Five advantages of using distance learning is definitely more student centered focusing on the individual and their specific needs. Instead of a student having to wait or feel hindered by others in the classroom they can move ahead at their own pace, or if they feel like they are the ones hindering others they can feel more comfortable.
1. Individual instructions
2. Students can move at their own pace/time
3. Works well for those who are independent learners
4. Less likely to be distracted by other students
5. Visual learners through online interactions and slides
Five disadvantages also follow the same guidelines of advantages being student based. Some students might find the freedom too much and not learn or focus quite as well as they would in class. A teacher driving them, or being there for them for individual instruction is helpful. Students also do not gain peer interaction, not only in class projects or discussion, but in after school clubs and athletics. Working with your peers is a valuable skill that cannot truly be taught but is learned through experience.
1. Students can fall behind easily
2. Students lack peer interaction
3. Students do not get one on one instruction
4. Students do not get to participate in clubs, athletics, or social events
5. Students do not feel part of something, but rather just an education
The readiness of a student is hard to determine. I have taken distance classes through the community college and I did not perform well at all in them, but consider myself a very good student. Students who take distance learning must understand they must stay on top of their assignments and not let them pile up, they must be individually motivated. A student who suffers in a classroom is most likely not going to succeed in distance learning. I also feel that as good as it might sound to learn sitting in your home in your PJs you lack a lot of the social interaction that I feel is important for not only education but for student’s futures in the job world. Peer interaction is important and cannot be replaced through online chat or message boards but must be done through actual physical interactions.
I would need to make sure that I have a way of contacting all of my students through email and phone. I would also need to make sure that I was always available since my students might not be only students from 9-3, but at any time during the day. Having your directions also very clear is important since sometimes reading directions are much different then hearing them. Also providing my students with helpful resources they can find online is also beneficial for their learning experience.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Engaging Students with Concept Mapping Activities
1. I explored the program Inspiration and found the program to be very helpful and easy to navigate. One of the features I found most intriguing is how you could create an outline, with main topics, subtopics and notes to support each. At the touch of a button you can take that outline and create a concept map for the lesson. This could definitely be useful for teachers who are using the outline for lectures and can create a concept map for those students who would like one to follow the lesson with or are visual learners. The simple use and navigation of the program is helpful for both me as a teacher and my students who might use the program at home to create their own outlines or concept maps. I imagine that Kid Inspiration is very similar in its use and function. There is also a level of creativity you can bring to the concept map as there are blank templates where you fill in the bubbles and create them however you like. There are pictures of animals, people, historical sites, shapes, math, science, space, and everything you can possibly imagine.
Another useful tool of the Inspiration program is how there are pre-made concept maps that you can explore through individual subjects that can inspire you as the educator to plan your lesson accordingly. For Social Studies/History there were examples of Revolutionary Events, Primary Sources, Historical Figures, Pros and Cons, Government, and many others. This is helpful in creating lesson plans for the class and you can use these concept maps as both a handout for the students or even using one for yourself as a teaching aid to make sure you covered all of the topics. There are also other subject areas such as science and language arts, as well as studying and preparation concept maps as well. Again, the simplicity and the easy navigation make this program very useful in the classroom for both students and the teacher. The concept maps for specific topics can be created blank and you can have the students fill them out too as a homework or in class assignment while you talk about the subject. This is a handy studying tool for future exams and an easy chart to follow in group discussions.
2. The impact of using concept maps in your classroom for students to use is that it adds an element of visual aid to your note taking. Before students could look at their notes, even if they were in neat outlined forms and only see words. Now we concept maps they can see connecting ideas and points, highlighted topics of discussion, and sometimes illustrations to help aid in learning. This is helpful for those students who don’t learn well from simply taking notes but can also add that visual element. Another helpful way you could use concept maps with your students is handing them blank concept maps with maybe only the connecting ideas but with no supporting evidence or notes. The students can then fill out the concept maps as they listen to your lecture, guest speaker, film, or discussion. This can help organize ideas and thoughts from class instead of scrambling to write pages and pages of notes on everything they hear. I know this is valuable because in the classes I have that offer their Power Points online help me focus my note taking instead of writing everything under the sun and allows me to pay attention more to the discussion. I know this will help students the same way and gives them an opportunity to learn more towards their style instead of the orthodox method of teaching.
3. The two criteria that would determine if I would use a concept map activities in my lesson plan would be beneficial for the students. Simply handing them a blank concept map would not help them organize their thoughts or ideas as well as one that was carefully planned and put together with main topics and concepts. The second criteria would be if the lesson plan would be helped by using a concept map. Using concept maps sparingly would be a better approach then always using them. Students can make their own at home with their notes, helping them develop autonomy will benefit them in higher education where sometimes teachers don’t put as much time or effort into their lesson planning.
-Matt Melka
GO COUGS!
Concept map made in class on 10/5/2009:
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Reflections on Using TeacherWeb
1. The two ways that a website similar to TeacherWeb can help and support my future teaching is that it gives me experience creating a simple outline for my future site and the experience I gained of finding online resources will better prepare me for the future. The first one of creating the website is something that I feel is very important to the development of technology into your classroom. I now have the understanding of different sites such as wikis, blogs, and other simple web design sites. I always thought that creating a site would be more difficult and I was amazed at how simple it was when broken down in class and following directions online. I showed my TeacherWeb to my mother and thought I should go into Web Design instead of teaching because of how professional the site looked. I told her that it was simple and that the site did everything for you, you just had to know how to enter your information and where to put it. The second part of the TeacherWeb and the support it will help with the most is finding and using online resources. There were thousands of sites to search through to find ones that were in fact helpful and can be used in my classroom. Finding these sites now helps me use this new information in my classroom as resources for my classroom.
2. Two ways a student can benefit from having a classroom with TeacherWeb would be that a student has an outlet to find more information for research or studying. Another way it can aid students is helping them keep track of due dates and project information. The first way of providing more information for students for research and studying is through having your site use web resources and class handouts. I believe that having these two pages as part of your TeacherWeb site is essential in student success. The second part I feel is also essential to the success of my students by providing them with up to date information on projects and due dates. The TeacherWeb had announcement pages, calendars, class handouts, and homework pages all at its disposal. All of these pages help students keep track of what they have to do and how to do it. Organization in your TeacherWeb can definitely help a student succeed in class where sometimes other classes and other obligations make it hard for students to keep themselves organized.
-Matt Melka
GO COUGS!
2. Two ways a student can benefit from having a classroom with TeacherWeb would be that a student has an outlet to find more information for research or studying. Another way it can aid students is helping them keep track of due dates and project information. The first way of providing more information for students for research and studying is through having your site use web resources and class handouts. I believe that having these two pages as part of your TeacherWeb site is essential in student success. The second part I feel is also essential to the success of my students by providing them with up to date information on projects and due dates. The TeacherWeb had announcement pages, calendars, class handouts, and homework pages all at its disposal. All of these pages help students keep track of what they have to do and how to do it. Organization in your TeacherWeb can definitely help a student succeed in class where sometimes other classes and other obligations make it hard for students to keep themselves organized.
-Matt Melka
GO COUGS!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Blogs and Wikis in Education
1. There are many unique and innovative ways to use blogs and wikis in the K-12 classroom. The first is the availability and the easiness to pass information and data to your students and their parents. Instead of emailing 26 different students, you can upload a document or update your blog and students can access the information themselves anywhere at anytime. Wikis are a creative way to get every child involved with both the information in the classroom and technology through individual and group contributions. In today’s generation technology is becoming more and more important not only in schools but in future careers, by introducing students to different forms of tools of the computer the more comfortable those students are with technology. Blogs are an interesting tool for the classroom, where often creativity is not expected on the internet, a blog allows students to be individuals. Each blog is customizable down to every color and font; allowing students to express themselves on a venue often seen as uncreative and unexpressive.
2. I would use an RSS within the classroom to find new information on the particular news sites and other blogs that our classroom follows. Using an RSS gives you the most up to date information about a particular site, allowing you to know when new information is available to use in your classroom. Though this can be seen as unreliable sometimes for information, but it does allow for you to plan better if you can read in your email. Your students can also use an RSS reader to do daily reading assignments or current events. Having students use technology gets them interested in the different opportunities technology has to offer in both the classroom and real world.
3. There are pros and cons to using blogs and wikis in education. Two pros are the involvement of your students with education outside of the classroom and using technology to further their understanding and comfort with it. By accessing this information outside of the classroom it keeps students interested in the topics they learned at school and encourages them to explore more resources the computer has to offer. Blogs and wikis are also great ways to get students who might be shy in the classroom setting to contribute to the group effort, this might help them feel more accepted by their peers and possible allow them to break through their shyness and contribute inside of the classroom instead. Two cons of using blogs and wikis is that not every student might have easy access to a computer with internet capabilities, and that wikis can be accessed by anyone on the internet. The first issue dealing with socioeconomics is difficult to gauge, you don’t want these students feeling excluded or falling behind due to their inability to access the information online, hopefully as a teacher you can help them find access to the information in an effective manner. The second con of anyone being able to access these sites stresses that you teach your students privacy by not using their full names and keeping personal information off of the internet. Wikis are also susceptible to being changed by anyone on the internet, if there was a way to approve a comment it would help prevent inappropriate language or material from being posted. The biggest concern with anything dealing with students and the internet is safety and it is the job of the teacher to stress to their students the importance of internet safety and pass the message onto their parents.
-Matt Melka
GO COUGS!
2. I would use an RSS within the classroom to find new information on the particular news sites and other blogs that our classroom follows. Using an RSS gives you the most up to date information about a particular site, allowing you to know when new information is available to use in your classroom. Though this can be seen as unreliable sometimes for information, but it does allow for you to plan better if you can read in your email. Your students can also use an RSS reader to do daily reading assignments or current events. Having students use technology gets them interested in the different opportunities technology has to offer in both the classroom and real world.
3. There are pros and cons to using blogs and wikis in education. Two pros are the involvement of your students with education outside of the classroom and using technology to further their understanding and comfort with it. By accessing this information outside of the classroom it keeps students interested in the topics they learned at school and encourages them to explore more resources the computer has to offer. Blogs and wikis are also great ways to get students who might be shy in the classroom setting to contribute to the group effort, this might help them feel more accepted by their peers and possible allow them to break through their shyness and contribute inside of the classroom instead. Two cons of using blogs and wikis is that not every student might have easy access to a computer with internet capabilities, and that wikis can be accessed by anyone on the internet. The first issue dealing with socioeconomics is difficult to gauge, you don’t want these students feeling excluded or falling behind due to their inability to access the information online, hopefully as a teacher you can help them find access to the information in an effective manner. The second con of anyone being able to access these sites stresses that you teach your students privacy by not using their full names and keeping personal information off of the internet. Wikis are also susceptible to being changed by anyone on the internet, if there was a way to approve a comment it would help prevent inappropriate language or material from being posted. The biggest concern with anything dealing with students and the internet is safety and it is the job of the teacher to stress to their students the importance of internet safety and pass the message onto their parents.
-Matt Melka
GO COUGS!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom
1. After completing the test my results were:
Naturalist – 80
Musical – 60
Logical – 70
Existential – 70
Interpersonal – 40
Kinesthetic – 70
Verbal – 40
Intrapersonal – 100
Visual – 50
The main strengths of my intelligence according to the test were Intrapersonal, Naturalist, Logical, Existential and Kinesthetic. Intrapersonal students can best be described as those who know who they are and what they stand for, often aware of their own feelings, thoughts, actions and behaviors. These types of students express their feelings toward a particular task and will let you know if they like it or not. They are comfortable with themselves, confident in their abilities and set realistic goals. My second strongest trait was the Naturalist, which could be defined as students who find organization and hierarchy within sets and can create categories based on like and unlike attributes. A logical student is one who uses reasoning and problem solving to solve the task at hand using linear, concrete, and abstract reasoning. Logical students are also aware of cause and effect relationships. A kinesthetic student is one who learns through physical interaction, these students often have developed body movement and skills such as agility, reaction, and sensory.
I did find it very interesting though that I had a low interpersonal intelligence, being a youth basketball coach all summer and often being in charge of an entire camp with other coaches following my lead I would think that leadership would be one of my qualities and one of every teacher. Other interesting qualities of interpersonal that I feel that I possess are the social elements of knowing and understanding other individuals, often knowing how a student is feeling by their body language or tone. Maybe I wasn’t feeling very interpersonal when I took the test but I feel this is most definitely an intelligence I use more than the given 40 shows. If I had to pick my best core of intelligences it would be Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, and Existential. I believe that my care for others is above my need for order, reasoning and hierarchy.
2. Each intelligence has different strengths and learning styles, while some overlap, some are completely unique. A student who is primarily verbal will not have the same needs as someone who is primarily visual, but students who have tendencies might not necessarily be entirely one way all the time and have the capacity to learn multiple ways.
Intrapersonal students are confident in their abilities, set realistic goals, express their opinions and feelings well, make appropriate choices and follow their instincts. These students often relate to others through their own sense of self, being confident with themselves they are often confident with others through their sense of values, morals and judgment. Intrapersonal students are those who are deeply reflective and understand themselves because they are comfortable with themselves in their thoughts, actions and behavior. Often showcasing the qualities of a quiet leader, who’s actions speak louder than words.
Interpersonal students are those who seek support of the group, value relationships, and tend to be natural leaders. This type of student are often the head of their classroom, a person other students often look to. They enjoy sharing information about themselves and might be the first student to introduce themselves in a group and be willing to get right to work, often blending with several different view points to accomplish their goal. A winning attitude that often can be transferred to their classmates who might not share the same feelings can be the added bonus of these students in the classroom and group.
Existential students seek meaningful learning and enjoy connecting different curriculums, wanting to be presented information about what they need to know and not added information to simply fill time or space. These students also have a strong connection to their friends, family and community; often feeling as though part of a “global” community seeking political activism. Existential students enjoy also making connections across other cultures and enjoy learning about the rest of the world and how their actions affect others through the arts such as philosophy, and religion.
3. The way of being able to implement several different intelligences into your classroom is that you make sure as the teacher you take into account that every student is different and unique. Using different methods of teaching can guarantee that no single student feels left out or ignored. Playing to all of the intelligence’s strength gives each student an opportunity to shine and show off their strength.
Intrapersonal students need the opportunity to be given choices and a chance to express their feelings. Using journals and other reflective activities helps aims both choices and an opportunity to reflect. Since these students have strong moral and justice values they often have an opinion on the social justice system and contribute well to group discussions though must be given a chance to reflect before answering.
A student who use interpersonal intelligence enjoy peer interaction so allowing students to work in groups allow these students to thrive, also giving them an opportunity to pick and chose their own groups. Competitive assignment also tends to bring out the best of these students who naturally want their team to do the best. Teamwork tends to be the key to including interpersonal intelligence in your classroom activities, giving these students the chance to be a leader allows them to shine and push other students as well.
Having existential intelligence in your classroom you should often have overviews, multiple view points, and relating the materials and curriculum to local and global events. These students seek to connect different events and information to a larger global picture, so helping them with an overview or outline encourages this type of thinking. Since existential students tend to have a connection to the arts, including interpretation to a painting or poem relating to the curriculum.
4. Technology is a new enterprise in education, allowing there to be more opportunities for students to learn towards their own strengths. Technology doesn’t just mean using the computer or internet, but can be counted as other educational advancements that stimulate intelligence.
Intrapersonal intelligences are stimulated by journals, diaries, surveys, class discussions, learning centers, online forms and surveys, and self assessment. Many of these technologies can be used inside of the classroom such as journals, diaries and class discussion with little interruption to other intelligences. Online forms, surveys and self assessment are possible chances for outside of the classroom growth and the opportunity for the student to grow and learn on their own.
Interpersonal intelligences are stimulated by class discussions, collaborative projects, chat, message boards, and other areas that focus on communication with others. By creating greeting cards these students are allowed to express themselves. Board games and other competitions give students a chance compete and lead which are two attributes of interpersonal intelligences that I feel allow these type of students to truly showcase their abilities.
Existential intelligences are stimulated by the arts, so art replicas/exhibits, planetariums, stage dramas, classic literature and philosophy, and focusing on symbols of religion. Students who display existential intelligence enjoy the opportunity to explore the global community and see the connections between different subjects and often form their own opinions and ideas.
5. The understanding of multiple intelligences is essential to your growth as both a person and a teacher. To understand the different mentality of people is both beneficial inside and outside of the classroom, but being able to help students at an age where they can be influenced heavily by outside sources giving them an opportunity to be unique and an individual is an important part of the education process. Understanding all of the intelligences and their strengths and weaknesses can help you plan your lessons to include all forms and not exclude certain students from the learning process. The impact on each student is that they can feel included in the classroom where sometimes students are often ignored or forgotten in other areas of their lives it is important to give them the chance to feel included. Also if you aim certain classroom activities and learning towards all of the intelligence it gives every student a chance to shine to his or her highest level. The process of including all forms of the multiple intelligences is also essential to the teacher; by being exposed to all forms you can better yourself as both an educator and person.
-Matt Melka
GO COUGS!
Naturalist – 80
Musical – 60
Logical – 70
Existential – 70
Interpersonal – 40
Kinesthetic – 70
Verbal – 40
Intrapersonal – 100
Visual – 50
The main strengths of my intelligence according to the test were Intrapersonal, Naturalist, Logical, Existential and Kinesthetic. Intrapersonal students can best be described as those who know who they are and what they stand for, often aware of their own feelings, thoughts, actions and behaviors. These types of students express their feelings toward a particular task and will let you know if they like it or not. They are comfortable with themselves, confident in their abilities and set realistic goals. My second strongest trait was the Naturalist, which could be defined as students who find organization and hierarchy within sets and can create categories based on like and unlike attributes. A logical student is one who uses reasoning and problem solving to solve the task at hand using linear, concrete, and abstract reasoning. Logical students are also aware of cause and effect relationships. A kinesthetic student is one who learns through physical interaction, these students often have developed body movement and skills such as agility, reaction, and sensory.
I did find it very interesting though that I had a low interpersonal intelligence, being a youth basketball coach all summer and often being in charge of an entire camp with other coaches following my lead I would think that leadership would be one of my qualities and one of every teacher. Other interesting qualities of interpersonal that I feel that I possess are the social elements of knowing and understanding other individuals, often knowing how a student is feeling by their body language or tone. Maybe I wasn’t feeling very interpersonal when I took the test but I feel this is most definitely an intelligence I use more than the given 40 shows. If I had to pick my best core of intelligences it would be Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, and Existential. I believe that my care for others is above my need for order, reasoning and hierarchy.
2. Each intelligence has different strengths and learning styles, while some overlap, some are completely unique. A student who is primarily verbal will not have the same needs as someone who is primarily visual, but students who have tendencies might not necessarily be entirely one way all the time and have the capacity to learn multiple ways.
Intrapersonal students are confident in their abilities, set realistic goals, express their opinions and feelings well, make appropriate choices and follow their instincts. These students often relate to others through their own sense of self, being confident with themselves they are often confident with others through their sense of values, morals and judgment. Intrapersonal students are those who are deeply reflective and understand themselves because they are comfortable with themselves in their thoughts, actions and behavior. Often showcasing the qualities of a quiet leader, who’s actions speak louder than words.
Interpersonal students are those who seek support of the group, value relationships, and tend to be natural leaders. This type of student are often the head of their classroom, a person other students often look to. They enjoy sharing information about themselves and might be the first student to introduce themselves in a group and be willing to get right to work, often blending with several different view points to accomplish their goal. A winning attitude that often can be transferred to their classmates who might not share the same feelings can be the added bonus of these students in the classroom and group.
Existential students seek meaningful learning and enjoy connecting different curriculums, wanting to be presented information about what they need to know and not added information to simply fill time or space. These students also have a strong connection to their friends, family and community; often feeling as though part of a “global” community seeking political activism. Existential students enjoy also making connections across other cultures and enjoy learning about the rest of the world and how their actions affect others through the arts such as philosophy, and religion.
3. The way of being able to implement several different intelligences into your classroom is that you make sure as the teacher you take into account that every student is different and unique. Using different methods of teaching can guarantee that no single student feels left out or ignored. Playing to all of the intelligence’s strength gives each student an opportunity to shine and show off their strength.
Intrapersonal students need the opportunity to be given choices and a chance to express their feelings. Using journals and other reflective activities helps aims both choices and an opportunity to reflect. Since these students have strong moral and justice values they often have an opinion on the social justice system and contribute well to group discussions though must be given a chance to reflect before answering.
A student who use interpersonal intelligence enjoy peer interaction so allowing students to work in groups allow these students to thrive, also giving them an opportunity to pick and chose their own groups. Competitive assignment also tends to bring out the best of these students who naturally want their team to do the best. Teamwork tends to be the key to including interpersonal intelligence in your classroom activities, giving these students the chance to be a leader allows them to shine and push other students as well.
Having existential intelligence in your classroom you should often have overviews, multiple view points, and relating the materials and curriculum to local and global events. These students seek to connect different events and information to a larger global picture, so helping them with an overview or outline encourages this type of thinking. Since existential students tend to have a connection to the arts, including interpretation to a painting or poem relating to the curriculum.
4. Technology is a new enterprise in education, allowing there to be more opportunities for students to learn towards their own strengths. Technology doesn’t just mean using the computer or internet, but can be counted as other educational advancements that stimulate intelligence.
Intrapersonal intelligences are stimulated by journals, diaries, surveys, class discussions, learning centers, online forms and surveys, and self assessment. Many of these technologies can be used inside of the classroom such as journals, diaries and class discussion with little interruption to other intelligences. Online forms, surveys and self assessment are possible chances for outside of the classroom growth and the opportunity for the student to grow and learn on their own.
Interpersonal intelligences are stimulated by class discussions, collaborative projects, chat, message boards, and other areas that focus on communication with others. By creating greeting cards these students are allowed to express themselves. Board games and other competitions give students a chance compete and lead which are two attributes of interpersonal intelligences that I feel allow these type of students to truly showcase their abilities.
Existential intelligences are stimulated by the arts, so art replicas/exhibits, planetariums, stage dramas, classic literature and philosophy, and focusing on symbols of religion. Students who display existential intelligence enjoy the opportunity to explore the global community and see the connections between different subjects and often form their own opinions and ideas.
5. The understanding of multiple intelligences is essential to your growth as both a person and a teacher. To understand the different mentality of people is both beneficial inside and outside of the classroom, but being able to help students at an age where they can be influenced heavily by outside sources giving them an opportunity to be unique and an individual is an important part of the education process. Understanding all of the intelligences and their strengths and weaknesses can help you plan your lessons to include all forms and not exclude certain students from the learning process. The impact on each student is that they can feel included in the classroom where sometimes students are often ignored or forgotten in other areas of their lives it is important to give them the chance to feel included. Also if you aim certain classroom activities and learning towards all of the intelligence it gives every student a chance to shine to his or her highest level. The process of including all forms of the multiple intelligences is also essential to the teacher; by being exposed to all forms you can better yourself as both an educator and person.
-Matt Melka
GO COUGS!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Learning Styles Project
Learning Styles Project - TL 466
A.) I took the test from the website published by North Carolina State University. The test measured 4 different categories of learning and the two different results for each category of learning; an either-or consequence. The categories were Active/Reflective, Sensing/Intuitive, Visual/Verbal, and Sequential/Global Learners. The graph was then broken down onto a scale one way or the other, with 1-3 being fairly well balanced, 5-7 a moderate preference, and a 9-11 would be considered a very strong preference for a certain style of learning.
Active learners prefer to break down the activity or learning at hand by becoming involved, while a reflective learner likes to quietly think of the task or idea first. Sensing learners use facts and dates to learn and Intuitive learners like to seek connections and possibilities to learn. Visual learners tend to prefer diagrams and graphs to accompany their learning while Verbal learners learn better in spoken or written word. Sequential learners tend to use step-by-step process to solve a problem or idea, while Global learners learn a large amount of an idea quickly but cannot always see the connections between ideas.
URL: http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html
B.) Results for: Matt Melka
ACT vs REF
11 9 7 5 3 1 1 3 5 7 9 11
<-- -->
SEN vs INT
11 9 7 5 3 1 1 3 5 7 9 11
<-- -->
VIS vs VRB
11 9 7 5 3 1 1 3 5 7 9 11
<-- -->
SEQ vs GLO
11 9 7 5 3 1 1 3 5 7 9 11
<-- -->
My results show that I don’t have a preference between being an active or reflective learner, which makes sense because there are some topics I don’t mind jumping right in and discussing, and other ideas I like to reflect upon before saying something. I tend to have a moderate preference for intuitive learning meaning I like to see connections between ideas and concepts. I also have a moderate preference for visual learning and sequential learning. I agree with my results and what I have learned is that I do like to order my thinking in a process, as a checklist and by using visual aids to organize my thoughts, sometimes just writing down notes.
C.) By understanding my own thinking and learning I can better apply it to my own students and better understand how they would interpret my teaching.How I see this project helping my future teaching and lessons plan is that I can try to find a balance between the different learning methods and make sure to accommodate all students’ learning styles. By giving students both opportunities to reflect and be active in a discussion is a way that both learning styles can be incorporated. By allowing the active students to jump right into a discussion or debate, and allow the reflective learners to think about what’s been said before they decide to join the discussion. Sensing and intuitive learners might be more difficult to balance, but by allowing those that need dates to have them and those that need to understand what those dates stand for you can supply them with the stories behind them. Verbal and visual learners tends to be the greatest rift between two styles, though easily managed by providing an illustration or a graph/chart and include a summary so both parties can both learn to their full potential. The difference between global and sequential learners could also be solved with a flow chart so those that need order can have order, but those that want the big picture and little details later they can also use the flow chart to their advantage. By being able to make sure you try to balance both sides of a learning style you can make sure that no student feels left out.
-Matt Melka
GO COUGS!
A.) I took the test from the website published by North Carolina State University. The test measured 4 different categories of learning and the two different results for each category of learning; an either-or consequence. The categories were Active/Reflective, Sensing/Intuitive, Visual/Verbal, and Sequential/Global Learners. The graph was then broken down onto a scale one way or the other, with 1-3 being fairly well balanced, 5-7 a moderate preference, and a 9-11 would be considered a very strong preference for a certain style of learning.
Active learners prefer to break down the activity or learning at hand by becoming involved, while a reflective learner likes to quietly think of the task or idea first. Sensing learners use facts and dates to learn and Intuitive learners like to seek connections and possibilities to learn. Visual learners tend to prefer diagrams and graphs to accompany their learning while Verbal learners learn better in spoken or written word. Sequential learners tend to use step-by-step process to solve a problem or idea, while Global learners learn a large amount of an idea quickly but cannot always see the connections between ideas.
URL: http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html
B.) Results for: Matt Melka
ACT vs REF
11 9 7 5 3 1 1 3 5 7 9 11
<-- -->
SEN vs INT
11 9 7 5 3 1 1 3 5 7 9 11
<-- -->
VIS vs VRB
11 9 7 5 3 1 1 3 5 7 9 11
<-- -->
SEQ vs GLO
11 9 7 5 3 1 1 3 5 7 9 11
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My results show that I don’t have a preference between being an active or reflective learner, which makes sense because there are some topics I don’t mind jumping right in and discussing, and other ideas I like to reflect upon before saying something. I tend to have a moderate preference for intuitive learning meaning I like to see connections between ideas and concepts. I also have a moderate preference for visual learning and sequential learning. I agree with my results and what I have learned is that I do like to order my thinking in a process, as a checklist and by using visual aids to organize my thoughts, sometimes just writing down notes.
C.) By understanding my own thinking and learning I can better apply it to my own students and better understand how they would interpret my teaching.How I see this project helping my future teaching and lessons plan is that I can try to find a balance between the different learning methods and make sure to accommodate all students’ learning styles. By giving students both opportunities to reflect and be active in a discussion is a way that both learning styles can be incorporated. By allowing the active students to jump right into a discussion or debate, and allow the reflective learners to think about what’s been said before they decide to join the discussion. Sensing and intuitive learners might be more difficult to balance, but by allowing those that need dates to have them and those that need to understand what those dates stand for you can supply them with the stories behind them. Verbal and visual learners tends to be the greatest rift between two styles, though easily managed by providing an illustration or a graph/chart and include a summary so both parties can both learn to their full potential. The difference between global and sequential learners could also be solved with a flow chart so those that need order can have order, but those that want the big picture and little details later they can also use the flow chart to their advantage. By being able to make sure you try to balance both sides of a learning style you can make sure that no student feels left out.
-Matt Melka
GO COUGS!
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