* Learning styles (D-SA-LSI) 3 exercises for enhancing awareness and articulation of learning styles Tine Nielsen, CBS Learning Lab
* Learning styles (D-SA-LSI) 3 exercises for enhancing awareness and articulation of learning styles Tine Nielsen, CBS Learning Lab
Student preparation: that they have completed the learning styles test and bring their profile and interpretation manual
The object of this slide series is to give teachers who use ”The Danish Self-Assessment Learning Styles Inventory” for different purposes with students easy access to a number of slides with simple exercises that can be used in different ways in the teaching for the purpose of enhancing awareness and articulation of the learning styles. Please note that exercise sheets that corresond to these exercises are also available at www.cbs.dk/learningstyles
It contains both short introductions to the exercises and exercises.
You can use the slides as inspiration for further work, change the order of the slides or use them in the order given here.
In the following note fields, bold text indicates if there are places where context-specific changes should/could be made in the slides, as well as when the slides are animated.
Normal text is just note/manuscript text that offers more details on the contents of the individual slides – as many examples as room permits in the note field have been included. More examples are found in the various texts.
All references to literature refer to the list of literature found on www.cbs.dk/learningstyles
Learning strengths and weaknesses
Is a learning strength the same as having a strong/very strong learning style?
Is a learning weakness the same as having a weak/very weak learning style?
No! * Tine Nielsen, CBS Learning Lab
NB – slide is animated
In the learning styles profile, a strength is indicated for each learning style (very weak – weak – medium strong – strong – very strong). Does that then mean that the strong/very strong learning styles are expressions of my/your learning strengths in general and that the weak/very weak learning styles in my/your profile are expressions of my/your learning weaknesses in general?
The answer is NO!
They can, of course, coincide, but not necessarily. Learning styles cannot be assigned any general and objective value. They are given value in relation to the context in which they appear. Therefore, having a strong learning style can in some contexts be a strength but in other contexts a weakness. Likewise, having a weak learning style can in some contexts be a weakness while in other contexts it can be a strength. Examples are given in relation to the profile on the next slide
* * Learning style
Strength Legislative Very strong
Executive
Very weak
Judicial
Strong
Monarchic
Very weak Hierarchic
Medium strong
Oligarchic
Very strong Anarchic
Strong Democratic
Medium strong
Global
Strong Local
Weak
Internal
Very strong External
Medium strong
Progressive
Very strong Conservative
Very weak fx this profile Tine Nielsen, CBS Learning Lab
Here, I recommend that the teacher uses his/her own learning styles profile as an example, as experience shows that this works well and makes the examples more lifelike
Example 1 (Legislative – Very strong):
This person prefers strongly to define him/herself the problems/tasks to be solved, the methods to be used and to create the strategy. If in this case we are talking about a student who has been given a project-oriented assignment with independent formulation of the problem, the strong Legislative style will appear as a learning strength in the context of that assignment. However, if the case is that a student has been given a predefined assignment where the method to be used is indicated, the strong Legislative style may instead appear as a learning weakness (that is, if the student cannot free themselves of their style) in the context of this particular assignment.
Example 2 (Conservative – Very weak):
This person prefers not to work with known material or known methods. If in this case we are talking about a student who has been given an assignment that has to be completed within known subject material with known curriculum-defined methods, the very weak Conservative style will appear as a learning weakness in the context of the assignment. If, however, the same student is given an assignment that allows for the inclusion of new material and new methods, the very weak Conservative style – particularly if combined with a very strong Progressive style as in this case...
* Have a closer look at your learning styles profile 15 minutes’ individual investigation and reflection
Look at your profile and use the tables in the interpretation manual to think about:
Where do you see your learning strengths reflected in your profile?
Where do you see your learning weaknesses reflected in your profile?
Make notes for yourself Tine Nielsen, CBS Learning Lab
NB – slide is animated
The exercise is also available as an exercise sheet with room for notes (cf. Exercise sheet – 3 exercises for enhancing awareness and articulation of learning styles)
Time requirement: 17 minutes.
In light of the relationship between the strength of learning styles and learning strengths and weaknesses, this exercise can now be carried out.
A specific context may be added to the exercise (see also the 2 following exercises) – for example, the subject where the learning styles are included in the teaching, group work on a upcoming and already known assignment or whatever may be relevant
A summary can be included, but it is not necessary – it is furthermore very time consuming in large classes. Instead, you can tell the students that they are going to talk to a fellow student about these things.
* Learning strengths
Tell the person next to you (5 min. each)
Which parts of your profile reflect your learning strengths?
I’ll ring a bell when it is time to switch
Tine Nielsen, CBS Learning Lab
Continue directly to this exercise
The exercise is also available as an exercise sheet with room for notes (cf. Exercise sheet – 3 exercises for enhancing awareness and articulation of learning styles)
Time requirement: 12 minutes (can be increased by allowing more minutes for each part)
Equipment: a bell to ring halfway through due to the level of noise in large classes
A summary can be included , but it is not necessary – the important thing is that, by having to articulate this, the students are also made aware of their own learning strengths (and later weaknesses) compared to their learning styles
Alternative summary: could be to ask/discuss in the class the value of this type of reflexivity (previous exercise) and articulation – how do they benefit from it?
* Sternberg, 1997:
”The key principle is that in order for students to benefit maximally from instruction and assessment, at least some of each should match their styles of thinking. I would not advocate a perfect match all the time: Students need to learn, as does everyone, that the world does not always provide us with a perfect match to our preferred ways of doing things. Flexibility is as important for students as for teachers” (p. 115). The value for me as a student? Tine Nielsen, CBS Learning Lab
How can you as students use knowledge on your own learning styles and own learning strengths and weaknesses in different contexts?
If you pose this question to the originator of the theory behind the learning styles test you have completed (i.e. Sternberg) he – and other theorists within the field – might answer: ”quote”. For students it is thus about becoming flexible in their ways of thinking when learning so that it becomes possible for them to learn in different ways.
The question is then, how do you become that?
* How do you become more flexible learning style wise and in your ways of thinking? Knowledge about styles
Knowledge about own learning styles
Reflection on own practice
Openness to other ways of thinking
Willingsness to use other ways of thinking in a strategic manner Tine Nielsen, CBS Learning Lab
Research supports the claim that this works for teachers with regard to learning and teaching style (Nielsen, 2008a; Valentine, 1997*), and there is no obvious reason why this should not work pertaining to students’ personal development regarding learning styles or, for that matter, in team work!
Gaining knowledge about yourself and reflecting on your own practice can change, given that you are open to changes!
* Valentine, K. M. (1998), An investigation of teacher knowledge of learning styles and their possible facilitative effects on the learning process. Dissertation, University of South Florida, USA.
* Benefits from working with your learning styles profile Knowledge on preferences of thinking in learning situations
Which are your strengths and weaknesses in different contexts?
Knowledge on/understanding of diversity
What are the differences between my own preferences and those of others? – co-students as well as teachers?
Possibilities of development
Flexibility
Strategic use Tine Nielsen, CBS Learning Lab
NB – slide is animated
Put more specifically, the benefits from working with your own learning styles profile in different ways can be:
To the points on the slide can be added:
Re 1) Gaining knowledge on your own learning strengths and weaknesses in different contexts is extremely useful as it enables you to navigate and adapt better to those contexts and thereby increase your own learning possibilities
Re 2) Gaining knowledge on and internalised (not just intellectual) understanding of how other people’s preferred ways of thinking are different – both mutually and compared to your own – not only enables you to increase your own possibilities for learning but also other people’s. It can improve the communication in collaboration situations and work to prevent conflicts due to the increased understanding for other people’s ways of thinking and approaching tasks.
Re 3) In the short term, strategic application of the knowledge you can gain in a situation on your own and other people’s ways of thinking can lead to you becoming more flexible in your styles in the long term. That being flexible in learning styles is an advantage – for example after you have completed you education – is indisputable.
* Learning style and learning strategy Both can reflect the same mental processes
Style: the person’s naturally preferred ways of thinking in learning situations
Strategy: the person’s consciously chosen ways of thinking in learning situations
“Ways of thinking” represent different ways of perceiving and approaching various types of problems and situations in the given context. Tine Nielsen, CBS Learning Lab
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With regard to the application perspectives of knowing your own learning styles profile, it is important to establish the fact that learning STYLE is NOT the same as learning STRATEGY
Learning STYLE is an expression of a person’s naturally preferred ways of thinking in learning situations, and they are thus the ways of thinking we unconsciously employ when learning.
Learning STRATEGY is an expression of a person’s consciously chosen ways of thinking in learning situations, and they are thus the ways we consciously try to think in order to better understand, look at things from a different perspective etc. when learning.
The mental processes (or ways of thinking) brought into play either unconsciously (as styles) or consciously (as strategies) are the same and can be described using the same terms.
It is thus possible to practice consciously thinking in different ways than the ones you prefer (styles) and in that way to take a more strategic angle on learning. This can be useful in many contexts. For example, if a teacher is difficult to understand and as a student you have an idea that this is connected to that fact that the ways of thinking communicated by the teacher in the teaching are very different from those you prefer yourself. It could be that the teacher has a very abstract and general approach to the subject during a lecture, while the student is trying to understand the details instead. In this case, it may be helpful to identify the probl...
* Learning weaknesses
Tell the person next to you (7 min. each)
Which parts of your profile reflect your learning weaknesses that you would like to work on strategically?
I’ll ring a bell when it is time to switch Tine Nielsen, CBS Learning Lab
The exercise is also available as an exercise sheet with room for notes (cf. Exercise sheet – 3 exercises for enhancing awareness and articulation of learning styles)
Time requirement: 16 minutes (can be increased by allowing more minutes for each part)
Equipment: a bell to ring approximately halfway through due to the level of noise in large classes.
A summary can be included, but it is not necessary – the important thing is that, by having to articulate this, the students are also made aware of their own learning weaknesses (and, in the previous exercise, strengths) compared to their learning styles.
Alternative summary: could be to ask/discuss in the class the value of this type of reflexivity (first exercise) and articulation – how do they benefit from it?
Possibilities for continuing your work with your learning styles in relation to: group work classes supervision Work and reflection book at www.cbs.dk/learningstyles
* Tine Nielsen, CBS Learning Lab
NB – slide is animated
On the homepage www.cbs.dk/learningstyles, you can find a reflection and work book for students that enables each of you to continue working with and to go more into depth with your learning styles, both in general and with regard to group work, teaching and supervision.
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