Learning Styles in the Educational Environment

Many people learn in different ways. Learning Styles are various approaches or ways of learning. There are three types of Learning Styles. People receive, process, and retain information by using visual, auditory, or kinesthetic methods. Visual Learners learn by using their eyes, often focus on the eyes, and body language, gestures and facial expression of their instructors. It is also common for visual learners to remain clearly focused on the material. Auditory learners, learn through listening. These individuals prefer to discuss materials and often pay close attention to the pitch, tone, words and speed of which teachers deliver their messages. Kinesthetic learning gives the need for a student to touch and feel in order to retain information. People who are a kinesthetic learner often become easily agitated due to their needs for further instruction and to physically get their hands on items relating to the material in front of them. Your environment can play an important role in all learning styles. Different environmental factors can affect the learning process in positive and negative ways. Some learners learn better when it is bright while others are bothered by excessive light. Other learners learn better when it is extremely quiet while noise and activity are important for some students. The temperature of an environment can play a role also. When someone is too hot or too cold they have a more difficult time concentrating and cannot learn the material necessary. It is important for an educator to provide the right environment. Some students have different learning styles but they may also have different environmental preferences as well. For an example, some students may like to study when the lights are dimmed, but others may find it difficult to see. Some students may enjoy playing music and some may find it distracting and not easily focused. In today’s society many people are utilizing online learning. Online learning allows students to learn in a distant or disadvantage location. A traditional classroom setting allows students to interact and exchange ideas. In the Quarterly Review of Distance Education (Fall 2006), â€Å"A study compared the effects student learning styles with Web-based learning (WBL) and traditional instructor-based learning (ILB) on student knowledge and satisfaction. Student knowledge and satisfaction were measured at the end of the courses as dependent variables. The Kolb Learning Style Inventory was used to determine learning styles. The results revealed that students' learning styles were statistically significant for knowledge when comparing Web-based format with instructor-based format. The results indicated students with Assimilator and Converger styles achieved better results with the Web-based format. Furthermore, this study found a significant difference in student satisfaction for learning with the Web-based format (p. 313-316). † There are a lot of disadvantages when it comes to learning styles for online learners. Such as, Students who attend online courses will be exposed less to auditory techniques than in a traditional classroom setting. Some course materials will provide you with as much visual and hands-on activities as necessary. In an online class there is a lot of passive learning done through reading text, listening to audio clips, and seeing graphics, but can only communicate through writing, email, and chatting. In the College Student Journal (Sept 2010), the article stated â€Å"there was a study that investigated the relationship between students' learning styles and their achievement in two different learning environments: online instruction and traditional instruction. The results indicated that a) students in the traditional learning group had higher, but not statistically significant higher, levels of achievement than students in the online learning group, b) a student's learning style had no statistically significant effect on their course grades in any of the two instructional methods, and c) there was no significant interaction between the learning style and instructional method. † Whether it is online or traditional when given a good learning environment most people tend to remember best by practicing the real thing. Next, a combination of doing and speaking about what we learn produces a high retention rate, followed by speaking alone. The interaction and delivery methods used in online classes are different from traditional classes. In Using Learning Styles to personalize online learning, Maria Zajac states â€Å"The results of a survey carried out at Warsaw School of Economics, where every semester up to 2,000 students attend online lectures, have shown that there are no significant differences between the grades that student get in e-learning courses and in traditional on-campus classes ([3] Dabrowski and Zajac, 2006). Although, some students indicated in a survey that e-learning methods are more convenient for them as they do not require, for instance, making notes during the lecture, which they perceived as a factor influencing their concentration, there was no significant difference between the final exam scores of those taking online and on campus lectures (p. 256). † If you are an auditory learner at which you learn best by hearing you may want to consider a traditional classroom setting. There are a lot of myths flowing around about learning styles. There is one belief that learning styles is not necessary to incorporate useful knowledge. Supposedly there is no credible evidence that learning styles exist. In the Myth of Learning Styles, (Reiner 2010), the author writhes â€Å"Students differ in their abilities, interests, and background knowledge, but not in their learning styles. Students may have preferences about how to learn, but no evidence suggests that catering to those preferences will lead to better learning (P. 32). The myth of learning styles is based on three premises: learning styles are intrinsic, learning styles can be assessed; learning styles can be matched to instructional styles. The myth of learning styles refers to the idea that teaching methods should be matched to students' unique characteristics. Although individualization is desirable, learning style assumes that certain learner characteristics are intrinsic when they may in fact be the result of experiential factors. As a result, teachers may inadvertently deny low-performing students opportunities to learn. Majority of students have more than one learning style. Students should think about their learning style to identify how they learn. Learning to relate to others in their own style is important in helping us understand others and why they react the way they do. Taking time to learn your learning style will improve the way you communicate with others. In conclusion, there are a lot of environmental factors that can affect the way you learn. Students need to take in account that there environment in which they are learning in plays an important role of how they process there information.