tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post7274562269466245079..comments2024-03-14T04:16:20.472-07:00Comments on In Socrates' Wake: Tailoring to student learning styles: Don't bother?Michael Cholbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02012523929044363216noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post-46842283630317602932009-12-21T13:21:56.712-08:002009-12-21T13:21:56.712-08:00The points about 'how would you individualize ...The points about 'how would you individualize lessons for a mass group' are good.<br /><br />But to me, the most important thing is that we know already how to teach much better than we do already, yet solid psychological research goes ignored & unapplied.<br /><br />Consider the spaced repetition effect; it goes back literally centuries now in the research literature, yet no educator I have ever met uses it save by accident (to pad out tests).gwernhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18349479103216755952noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post-51088391391032059242009-12-21T10:56:09.480-08:002009-12-21T10:56:09.480-08:00I wholeheartedly agree but with the caveat that we...I wholeheartedly agree <i>but</i> with the caveat that we should be aware of how learning actually happens and what methods are actually conducive to students' learning. I wouldn't want this research to be interpreted as students just need to work harder to adapt to our preferences in teaching.<br /><br />I don't know that there's any particular learning preference that makes someone necessarily better at philosophy but I think that, as it stands, most philosophy does require that students be good readers and if they aren't, they aren't going to do well in philosophy or, perhaps close to the same thing, are going to find it very frustrating. I do think that we can be doing things to help students become better readers that doesn't take a huge amount of effort on our part and has been greeted with gratitude by my students (the one thing I've done is work to find audio versions of texts (when I can) and suggested that they read along).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post-62116621456843554182009-12-21T10:31:15.215-08:002009-12-21T10:31:15.215-08:00I strongly agree. While much research has been do...I strongly agree. While much research has been done to try to establish these styles, similar research has not been done to establish professor's "teaching / learning" styles. I'm not at all sure why I should teach in a way that is opposite of my own natural inclinations. Sure, I should avoid things that form blocks for students -- but, learning styles are simply that -- styles or preferences.<br /><br />It also seems that your remarks on discipline tendencies to appeal to one "style" over another are on target. Perhaps learning styles will tend to make divisions among students, and the students who learn in ways most conducive to philosophy will major in philosophy -- while students with other styles will go elsewhere. I don't see anything wrong with that.<br /><br />Finally, a large part of college is learning to make connections with people different from yourself. Adjusting to instructors whose teaching style does not line up with your own learning style is part of the process. I doubt that when our students go to grad or professional school their instructors will be developing little games to accommodate all learning styles. I also doubt that their first bosses will say "oh, sweetie, you're a kinesthetic learner, so you don't have to read that handbook -- we'll let you do an interpretive dance instead."<br /><br />I think it's good to vary teaching methods within reason -- but, the justification isn't to satisfy a variety of learning styles, rather it's because particular portions of any course may be communicated more effectively in lecture, discussions, projects etc.Inside the Philosophy Factoryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12255753259090709877noreply@blogger.com