LEARNING STYLES

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This session will help Explorers understand that students learn in various ways, but despite differences in learning styles, all students can be successful.

Category

  • Exploring – Social Services
  • Life Skills – Other
  • US DOE – Education and Training

Objectives

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

  • Demonstrate learning styles through different activities.
  • Evaluate their own personal learning styles.
  • Plan an activity that incorporates all learning styles in a group.

Supplies

  • Learning Styles Quiz activity sheet
  • Foam ear plugs (for all participants)
  • Drawing board, easel pad, or dry erase board (large enough for the group to see)
  • Markers
  • Paper and pencils for everyone
  • Video camera or smartphone

Advisor Note

Text in italics should be read aloud to participants. As you engage your post in activities each week, please include comments, discussions, and feedback to the group relating to Character, Leadership, and Ethics. These are important attributes that make a difference in the success of youth in the workplace and in life.

Activity 1

LEARNING STYLES QUIZ

Hand out the Learning Styles Quiz activity sheet and a pencil to each Explorer. Have them complete the quiz. This quiz will help each Explorer identify his or her unique learning style. This is the first step to being able to understand the optimum learning style(s) that is most impactful to each individual.

After completing the quiz, have Explorers tally how many A’s, B’s, and C’s they circled. Having mostly A’s indicates they are visual learners, mostly B’s indicates they are auditory listeners, and mostly C’s indicates they are tactile or kinesthetic listeners.

Discuss the three learning styles and see if Explorers can provide examples of each:

  • Visual—drawing maps, outlining processes, taking notes, watching videos, reading silently
  • Auditory—listening to speeches or videos, reading out loud, participating in group discussions
  • Tactile/kinesthetic—taking field trips, visiting museums, playing learning games, doing hands-on activities, writing notes

Activity 2

LISTENING ACTIVITY

This activity has three parts, each of which will demonstrate a different learning style.

Part 1: Pass out the ear plugs and have everyone insert them. Then draw—without writing words or speaking—the introduction to a famous speech (the Gettysburg Address, Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream,” etc.) on the drawing board or easel pad. After you have drawn a sequence of the speech, have participants remove their ear plugs and ask them what you were communicating.

Part 2: Stand and read aloud to the group another famous speech or poem (perhaps one by Ogden Nash or Robert Frost, but not something already memorized by the participants). Instruct the group not to take notes. When you are finished, ask the group to reconstruct the speech or poem.

Part 3: Write on the board or easel pad another poem or speech (perhaps something by Dr. Seuss or Rudyard Kipling) while the group copies it word for word. When you are finished, have the participants put away their notes and as a group recite the poem or speech.

Ask: Which of the three parts of Activity 2 was most comfortable and why?

 

Tell Explorers: When teachers communicate, they are addressing auditory learners, visual learners, and tactile learners. The teacher has a learning style that makes delivery most comfortable, and the learners have a reception style that helps them retain information most comfortably.

Activity 3

VIDEO LEARNING PREFERENCE

Say: Our post will be making a video about _________________ (safety, how-to, a favorite event, etc.).

Tell the Explorers to divide up into three working groups: script writers; set and costume designers; and videographers. Say: Join the group that is most comfortable to you. The script writers are more verbal/logical. The set and costume designers are more visual/creative. The videographers are more physical/auditory.

Convey that most people utilize different learning styles depending on the situation, but in this case they will be doing a specific task aligned to a specific learning style.

Give the Explorers about 20 to 30 minutes to write and film the video.

After the video is complete, initiate a discussion about the tasks Explorers performed in their small groups. Have Explorers share whether the learning style they used in this project was a good fit for them. Ask why or why not they felt that way.

Activity 4

DETERMINING OTHERS’ LEARNING STYLE

Ask: Is there a good way to determine the learning style of someone you are communicating with?

See if Explorers can offer any suggestions, then say: Listen to them talk or describe something they are doing or enjoy doing. What words do they use—see, hear, tell, do, listen, understand? Are these words that would give you an indication as to which learning style they lean toward?

Begin to really pay attention to people’s words. How do they ask you questions? How do they describe a recent event, a vacation, or something they enjoyed? Practice on your family and friends and learn to pay attention to these subtle clues.

Another good tool to help you determine their preference would be to find out how they would like you to provide a complex set of directions.

  • Do they ask you to repeat it verbally while they listen again?
  • Do they want you to write it down?
  • Do they want you to point out which direction to head?
  • Do they want you to draw a map?

Advisor Note

Some sample questions are below. They are designed to help the participants apply what they have learned to their own interests. You are welcome to use these questions or develop your own questions that relate to your post or specific focus area.

Reflection

  • What is the teacher attempting to do in every class?
  • What are the multiple learning styles a teacher must address?
  • Why is it important to use different learning styles?
  • Can you use a variety of learning styles in all situations, even in math, chemistry, labs, etc.? (If yes, how can you make a difference via learning styles? If no, why not?)
  • What did you do during the meeting?
  • What did you learn that caused you to think differently about the subject?
  • How will this make a difference for you in the future?

 

 

ADVISOR’S PARTING THOUGHT

The Advisor closes the meeting with a brief message that connects the meeting’s activities with the post’s area of interest and adds a note of inspiration or a positive challenge.

Advisor and Officer review

After the meeting, address the following:

  • Identify what was successful about the meeting.
  • Identify what needed improvement.
  • Schedule an officer and Advisor planning meeting to prepare for the next post meeting or activity.

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RESOURCES

LEARNING STYLES QUIZ

 

Directions: Circle the answer that best describes you.

 

When you get something new requiring assembly, do you like to

(A) look at the pictures

(B) read the directions out loud

(C) dig in and figure it out as you go

 

When you are going to a new location using the map on your phone, do you prefer

(A) to see the map

(B) to have the app tell you the route

(C) to figure out the route yourself

 

Your favorite class is

(A) art

(B) music appreciation

(C) gym

 

When you relax, do you

(A) read, watch TV, or go to a movie

(B) listen to music

(C) play or exercise

 

When you are in a group, do you prefer to

(A) look around

(B) talk or visit

(C) doodle

 

When you study, do you

(A) read

(B) talk it over

(C) take notes