Kyriacou and Williams, 1993);
Learning: Approaches to Study Inventory (ASI) (Entwistle, 1981), Kolb's (1976) learning styles.
Teaching: teacher-centred and student-centred styles (Kyriacou and Williams, 1993);
Approaches to Study Inventory (Entwistle, 1981)
The 'Chinese Student Paradox'Traditionally, Chinese education relied on the rote (word for word) memorisation of large amounts of information. This was in contrast to the approaches used in Western universities, which tried to encourage a deeper understanding of the material. In the terms of the ASI, Chinese education used a 'reproducing' orientation, whereas Western universities used a 'meaning ' orientation (see the box to the right).
This made people suspect that Chinese students would not do well in Western universities, but this was found not to be the case. Entwistle et al (1983) identified a third approach - an achieving (or strategic) orientation - which describes "an intention to achieve the highest possible grades through effort and well-organised studying"; using a combination of deep and surface approaches. A fourth, non-achieving orientation was later added as the opposite of the achieving orientation. Entwistle's inventory consists of a series of questions, where the answers can be grouped together to form a set of scores. These scores will help to show the person's preferences for a certain orientation to learning. Have a go at an adapted version of the ASI below. Which approach do you prefer?
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Entwistle's four orientations
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Kolb's (1976) Learning Styles
David Kolb produced another way of categorising and measuring learning styles through his Learning Styles Inventory.
Participants answer a series of questions which give them scores in each of four areas (the four quadrants in the diagram to the left). According to Kolb:
Kolb felt that we all had a preferred style, but that we could learn to use other styles and that relying just on one style could be harmful.
Participants answer a series of questions which give them scores in each of four areas (the four quadrants in the diagram to the left). According to Kolb:
- Divergers are good at generating ideas, tend to be more "people oriented", and are usually more emotional.
- Convergers are strong in practical application of ideas, can focus on hypo-deductive reasoning on specific problems, and are believed to have narrow interests.
- Assimilators tend to be less interested in people and more interested in concepts. They are strong at creating theoretical models and excel in inductive reasoning.
- Accommodators are intuitive. Their greatest strength is doing things, they take risks and they perform well when required to react to immediate circumstances.
Kolb felt that we all had a preferred style, but that we could learn to use other styles and that relying just on one style could be harmful.
Research Evidence - Koob and Funk (2002)The brilliantly named Koob and Funk (see the 'Extension' section below) reviewed studies into the LSI and found a lack of test-retest reliability (especially on earlier versions of the inventory), poor construct validity and a lack of research support for the model.
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Measuring teaching styles - Kyriacou and Wilkins (1993) teacher-centred and student-centred styles
Kyriacou and Wilkins (1993) wanted to find out if teaching methods had changed over time in the UK. This required the ability to measure teaching styles in a quantitative manner, so that a comparison could be made.
To do this, a semantic differential scale was created to assess how teacher-centred or student-centred teaching styles were (see the box on the left for more info on semantic differential scales. Teacher-centred styles are the same as what Bennett (1976) would term a formal teaching style. Student-centred styles would be classed as informal. Assignment 2 - design your own semantic differential scaleCreate a semantic differential scale designed to measure whether lessons are teacher-centred or student-centred. It should not feature any of the examples from the book chapter! Make up at least 10 questions of your own, and put them together in a questionnaire format.
Submit your questionnaire through the form on the home page. |
Semantic differential scalesThe semantic differential is a scale used for measuring the meaning of things and concepts.
The scale is set up using polar adjectives (opposite-meaning terms) at each end. The respondent needs to decide where between the two ends they fall. For example: |
General criticisms of theories teaching and learning styles
- Should we label?
- Can people really be sorted so easily into categories?
- Learning styles are not fixed
- We may give different results on different tests
- May not exist!!
Work saving alert!! Think like a psychologist!Many of the problems given above are not just problems with measuring teaching and learning styles, they are problems with measuring ANYTHING!
This means that you can use the same evaluative points in a number of different places, wherever the issue of measurement occurs
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Assignment 3 - test your memoryRe-read this section and your notes, then complete the following section C, 6 mark question from memory. Write about half a page.
3a) Describe one way in which a learning or teaching style may be measured (6) |
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Bullet point 3 - Improving learning effectiveness (study skills)
• improving learning effectiveness (study skills)
The 4-mat system (McCarthy, 1990); PQRST method: learning from textbooks; Strategies for effective learning and thinking (SPELT) Mulcahy et al. (1986)
The 4-mat system (McCarthy, 1990); PQRST method: learning from textbooks; Strategies for effective learning and thinking (SPELT) Mulcahy et al. (1986)
Study skills can be defined as techniques that are used to maximise learning effectiveness. The examples in this section look at some of these. The 4MAT system is mainly aimed at teachers as an aid to designing and planning lessons, the PQRST method is for students themselves to use, and the SPELT technique requires a combination of both teacher and student.
McCarthy's (1990) 4MAT system
The 4MAT system is designed to ensure that every student is exposed to their preferred learning style at some point in the study of a certain topic.
It is a system of lesson planning, meaning that teachers give students a large role in preparing lessons on a certain topic. See here for more. The system is based on Kolb's LSI - the four quadrants cover the same areas as Kolb's diagram above. The four sections are called motivation, concept development, practice and application. Each of these will be best suited to different learning styles, but if the cycle if followed completely, then every student will experience the information as they prefer it (in theory!) The model is based on the idea that some learners are 'right-brained' and some are 'left-brained' and that people with different dominant sides of the brain will learn differently. Possible evaluation points for the model below:
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Assignment 4 - Use 4MAT to revise what we've done so far...Use the 4MAT system to plan a lesson or series of lessons that revise the topic of 'Special Educational Needs'. Write in into the lesson plan here.
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PQRST for learning from textbooks
PQRST is an easy to understand 5 stage system for learning information from textbooks.
Positive Evaluation PQRST and similar critical reading methods are supported by experimental evidence, as they have been shown to improve learning in a variety of subjects. Try it out... Assignment 5Use PQRST to review the book chapter you have on 'Approaches to Education'. Make sure you are able to show me some of the questions you set yourself before you started reading...
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The stages of PQRST...
When used properly, this system takes advantage of the 'testing effect'. See the 'Revision Tips and Tricks' page for more on this powerful learning tool. |
SPELT for 'metacognition' - learning to learn
'Metacognition' means "thinking about thinking", so metacognitive strategies are ones that are designed to make children think about what and how they are learning, with the aim of making them understand how they learn effectively. Mulcahey et al (1986) designed one such strategy: Strategies Program for Effective Learning and Thinking (SPELT)
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Lefrancois (1997) found that the SPELT programme produced "very positive" improvements in learning. This was particularly noticeable for students with learning difficulties, but improvements also occurred in a range of other students. This was in a project involving 900 children, so it was a large and varied sample.
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Metacognition is now a well established and widely used teaching tool. If a teacher has ever asked you "how did you come to that conclusion?", then they have been attempting to force some metacognition out of you!
The video on the right is a good example of the use of metacognition in the classroom, in this case to teach reading. The teacher SERIOUSLY loves using the word metacognition, but the effect is very impressive. Look around your classrooms next time you're in school. What cues/strategies can you see displayed to encourage metacognition? Do the same for your workspace at home... have you got helpful tips and tricks prominently displayed? If not... maybe you should start! |
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Assignment 6 - creating a metacognitive paradise of a study area!
This could well be the most useful homework you do all year. Spend an hour or so thinking about and listing all of the strategies that you need for success in your exams. For example, remind yourself of the key words and phrases used by your subject, the assessment criteria used in the exams, the methods you have been taught by your teachers to answer questions, or any other tips and tricks that you have been given.
Pick out the most important ones in your list, and create a display (or displays) that you will put up by your personal workspace at home. Take a photo of your newly metacognition-ized work area and tweet/facebook/email it to me.
Pick out the most important ones in your list, and create a display (or displays) that you will put up by your personal workspace at home. Take a photo of your newly metacognition-ized work area and tweet/facebook/email it to me.
End of section essay writing exercise - section B
Here, have a go at both parts of a section B question on teaching and learning styles.
2 a) Describe what psychologists have discovered about teaching and or learning styles. [8]
2 b) Evaluate what psychologists have discovered about teaching and or learning styles and include a discussion of testing methods. [12]
First read this document, which covers the skills that we want you to learn when approaching these questions. In summary, you need to try to mention a range of information in question a), so try to mention things from all three bullet points in the specification (so here, something from each of the three approaches). This seems odd here as 'study skills' doesn't seem to fit as well as the other two sections, but you should still include reference to all three parts.
For the question b), try to evaluate using issues and debates (same ones as from AS level). On this page, issues such as reductionism, determinism, ethics, data collection methods, scientific-ness, objectivity and other have been mentioned. Use these in your evaluations! Remember to use a PEE format if you find it helpful.
One final point. Make sure you answer the specific question asked! The 2 b) question will always have a little extra requirement in it, where it will ask you to focus your discussion on one specific area or issue. Here is it 'testing methods', which just means the methods used to measure learning and teaching styles, so there is plenty to say. At least a paragraph should consequently be devoted to evaluating ways of measuring teaching and learning styles.
Generic mark schemes are given below. Read them carefully before you start writing and make sure your essays fulfill all the requirements. Please submit your essays through the form on the home page.
2 a) Describe what psychologists have discovered about teaching and or learning styles. [8]
2 b) Evaluate what psychologists have discovered about teaching and or learning styles and include a discussion of testing methods. [12]
First read this document, which covers the skills that we want you to learn when approaching these questions. In summary, you need to try to mention a range of information in question a), so try to mention things from all three bullet points in the specification (so here, something from each of the three approaches). This seems odd here as 'study skills' doesn't seem to fit as well as the other two sections, but you should still include reference to all three parts.
For the question b), try to evaluate using issues and debates (same ones as from AS level). On this page, issues such as reductionism, determinism, ethics, data collection methods, scientific-ness, objectivity and other have been mentioned. Use these in your evaluations! Remember to use a PEE format if you find it helpful.
One final point. Make sure you answer the specific question asked! The 2 b) question will always have a little extra requirement in it, where it will ask you to focus your discussion on one specific area or issue. Here is it 'testing methods', which just means the methods used to measure learning and teaching styles, so there is plenty to say. At least a paragraph should consequently be devoted to evaluating ways of measuring teaching and learning styles.
Generic mark schemes are given below. Read them carefully before you start writing and make sure your essays fulfill all the requirements. Please submit your essays through the form on the home page.
Section C practice question
As you may already know, Section C requires you to answer 1 question from a choice of 2. The questions will ask you to apply what you know to a new scenario or area. It has two parts; one 6 mark recall question and one 8 mark application question.
For example, answer one of these two questions:
3 There are a number of ways that the effectiveness of a student's learning can be improved.
a) Describe a study skill of your choice. [6]
b) Suggest how you could use this study skill to help students learn mathematics. (8)
4 Students have many different learning styles and a number of explanations have been proposed along with ways of testing such learning styles.
(a) Outline Grasha’s six styles of learning. [6]
(b) Suggest how you would conduct a study to compare Grasha’s styles with an alternative explanation of learning styles. [8]
The first question in both cases is a straightforward recall question. This is the longest question you will get which could focus on just a single theory. You need to write about half a page, so a simple revision check is to make sure that you can write half a page of description about every idea/theory/study that is specifically mentioned in the specification.
The second question allows you to be creative. There is no single right answer. All you have to do is give practical and specific ideas for how you might implement the theory (or theories) you have described in the first question into the scenario they give you. About a page should be a good length.
In the first question you have to suggest how you would use a study skill to teach science, for example using SPELT to learn key vocabulary. In the second, you need to suggest a way of measuring or otherwise comparing two different theories.
Have a go at one of the questions above. Please submit your essays through the form on the home page.
For example, answer one of these two questions:
3 There are a number of ways that the effectiveness of a student's learning can be improved.
a) Describe a study skill of your choice. [6]
b) Suggest how you could use this study skill to help students learn mathematics. (8)
4 Students have many different learning styles and a number of explanations have been proposed along with ways of testing such learning styles.
(a) Outline Grasha’s six styles of learning. [6]
(b) Suggest how you would conduct a study to compare Grasha’s styles with an alternative explanation of learning styles. [8]
The first question in both cases is a straightforward recall question. This is the longest question you will get which could focus on just a single theory. You need to write about half a page, so a simple revision check is to make sure that you can write half a page of description about every idea/theory/study that is specifically mentioned in the specification.
The second question allows you to be creative. There is no single right answer. All you have to do is give practical and specific ideas for how you might implement the theory (or theories) you have described in the first question into the scenario they give you. About a page should be a good length.
In the first question you have to suggest how you would use a study skill to teach science, for example using SPELT to learn key vocabulary. In the second, you need to suggest a way of measuring or otherwise comparing two different theories.
Have a go at one of the questions above. Please submit your essays through the form on the home page.
Revision
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ExtensionScientific criticism (AKA 'Science burn')See this article for a detailed and strongly argued criticism of the use of Kolb's LSI. This is a great example of scientific criticism, using large amounts of evidence and other research to assess the quality of the claims made by the LSI.
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