Learning Styles Analysis

    When determining students’ individual learning styles and assessing how students learn best, it is also important to consider how to gather, interpret, differentiate, and implement this student data. Following the completion of the learning styles inventory with 3 of my students, I had an opportunity to reflect on the impact of students learning styles, their individual learning needs, how these are interconnected to the students’ cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical development, how their learning styles influence instructional planning, and the importance of addressing learning styles when developing and implementing assessments for the students.

            K.R., A.R., and A.I.’s learning styles inventory results were further analyzed to find commonalities and differences in how they learn best. From the student data, I was able to analyze how their learning styles may be interconnected to their cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical development. Research has conveyed that “[learning] styles are determined by the way they [students] internalize their total environment, and since that internalization process is not strictly cognitive, we find that physical, affective, and cognitive domains merge in learning styles” (AL-Roomy, 2023, p. 206).  From this information and the students’ data results, I was able to find connections and differences in their funds of knowledge, cultural norms and values, if they have an IEP, their social-emotional needs according to behavior exhibited in the classroom, or information parents have shared with me, the students’ patterns of communication, and how they advocate for themselves, as well as their academic progress.

            Taking into consideration the learning styles of each of these students, I can use these results to influence my teaching practices and my instructional planning to enhance the students’ engagement and motivation to learn. “Pinpointing how a child learns best can dramatically affect their ability to connect with the topics you’re teaching, as well as how they participate with the rest of the class” (Malvik, 2020, para. 14). Based on the inventory results, my teaching observations during whole group and small group instruction, as well as the students’ individual performance data, I was able to assess that K.R., A.R., and A.I. are predominately a combination of visual and kinesthetic learners and K.R. and A.R.’s results demonstrated that they are also sometimes a bit of auditory learners. Considering the student data, I will ensure that I am more inclusive in my teaching practices and how I plan to meet the diverse learning styles of my students. For example, to meet the needs of my visual learners I will be mindful of incorporating the use of student whiteboards and dry erasers during math lessons so that the students can actively practice what we are learning and visually engage with the content. For my kinesthetic learners, I will ensure that I implement a lot of Total Physical Response (TPR) opportunities into lessons, such as counting to 100 while dancing. An instructional strategy that I plan to incorporate in my teaching practices to enhance my auditory learners’ engagement and learning, is by providing my students with several opportunities to think-pair-share with their peers to allow them chances to repeat the new concepts presented during the lessons using their own voices versus mine.

            I will use the students’ strengths, interests, and needs for growth to influence my instruction by implementing “exit tickets,” informal and formal teacher observations, and creating diverse learning center options which allow students the opportunity to implement choice in their learning. “When a topic connects to what students like to do, engagement deepens as they willingly spend time thinking, dialoging, and creating ideas in meaningful ways” (McCarthy, 2014, para. 2). These instructional strategies will not only help enhance students’ level of interest in the content, but it will also allow me to better differentiate instruction.

            I would address all learning styles when developing and implementing assessments for these groups of students by making “training as diverse as possible, so that learners can work at their own pace and use their own learning methods in order to retain the information” (Gray, 2022, para. 10). For example, I will incorporate various learning styles within my lessons, tailor instruction during planning, and modify lessons during instruction. To be more specific, if I were to notice that during a lesson one of my visual learners, for example, isn’t grasping the information, I would integrate visuals to accommodate to their learning needs. These purposeful lesson accommodations will ensure that my students are learning within their learning needs, and this will help them be more successful in demonstrating their knowledge during testing.

References

AL-Roomy, M. A. (2023). The relationship among students’ learning styles, health sciences colleges, and Grade Point Average (GPA). Advances in Medical Education and Practice, Volume 14, 203–213. https://doi.org/10.2147/amep.s395720

Gray, K. (2022, April 1). 7 learning styles to consider when assessing learners - B&K. Brooks and Kirk Assessor Training - The TAQA Training Industry Leader. https://brooksandkirk.co.uk/assessor/7-learning-styles-to-consider-when-assessing-learners/

Malvik, C. (2020, August 17). 4 types of learning styles: How to accommodate a diverse group of. Rasmussen University. https://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/education/blog/types-of-learning-styles/

McCarthy, J. (2014, August 25). Learner Interest Matters: Strategies for Empowering Student choice. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/differentiated-instruction-learner-interest-matters-john-mccarthy