Learning Styles

Or, how to get the best marks you can…..

Lynda Thomas

ltt:aber.ac.uk

Why Now?

You have been here long enough to have some idea of ‘University Learning’ as opposed to ‘School Learning’.

We want to see you reflect on your learning.

A personal interest: as a Welsh Learner and a parent Dw I wedi bod yn dysgu ers talwm! Having more time and less pressure I

have tried to see what helps me I find that I write notes (even though I

often don’t look at them later). That’s OK

I became interested in how different people learn differently.

Lynda Thomas, Mark Ratcliffe, John Woodbury and Emma Jarman. 2002. Learning Styles and Performance in the Introductory Programming Sequence. SIGCSE Bulletin, 34, 1 (March 2002)

Laurie Murphy and Lynda Thomas. 2008. Dangers of a fixed mindset: implications of self-theories research for computer science education. In Proceedings of the 13th annual conference on Innovation and technology in computer science education (ITiCSE '08)

S. Fitzgerald, G. Lewandowski, R. McCauley, L. Murphy, B. Simon, L. Thomas and C. Zander. 2008. Debugging: Finding, Fixing and Flailing -A multi-institutional study of novice debuggers. Computer Science Education - Special Issue on Debugging, 18, 2 (June 2008)

Carol Zander, Lynda Thomas, Beth Simon, Laurie Murphy, Renée McCauley, Brian Hanks, and Sue Fitzgerald. 2009. Learning styles: novices decide. SIGCSE Bulletin, 41, 3 (July 2009)

Learning Styles

Various approaches: left/right brain, Meyers Briggs, Kolb Learning styles, Felder-Silverman model of preferred leaning style, Perkins research on stoppers, movers etc., Dweck and self-efficacy

We discovered:

That our students had different learning styles – surprise, surprise!

General research shows that if you reflect on your own learning you do better.

Felder-Silverman Learning Style

This identifies what is easy for the student. Felder believes that students need to improve other styles of learning too – you need to get better at all.

Remember this is what you may find easiest – it isn’t actually a test with right and wrong answers.

It may not actually describe you take it all with a pinch of salt

Try it for yourself

Felder Learning Style

http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm

(we’ll do a short version in the lecture)

Active Reflective

Active: try things out, work with others Reflective: think things through, work

alone

When I am learning something new, it helps me to  (a) talk about it.  (b) think about it.

Sensing Intuitive

Sensing: concrete, practical, facts, procedures

Intuitive: conceptual, innovative, theories and meanings

I find it easier  (a) to learn facts.  (b) to learn concepts.

Visual Verbal

Visual: pictures, diagrams, flow-charts Verbal: written or spoken explanations

In a book with lots of pictures and charts, I am likely to  (a) look over the pictures and charts carefully.  (b) focus on the written text.

Global Sequential

Global: holistic, learn in large leaps Sequential: incremental, orderly steps

I learn  (a) at a fairly regular pace. If I study hard, I'll "get it."  (b) in fits and starts. I'll be totally confused and then suddenly it all "clicks."

Inductive Deductive

Inductive: the specific to the general Deductive: general to specific

Felder believes that undergraduate education should always be inductive

What Kind of Instruction do Universities usually offer?

The kind at which most of your lecturers have been successful– Reflective (work alone), – Intuitive (theories and meanings), – Verbal (not visual), – Sequential (linear not global), – Deductive (general to specific)

Classic University Learning

Lectures (no slides) Reading many books to construct your

own knowledge Exams (sometimes completely ‘new’

ways of thinking about the material).

Times have changed (somewhat)

Lectures with slides or printed notes Have one or more textbooks that you

can use for reference Practical assignments as well as exams

But is there is still an element of this? So, how do YOU work with it?

Recommendations

Give students a wide range of opportunities for learning

Especially students who prefer

active, sensing, visual, global

Examples

Active: group work, experiment Sensing: practical, not much ambiguity Visual: diagrams Global: beware of getting bogged down

in detail, or depressed about lack of progress

How to make learning better for yourself – after all it is up to you! Active: try things out, work with others, write Reflective: think things through, work alone Sensing: concrete, practical, facts, procedures Intuitive: conceptual, innovative, theories Visual: pictures, diagrams, flow-charts Verbal: written or spoken explanations Global: holistic, learn in large leaps Sequential: incremental, orderly steps Inductive: the specific to the general Deductive: general to specific

Meyers-Briggs

The sort of grand-daddy of all this

Groups people based on 4 criteria

(we’ll do a short version in the lecture)

Try it for yourself

Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory

http://www.personalitypathways.com/MBTI_intro.html

(we’ll do a short version in the lecture)

Meyers-Briggs and StereotypesRecent study of advanced CS students found:

Extravert Introvert45% 55%Sensing Intuition30% 70% (women students were

70/30)Thinking Feeling77% 33%JudgingPerceiving77% 23%

Programming can be a particular problemPerkins: Stoppers, Movers and Tinkerers

How do you approach doing things on the computer?

Stoppers, Movers and Tinkerers

Perkins, D. et. al. (1989). 'Conditions of Learning in Novice Programmers'.

They see the following as being useful things to think about:

Breaking Problems down Stopping/Moving: When a clear course doesn’t present some

students just stop. Others try one idea after another. Close Tracking: They see this as a vital skill for filtering out

bugs in advance and diagnosing them when the program is run. ‘Although in principle it is a mechanical procedure, in practice ..students neglect to do it.’ Why?  

Tinkering: with sufficient tracking and systematicity may solve problem. But often students tinker without those and end up with horrid mess.

And what about the way you think about your self

Dweck – self theoriesDweck What you believe about your ability affects what you do and that affects how well you do.

‘Math block’

C. S. Dweck. Self-Theories: Their Role in Motivation, Personality and Development. Taylor & Francis, 1999

Students carry two types of views on ability/intelligence:Entity View – This view (those who are called “Entity theorists”) treats intelligence as fixed and stable.  These students have a high desire to prove themselves to others; to be seen as smart and avoid looking unintelligent.Incremental View – This view treats intelligence as malleable, fluid, and changeable.  These students see satisfaction coming from the process of learning and often see opportunities to get better.  They do not focus on what the outcome will say about them, but what they can attain from taking part in the venture.

So…..

Enough of all this theory ….

How can you get the best marks possible? Some basic things: Print the notes before the lecture - maybe Bring a pen and write on them (even doodles may help

some people). Draw pictures. Look up material ASAP that you don’t understand. Talk to others (teach someone!) Ask questions (outside lecture if you are shy) Pin the lecturer down to be practical Do a ‘bit more’ on the pracs. Don’t just go through motions Ask yourself ‘what is this module about?’ (global) Revise the basics really well – don’t just read the notes,

rewrite them, say them out loud, tattoo them on your arm….

Attendance correlates with performance!