STUDY GROUP OUTLINE

1. The author identifies three “learning styles”—visual, auditory and kinesthetic. (Pg 197) What is your definition of a “learning style?” Does your definition vary from Ms. Cromley’s? Do you have a specific “learning style?”
2. Teaching to differing learning styles of students is a popular buzz phrase in education, yet more than 300 “mainstream” resources do not recommend this as a scientific fact. (Pg 197) When did you first hear about “learning styles” and are “learning styles” part of the philosophy where you teach?
3. “Several studies show that most people remember better when they learn through several senses, not just one . . .. [each sense] triggers [different memories.]” (Pg 197) What does this statement mean for classroom teachers?
4. Although “only 3% of the population is a kinesthetic learner” (Pg 198) experienced teachers know their students remember new material better if the students are actively involved in doing a related activity during the learning process. Describe a topic you’ve taught that involved a kinesthetic activity in which all students participated.
5. Ms. Cromley states that a “good test used to diagnose something should be valid . . . reliable . . . and specific . . ..” (Pg 198) Using these criteria, evaluate common standardized tests used in adult education (ex: BEST, TABE, GED etc).
6. One study compared results when people were asked how they preferred to learn and how they actually learned best. It was common for students to have misjudged their best learning mode. (Pg 199) Why do you think this happened, and does this affect your use of student preferences in your classroom?
7. The author cites an analysis of 20 studies that looked at learning styles. The conclusion was that matching teaching method to learning styles does not improve performance “even though intuitively this might seem likely.” (Pg 199) What instructional decisions do you make based primarily on intuition?
8. The following reasons are research-supported for asking students how they learn best:
   • Asking students about their own learning raises awareness of their understanding or lack of understanding,
   • Teaching a lesson in many ways helps students remember because it creates more access to long-term memory, and
   • Teaching study skills for specific content-areas helps students maximize their study time. (Pg 200)
   Have you discussed with students how they think they learn best? If yes, how did you follow up the discussion or checklist? If no, how could you introduce a discussion or checklist of “learning styles” during the next couple of weeks?
9. In response to the question, “What is the best way to memorize?” Ms. Cromley lists “10 proven methods.” (Pgs 200-201) Choose three of her suggestions and describe how you will combine them into one lesson that requires memorization during the next month (ex: learning prefixes and suffixes, punctuation rules, irregular verbs, etc).

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