Reflection on Teaching and Learning Styles
My own learning preferences are multimodal, with the following scores on the VARK Guide to Learning Styles:
Visual 8
Aural 11
Read/write 7
Kinesthetic 11
The VARK exercise provides me with a better understanding of my own learning preferences and demonstrates to me how people may gravitate toward others with the same learning preference, as well as that everyone has a unique set of learning preferences.
The results of my VARK assessment make perfect sense to me. I write notes but am not very organized about finding them later. I prefer to listen, participate in an applied activity, and then have the ability to ask questions about the application -- the combination of aural and kinesthetic activities. Throughout my PhD program, I have sought resources that had audio and demonstrations, such as YouTube videos that included lecture, examples, and demonstrations. As books on CD have become more available over time, I have gravitated toward the audio option, either instead of a hardcopy text or in addition to it.
In an academic setting, this demonstrates to me is the importance of encouraging people to think about learning styles. However, I can also see other applications. In clinical practice, providers are routinely “instructing”, such as a physical therapist providing exercise instructions for at home or a counselor providing suggestions for a behavior improvement plan.
My teaching preferences assessment resulted in high scores on all measures, as follows:
Expert 4.25
Formal Authority 4.00
Personal Model 4.12
Facilitator 4.37
Delegator 3.25
My take-away from the teaching preferences exercise is that my underlying belief -- or simply the way my teaching is likely to unfold -- is that it is necessary to wear different hats based on the teaching situation. As a social work clinician, my clear role is facilitator. Therefore, it is not surprising to me that this is the highest score. I also have many years of experience, and therefore, am expert in the subjects I would teach. I feel strongly about being a good role model and demonstrating very high ethics, and take a good deal of pride in the mentoring I have done over the years, which corresponds to the high score for personal model. While I wear the “delegator” hat at work and in other settings, I don’t know that it would be a key role in teaching. Therefore, it is not surprising that this resulted in the lowest score.
In applying the results of these two assessments, I will take different learning styles into account when teaching. As far as teaching style, I think it is good to be aware of one’s preferences or default mechanisms and to then look for opportunities to explore other ways of teaching, such as drawing upon the expertise of students and looking for ways to allow students to facilitate.
My own learning preferences are multimodal, with the following scores on the VARK Guide to Learning Styles:
Visual 8
Aural 11
Read/write 7
Kinesthetic 11
The VARK exercise provides me with a better understanding of my own learning preferences and demonstrates to me how people may gravitate toward others with the same learning preference, as well as that everyone has a unique set of learning preferences.
The results of my VARK assessment make perfect sense to me. I write notes but am not very organized about finding them later. I prefer to listen, participate in an applied activity, and then have the ability to ask questions about the application -- the combination of aural and kinesthetic activities. Throughout my PhD program, I have sought resources that had audio and demonstrations, such as YouTube videos that included lecture, examples, and demonstrations. As books on CD have become more available over time, I have gravitated toward the audio option, either instead of a hardcopy text or in addition to it.
In an academic setting, this demonstrates to me is the importance of encouraging people to think about learning styles. However, I can also see other applications. In clinical practice, providers are routinely “instructing”, such as a physical therapist providing exercise instructions for at home or a counselor providing suggestions for a behavior improvement plan.
My teaching preferences assessment resulted in high scores on all measures, as follows:
Expert 4.25
Formal Authority 4.00
Personal Model 4.12
Facilitator 4.37
Delegator 3.25
My take-away from the teaching preferences exercise is that my underlying belief -- or simply the way my teaching is likely to unfold -- is that it is necessary to wear different hats based on the teaching situation. As a social work clinician, my clear role is facilitator. Therefore, it is not surprising to me that this is the highest score. I also have many years of experience, and therefore, am expert in the subjects I would teach. I feel strongly about being a good role model and demonstrating very high ethics, and take a good deal of pride in the mentoring I have done over the years, which corresponds to the high score for personal model. While I wear the “delegator” hat at work and in other settings, I don’t know that it would be a key role in teaching. Therefore, it is not surprising that this resulted in the lowest score.
In applying the results of these two assessments, I will take different learning styles into account when teaching. As far as teaching style, I think it is good to be aware of one’s preferences or default mechanisms and to then look for opportunities to explore other ways of teaching, such as drawing upon the expertise of students and looking for ways to allow students to facilitate.