Learning Styles - MAJOR resource Students preferentially take in and process information in different ways: by seeing and hearing, reflecting and acting, reasoning logically and intuitively, analyzing and visualizing, steadily and in fits and starts. Teaching methods also vary. Some instructors lecture, others demonstrate or lead students to self-discovery; some focus on principles and others on applications; some emphasize memory and othersunderstanding. When mismatches exist between learning styles of most students in a class and the teaching style of the professor, the students may become bored and inattentive in class, do poorly on tests, get discouraged about the courses, the curriculum, and themselves, and in some cases change to other curricula or drop out of school. This site contains resources for a model of learning styles generally referred to as the Felder-Silverman model. Interview with Richard Felder Richard Felder on Learning Styles. Publications related to the Felder-Silverman Learning Style Model
Barriers to Critical Thinking - Another Look | LEARN TO PREPARE - Celebrate Peace of Mind By Denis Korn Evaluate - Embrace - Embody I am posting once again what has been one of the most read of all my posts. It continues to be even more timely given the issues that we face as a country and as a civilization today. As an observer of the current events in our society, it is blatantly obvious that those in positions of leadership and influence – government, commerce, media and education – are suffering from “serious delusion and self-interest syndrome.” The polarization, manipulation and deterioration of our society is so insidious and pervasive that I continue to pray and yearn for our citizens, educators and leaders to embrace and embody the skills of critical thinking, truthful evaluation and discernment. The following list of the barriers to critical thinking, common sense and rational judgment is overwhelming and intimidating to many – so in your quest to be a skilled thinker you are encouraged to overcome obstacles that will appear in your path. What is the truth? June 2011
critical thinking 25 Critical Thinking Strategies For The Modern Learner Critical thinking is the engine of learning. Within this complex process or so many other relevant themes that contribute to learning: creativity, analysis, evaluation, innovation, application, and scores of other verbs from various learning taxonomies. So the following infographic from Mentoring Minds is immediately relevant to all educators, and students as well. It’s a bit of a mash of Habits of Mind, various 21st century learning frameworks, and the aforementioned learning taxonomies, promoting collaboration, problem-solving, and real-world connections (standard “critical thinking fare” with Habits of Mind-sounding phrases such as “Open-Mindedness”). At the bottom, it pushes a bit further, however, offering 25 critical thinking strategies to help support progressive learning.
Talking Brains: November 2012 The core of Glenberg and Gallese's proposal is that language is grounded in a hierarchical state feedback control model, made possible, of course, by mirror neurons. I actually think they are correct to look at feedback control models as playing a role in language, given that I've previously proposed the same thing (Hickok, 2012) along with Guenther, Houde and others, albeit for speech production only, not for "grounding" anything. Glenberg and Gallese believe, on the hand, that the feedback control model is the basis for understanding language. Their theoretical trick is to link up action control circuits for object-oriented actions and action control circuits for articulating words related to those actions. Motor programs for drinking are linked to motor programs for saying "drink". Then when you hear the word "drink" you activate the motor program for saying the word and this in turn activates the motor programs for actual drinking and this allows you to understand the word. I agree.
Learning Development Cycle Learning Development Cycle: Bridging Learning Design and Modern Knowledge Needs July 12, 2005 George Siemens A printable, MS Word verion of this article is available here. Abstract Instructional design (ID) serves only a small part of the entire learning experience. Introduction Changes in technology create a ripple pattern, altering foundational, long-held views. Traditional learning design is indicative of the learning field’s reluctance to change. Much of LDC is rooted in more traditional design structures. Different types of learning exist. Learning today has moved beyond courses (courses serve a static knowledge field). Why do we Need a New Theory of Instructional Design Reigeluth (1993) defines instructional design as “a discipline that is concerned with understanding and improving one aspect of education: the process of instruction.” Learners and learner needs are changing. Beyond simply creating new environments and challenges, technology impacts, even alters, our brains.
Learning Styles - Learning skills from MindTools.com Understanding Your Learning Preference Understand different learning styles, with James Manktelow & Amy Carlson. Have you ever tried to learn something fairly simple, yet failed to grasp the key ideas? Or tried to teach people and found that some were overwhelmed or confused by something quite basic? If so, you may have experienced a clash of learning styles: your learning preferences and those of your instructor or audience may not have been aligned. Once you know your own natural learning preference, you can work on expanding the way you learn, so that you can learn in other ways, not just in your preferred style. And, by understanding learning styles, you can learn to create an environment in which everyone can learn from you, not just those who use your preferred style. The Index of Learning Styles™ According to this model (which Felder revised in 2002) there are four dimensions of learning styles. You can see these in figure 1, below. Figure 1: Index of Learning Styles Balance is key.
10 Rules for Students and Teachers (and Life) by John Cage and Sister Corita Kent by Maria Popova “Nothing is a mistake. There’s no win and no fail, there’s only make.” Buried in various corners of the web is a beautiful and poignant list titled Some Rules for Students and Teachers, attributed to John Cage, who passed away twenty years ago this week. The list, which can be found in Sister Corita’s Learning by Heart: Teachings to Free the Creative Spirit (public library), touches on a number of previously discussed themes and materials, including Bertrand Russell’s 10 commandments of teaching, the importance of embracing uncertainty, the pivotal role of work ethic, the intricate osmosis between intuition and intellect, and the crucial habit of being fully awake to everything. RULE ONE: Find a place you trust, and then try trusting it for awhile.RULE TWO: General duties of a student — pull everything out of your teacher; pull everything out of your fellow students.RULE THREE: General duties of a teacher — pull everything out of your students. Donating = Loving