Instructional Learning Styles

 Data as A Great Way to Collaborate about and Strategically Review Student Data with Colleagues

Figure 1

A Bar Graph Showing Distribution of the Different Learning Styles Among the Students Using the Kolb Learning Style Theory 

 

Figure 2

A Pie Chart Showing Different Learning Style Preferences

Data is essential to various stakeholders because it is a way to collaborate and review student data with colleagues. The teacher dashboard, for example, can help teachers understand how their students are performing concerning meeting the expectations for standard instructional practices during instruction. Another way to make sense of data is by carrying out studies that help make life as an educator simple. To this aid, this essay shows that data is a great way to collaborate and strategically review student data with colleagues through analysis of fieldwork on learning styles and how understanding data may help change an educator's way of doing things.

Students have different learning styles, including visual, auditory, kinesthetic, reading/writing or a combination of these. The interconnection between the different learning styles and the student's development is established because different learning styles can affect various aspects of a student's cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical development by influencing how well they can process, retain, and recall information, understand and express language, interact with others, understand and regulate emotions, and engage in physical activities (Entwistle & Ramsden, 2021). This interconnection is further established by understanding the implications of each learning style on specific aspects of students' development. For example, a sense that each of these learning styles has on students' cognitive development is that they will all be able to clearly understand what a particular information piece or presentation is about. This notion is because there are different ways in which educators can present information to them. These learning styles build students' overall development, affected by how well they think, speak and listen, mingle with others, feel, and move around.

From the learning style inventory identified, planning may be influenced by identifying the dominant learning style for planning to cater to the majority's needs through the acquisition of necessary materials required for learning. From the study, the dominant learning style is visual learning, as showcased by the 40% coverage representing the convergers. From reviewing these findings, planning begins by obtaining information on students' learning styles through which the stage is set for the use of learning materials which cater to their needs. This technique may improve student achievement (Truong, 2016). Planning may also lead to the development of teaching strategies based on students' needs, thus contributing to a more significant achievement level than planning without a learning style inventory. Circumstances may also push relevant individuals to consider individual student needs, leading to accommodating all students to ensure their needs are met. The learning style inventory could also help monitor progress. In terms of instructional strategies, for convergers, an instructional approach that would be effective is using visual aids such as diagrams, charts, pictures, and videos to supplement the content. Visual aids can be summarized and shared in short, easy-to-digest segments. For divergers, an instructional strategy that one could use is to have a graphic that illustrates what is being said. This strategy helps reinforce learning new knowledge or concept and can be used in any subject area. An instructional approach for assimilators is to design the exercises based on what the learners are doing. This notion includes using hands-on activities and visual aids to support reading and writing tasks. Accommodators would also benefit from incorporating hands-on activities and experiments in the learning process.

One can use the students' strengths, interests, and needs for growth to affect instruction by focusing on how students learn best. This strategy provides a baseline for future instruction or assessment (Tomlinson, 2014). Students can take cues from their strengths and interests in learning styles and incorporate them into their work. Additionally, if you know a student's preferences or interests, you can use this information to tailor your instruction by developing activities that match those needs.

 To address all learning styles when developing and implementing student assessments, one can incorporate multiple methods, such as using evaluations, portfolios, and field studies. These reviews provide the students with various learning styles to engage in, eventually allowing them to progress towards their goals (Willingham et al., 2015). Students who are more visual learners should be allowed to expand their knowledge by talking about pictures, reading texts for comprehension purposes or writing about text. On the other hand, more auditory learners may need access to recordings that go over concepts that would be more challenging for them to understand. The combination of assessments allows all students to feel like they are being taught the best way for them. From the bar graph, individuals can note the existence of various learning styles, thus requiring a blended action that accommodates all. Seeing results through multiple assessments also allows students to see their progress because they can work on tasks that combine different tasks simultaneously.

Therefore, the study shows that learning styles affect student development by affecting how well students think, speak and listen, mingle with others, feel, and move around. Learning style inventories help instructors plan how to teach and the materials required to help them. Understanding students' strengths are also seen to help better care for student needs. The application of multiple methods allows for diversity in student preference and thus caters for all.

References

Dantas, L. A., & Cunha, A. (2020). An integrative debate on learning styles and the learning process. Social Sciences &Amp; Humanities Open, 2(1), 100017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2020.100017 

Entwistle, N., & Ramsden, P. (2021). Understanding student learning (Routledge Revivals) (1st ed.). Routledge.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2014). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners. ASCD.

Truong, H. M. (2016). Integrating learning styles and adaptive e-learning system: Current developments, problems and opportunities. Computers in Human Behavior, 55, 1185–1193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.02.014 

Willingham, D. T., Hughes, E. M., & Dobolyi, D. G. (2015). The scientific status of learning styles theories. Teaching of Psychology, 42(3), 266–271. https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628315589505