Thursday, June 4, 2015
MythBusters
The most surprising myth to my in the myth busters folder was the article about students and different learning styles not being true. I have grown up taught that every students learns differently and in their own way and I know that I have seen this again and again through my 18 years of schooling so far. I know that I retain information better when I learn it in a specific way and I know that some of my classmates learn better in a completely different way. List facts and random words at me that have no meaning will not help me learn, but letting my see and lay my hands on what we are learning I will retain much more. I dismissed this article first because I an such strong believer in different learning styles that this one article is not going to even start to change my mind, though I know that it was supported by research. I have had professors here at Grand Valley who strongly believe in general intelligences and others who openly talk about how recidivous they think it is.
I will be on the book for related article in the future that are claiming the same as these articles. Now what about all the research that has been done to support these educational theories? Im sure some of it is still supported out in the education world by respected authors and researchers. Im sure in the years to come educators will continuously be changing their mind on how students learn best. New theories will arrive and fall over the years.
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Brittany,
ReplyDeleteI also have always believed in the different learning styles. I know for a fact, I learn best one way. I have a certain way to study, take notes in class, etc. I definitely do better when I have the opportunity to be hands-on. I don't neccessarily think that the learning styles theory is a bad thing, but I think it can be problematic when teachers group students and don't consider the fact that they could change or that maybe they do learn best in multiple ways. Some students may be a visual learner in math, but an audio learner in science. It is dangerous to place students in one group and not take into consideration that it could change.
Yes I agree! Each students has multiple learning styles that work best for them. When teachers focus only on grouping students into single learning styles groups its already putting them each at a disadvantage. It reminds me of teachers placing students into groups because of disadvantages in special education and general education.
DeleteDefinitely. This makes me think of ability grouping in the classroom, which can also be dangerous. Students need the opportunity to learn in different ways and work with different peers. Change is a good thing for students.
DeleteI dismissed that article too Brittany! I too have always thought that learning styles were true. Most of the professors I have had have always been for learning styles and I have never had one that has disregarded learning styles. I am the same way! I think that there is so much research behind it that its hard to believe this one article that disregarded all of the learning styles.
ReplyDeleteYea, this was the first time that I have heard about the learning styles being dismissed completely. I think that is why I didn't like it;) I agree that since we have only seen the one article stating that different learning styles are not true it makes it harder to believe it.
DeleteI think thats why I didn't like it either. I agree totally! I need to see more articles and informations for me to be able to believe these articles. Its so hard to push out of my head that learning styles are a myth.
DeleteBut...how many times have you seen RESEARCH indicate that it works? That's the problem. We've heard so much about how great it is, and it seems to make sense, but many of those talking about it are not demonstrating any research backing their claims (or, if they are, it is likely shoddy research).
DeleteAnd that's a major problem. Research isn't flashy. It's also often inaccessible to teachers (i.e., once you leave GVSU, you don't have access to library databases that have published research). You then have to rely on less reliable sources that aren't properly vetted...and that's one of the reasons why fads are so prevalent in education and stick around long after they've been disproven.
Brittany,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, I believed learning styles to be true. I know that I learn better in a certain way. Most of the time, I have to hear things in order to remember them. Knowing this, I take notes in a certain way, and study in a very specific way. I think that all students recognize over time which way they learn the best. I think that learning styles aren't a bad thing however, I think that students can learn in variety of ways and we should not put them into these groups. As educators we need to remember that not all students learn the same way, so we need to consider each individual student when teaching.
It seems that everyone is on the same page about teachers avoiding grouping students into categories based on their learning styles. Which I think is something that we all would want to avoid. I like to see everyone thinking that way!
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