Annotated Bibliography On Learning Theories

In school everyone learns differently; however, according to the article The Myth of Learning Styles, “The idea of learning styles is based on a theory… developed in the early 1980’s.” (pg 1.) A lot has certainly changed from the 1980’s as we learn new more material in every class we take. With this being said, someone the scientists referred to in the article “assumed” that learning styles challenged the way of the educational system when in reality, it is simply a myth. Students, like myself, only prefer to process information that they find useful or interesting to him or her. Thus giving us the problems of that teachers may take too long to cover one idea, and students may miss out out on information because he or she did not prefer that learning style.

Being aware of learning style is beneficial for individuals in both teaching and learning roles. By knowing personal strengths and preferences, the learner is able to devise ways to augment and tailor the way in which information is received and processed regardless of the way it is presented. With that being said, those that are in teaching positions must make the realization that not everyone learns in the same manner. Being aware of this will lead the teacher to discover new ways to present information in a way that will address the needs of all members of the class. If all parties involved are knowledgeable of prominent styles within a group; the teaching learning environment can be much more effective.

Understanding learning styles can help in the development of self-learning and influence the teaching strategies that may be used in helping others understand new matter. For example, when teaching the VARK learning style having the learner complete the VARK questionnaire so that they can develop an understanding of how they learn would be great. In the real world life application, it completing a learning styles assessment is just not practical. It is the responsibility of the teacher to develop multimodal ways to deliver information. It would include something like a lecture with a handout in a possible power point format that include diagrams of how the information may be applied and complete it with a discussion to cement the information. The lecture appeals to the aural learner. The power point aids the reader along with the visual learners. How to apply the information stimulates the kinesthetic learner and the completion with an open discussion cements the information and gives the aural learner a chance to

“Just as students have different personalities, they also have different ways of learing (Slavin, 107).” Learning styles are another important factor to incorporate when implementing the best learning environment. Learning styles are defined as an individual's mode of gaining knowledge. The most common learning styles addressed are auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. Auditory leaners understand information through hearing. Visual learners need more visual aids in the learning process, such as diagrams, webs, or pictures. Kinesthetic learners learn better by using manipulatives or by being physically involved in the learning process. Learning styles is a piece of the “backbone” of differentiated learning. Both are used to individualize instruction to help students achieve the most success.

It is important for a classroom teacher to set behavior goals for his or her students. Behavior goals should be directly related to the classroom management plan. Students should be expected to treat their peers and teachers with respect, show respect for classroom property, are kind and courteous in all speech and actions, work diligently to accomplish assigned tasks, and demonstrate self-respect and honesty. Establishing clear and consistent goals for the operation of the classroom helps to provide an atmosphere that is conducive to learning and lends itself to alleviating opportunities for misbehavior. As a teacher I will work to provide my students with positive goals for appropriate behavior. I will also clearly define the consequences for misbehavior so that students understand fully the repercussions for failing to act in accordance with the guidelines outlined in the classroom management plan.

Another key feature of high quality teaching is the teachers ability to adapt to the different style of learners which they have in their class. Koshy, Ernest & Casey (2000) carried out an interesting piece of research which investigated the retention of learning when different teaching strategies were used. The results findings were very interesting, 5% of a maths class retained information when presented in a formal lecture, 10% retained information when the same words were read, 20% retained information when the teacher used audio-visual aids, 30% of the class retained the information when a practical demonstration was carried out, 50% retained the information when they were challenged to

The topic under discussion within this paper is that of learning styles and how each individual has a dominant way of learning. There are many types of ,learning styles which are being discussed throughtout the paper and the succussfulness of these theories. There is also a reflective account to the learning styles presentation and how effective this was within a group, presented through kolbs learning style cycle.

There is nothing like working hard and being rewarded for it, my father would say to me every day before I left for work to my first job. I was a Ticketing Cashier at a popular tourist attraction where hundreds of thousands would attend every year. This was my first opportunity to earn my own pay check, so I valued every dollar and cent. The highlight of my position was having the opportunity to meet new people from all over the world, and earn incentives for the upselling of tickets and exceeding customer standards.

Learning is a multifaceted perception unique to each individual. In looking to address the intricacies of learning, there have been a multitude of learning theories established over the centuries. To this day new theories are developed and traditional theories continue to be developed and expanded upon. (Swinburne Online, 2016)

“Since a learning style is an effective and efficient modality in which a learner has a natural preference to perceive, process, store and recall new information, necessitates a shift from the traditional large- group teacher- centric lecture method to an interactive, small group student- centric approach incorporating various teaching-learning strategies. Since students possess a wide diversity in learning styles, teachers should combine different educational strategies to meet the varied learning preference of students”(Prithishkumar, 2014). Teachers knowing the learning styles of their students can help them to plan the appropriate lessons necessary for learning. Students on the other hand, being aware of their learning styles that work best for them will definitely give them the courage use that strategy to be successful

Benjamin Bloom, an instructor and university examiner for the Board of Examinations at the University of Chicago, proposed his Mastery Learning Theory in 1976 (1). However, the idea of mastery learning was not authentic to Bloom; the origin of these concepts were found in the writings of Greek philosophers including Aristotle. Bloom’s major contribution to these principles is time as the foundation of mastery learning is the ability for the student to show they have mastered content before progressing to the next unit or area (2). Bloom’s Taxonomy, born from the Mastery of Learning Theory, is a scale used to measure levels of expertise required to achieve a certain outcome; an instructor can quickly evaluate each student’s level of understanding during a lesson. The idea is to give each student the time too show skill in each level of learning, therefore, mastering the lesson. The lesson is broken down into these levels, each building on the last. There have been many contributors to the mastery learning theory and an entire paper could be written solely to list those people and their contributions. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the theory by demonstrating Bloom’s Taxonomy and how it’s use maximizes student learning.

In fact, I realized, as I continued to read, my teachers did a lot of modeling and demonstrations on completing a task. In addition, they had the ability to adjust learning to their students learning need and style, even though learning styles were not part of the system yet (Hamond et al., n.d.). Therefore, much of my teaching mimics how I learned from those teachers. I believe in guiding my students toward discovery on their own; therefore, my lessons were thought out, so they encompassed each student’s learning style. I taught 6th-grade social studies, not an exhilarating course to garner excitement.

2. Learning is Relearning- the concept is to motivate students to speak their minds, express their thinking, and discuss their learning experiences as a way of refining their skills The main goal of this principle is to lay down a foundation of knowledge that can be continuously improved

A good teacher is one who knows her students and her students’ needs. The students are the reason that the teacher is there. Classrooms are filled with students from differing backgrounds and families. As a teacher, one should know her students by talking with them, asking them questions, learning their likes and dislikes and making them feel safe and comfortable in the classroom. The classroom should be a safe haven for students where the teacher creates an atmosphere where students feel comfortable in being themselves and expressing their opinions.

In the mid of the twentieth century, considerable interest was given to education and the quality of teaching and learning. Many educationists attempted to promote learning through developing a set of invaluable strategies in order to help the learners to improve their educational level of achievement. By the 1970s, the importance of analysing the learning process in education was pervasive even in other fields. Therefore, scholars including psychologists had their forethoughts about improving the educational field. Thus, they posited that they should include the possibly-available styles and forms occurring during the learning process to create a pathway for the learners within their skills and abilities. In other words, learning was more correlated with intrinsic abilities. To further illustrate the idea, learning styles aim at adopting the teaching adjustments to suit and meet the learners’ needs and wants. Whilst the revolutionary introduction of the learning styles into the debate about teaching and learning aroused trepidation among educationists and some of the parties concerned with such educational issues -since the interest in the learning process has always been and remains a substantive subject-, the idea of improving education was embodied in a new term which is learning styles. The term was coined by Dune and Dune(2010) . The latter refers to the belief that students learn differently from one another. Meanwhile, there are who criticized learning styles.