Learning Styles

In student-centered learning, used in DL courses, instructors understand that every student learner is unique in personality and background. Each student also has a unique way he or she learns best—a unique "learning style." However, despite our individual preferences, any student can learn in all three ways.

 

What Is Your Preference?

1. Visual

   You tend to store memories in picture form. For example you can picture the design of a jet.

   • Most of the information (text, graphics) in today's DL environment is visual. DL tends to be in a format that is easy for visual learners.

2. Auditory

   You tend to store memories as sounds. For example, you can hear a person's voice.

   • Auditory learners may get more from a class that uses videoconferencing or from an online course that adds substantial sound files. Auditory learners also can learn from studying aloud with others.

3. Kinesthetic

   You best remember things you learn through physical activities. For example, you learn about knots by actually tying a knot.

   • Videoconferencing classes where students particpate in in-class exercises (e.g., group exercises) and online courses where students are assigned outside activities (e.g., site visits) will help kinesthetic learners.

TIP: Focus upon your own personal learning style in approaching your material. Sure, everyone will need to read the assignments (visual), but auditory learners can listen to someone talk about the topic or record their OWN notes and listen to them in the car. Kinesthetic learners can create or try activities related to their course.

 

The Trauma of Changing from an Instructor-Centered Course to a Student-Centered Course

Most DL classes shift the responsibility for the learning necessarily from the instructor to the learner. This is true in part simply because the instructor is not present with the student. Some psychologists have suggested that when students are forced to cease passively receiving knowledge and instead take the major responsibility for their own learning, they go through a sort of "grief cycle." Here are the steps of the distance learning grief cycle, illustrated with typical student comments.

1 Shock

"I don’t believe it—we have homework due and our instructor is not even going to go over the material!"

2 Denial

"I know we are supposed to do this team project, but if I just ignore it, it might go away."

3 Emotion

"I'm not going to do all this on my own. I'm going to complain to my instructor’s boss!"

4 Withdrawal

"I'm not going to do this 'busy work.' She can fail me; I don't care."

5 Surrender

"This may be busy work, but if I have to do it, I should go ahead and get started."

6 Exploration

"Other students seem to be doing better than I am. Perhaps I should try some other approaches to these assignments."

7 Confidence

"This is starting to work. I am getting pretty good at these assignments."

8 Success

"YES! I am not sure why I thought this was so difficult. I am learning quite a lot and I like this freedom of learning my own way."