Comments | mareserinitatis: Learning styles don't exist...or not

mareserinitatis

Learning styles don't exist...or not

Mar 11, 2009 21:48

tomysky made a comment the other day that got me curious. He mentioned reading something about how learning styles don't exist. I found the YouTube video under that name, and my response is, "Yah, sure, you betcha." (That would be North Dakotan sarcasm ( Read more... )

education, teaching, learning styles

Comments 11

alexisyael March 11 2009, 23:45:05 UTC

Cherish, you are just so cool! (And I agree with you, obviously.)

mareserinitatis March 12 2009, 04:06:13 UTC

Thanks. I'm usually happy if I make it to lukewarm, so being cool gives me extra special warm fuzzies. :-D (And sometimes I wonder if I'm just rambling...)

alexisyael March 12 2009, 16:43:56 UTC

No, you're totally not rambling! I love hearing your thoughts on everything, especially learning (and -- with much more sadness/ empathy -- on your own grad school journey these days. I'm annoyed for you, but I know you'll pull through this, somehow.)

ext_152957 March 12 2009, 03:45:54 UTC

I saw that video too and thought the same thing (that it's BS). He has in essence distilled the concept of learning styles into a very rigid and narrow interpretation and then goes on to negate that narrow interpretation.

mareserinitatis March 12 2009, 04:03:32 UTC

I'm glad you specified you thought it was BS because if you thought all those same thoughts I had, I'd be majorly weirded out. :-D

BTW, I wanted to know that I do read your blog and would like to comment often, but my computer won't let me because it's so old. (I had to say that since I know you think only one person reads your blog.)

ext_152957 March 12 2009, 22:34:01 UTC

Glad to hear this on two fronts: 1) I didn't weird you out; 2) someone else reads my blog! You did leave a comment once...a different computer perhaps?

mareserinitatis March 16 2009, 18:12:21 UTC

Yep, different computer. I sometimes have access to more modern technology. :-)

tomysky March 12 2009, 13:46:00 UTC

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I thought his video was interesting, but I like your ideas here.

And, yes, the fact that he says that something close to the theory is true but never talks about that drives me bonkers! That's bad discussion because it doesn't help anyone. [grr]

Thankfully, you actually talked through your ideas. [smile]

Thanks again!

~Luke

mareserinitatis March 16 2009, 18:13:51 UTC

I think a far more constructive approach would be to explain what the differences are rather than the approach he took. I don't think what he did really enhanced anyone's understanding.

Styles versus Abilities and Disabilities anonymous March 12 2009, 18:07:57 UTC

"Education" sometimes has a "25 lesson plans for 25 students" mentality below the college level, driven by the Learning Style folks that made it all the fashion about a decade ago. Maybe your school is an exception to this trend. Our college seems poised to adopt it, and/or perhaps the even newer fashion of various Brain-Based ideas (which contradict Learning Styles in one major respect, by emphasizing parallel processing of many inputs, and in another by sometimes arguing that all of today's students need a TV-based presentation style because their brains have developed differently from ours), without bothering to look at any research-based evidence of their validity ( ... )

Re: Styles versus Abilities and Disabilities mareserinitatis March 16 2009, 18:20:45 UTC

In my introduction to learning styles (which came as a part of an NSF education project I worked on), we were told about learning styles but it was also made clear that everyone learns a little bit each way. Thus, the best approach is to teach using a variety of methods so that everyone will benefit ( ... )