Today we are examining learning styles and intelligence -- what are these things, do they exist, how do they show up, and what do we do with them in the classroom? Today's questions will have two strands -- one on learning styles, the other on intelligence.
1a. Kirschner details the research on learning styles and whether or not they are something that should be used as widely as they are. Using what we have discussed previously in class about cognitive development and thinking, why do you think these learning styles are so popular? Have you seen this popularity in your own school or life, and how does it relate back to why you think these are popular?
1b. How can you as an educator reconcile the popularity of “learning style” programs with the lack of evidence to support their use in the classroom?
2a. Kaya et al. provide an overview of the history intelligence testing then introduce the connection to achievement that we have historically linked to intelligence. Discuss at least two ways to measure intelligence as cited by Kaya et al. and explore why you agree or disagree that this is a "good" way of measuring intelligence. Remember -- your opinion is interesting, but you must back it up with evidence provided by this and any other source you would like to bring in.
2b. Describe the most intelligent person you know. Just their attributes, the ones that make him or her "intelligent." (Try to avoid using identifying characteristics -- e.g., my friend Genie who has blond hair and is often eating lunch on campus at 1pm.) How do you know this person is intelligent? What do you value in intelligence, and how is that related to achievement, however you are defining it?
Matthew Wypycha
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Prof. Lorenzetti
Reading Reflection #9
Title: Intelligence and Its Relationship to Achievement, by: Faith Kaya, Joyce Juntune, and Laura Stough, and Stop Propagating the Learning Styles Myth, by: Paul A. Kirschner
Date: November 7th (posted on blog)
Description/Summary-
This article by Kaya and others deals with intelligence and achievement. At first, this highly academic article goes over a bit of the past professional’s research on intelligence. One of the points mentioned refers to a researcher’s breakdown of intelligence into 3 parts, these being- abstract thinking or reasoning, the capacity to acquire knowledge, and problem-solving ability. Then the article goes into the concepts of fluid and crystallized intelligence. Fluid intelligence is someone's mental operations to solve a problem for reasoning using skills like problem solving, drawing inferences, transforming information, concept formation, comprehension, and inductive and deductive reasoning. Crystallized intelligence is a person's ability to apply past learned skills and personal knowledge to answer questions and solve problems through their acquired skills. As achievement is a broad construct with different dimensions, and the authors say it can be defined in various ways. They say achievement is a student’s ability and performance related to cognitive, emotional, social, and physical development. Later in the article, it goes into the strong relationship between intelligence and achievement.
The Kirschner article is much more open minded, basically is saying that there is no specific way that we should classify learners- notably students. He says that there are differences in the way that students prefer to learn and that that way is not specifically only one style, and he says that to assume people should be clustered or “pigeonholed”, into one group is ineffective. He cites two problems by saying that people cannot be gathered into specific or distinct groups as shown in several past studies. Furthermore, he and his team believe that the dependability and validity of learning style tests prove inconsistent with low reliabilities for true learners. The article also goes over and shares thoughts of other colleagues in their field that have carried out other types of research and hypothesis is about learning styles.
Response/Reflection-
My thoughts on the article was that it was very hard to understand and digest, however at the end in the discussion when the authors talk about the relationship between intelligence and academic achievement and that it is principle for educators to understand the constructs of these seemed helpful. Also, acknowledging that students from a low socioeconomic status were not able to keep up scores or grades with gifted students from high economic areas was eye-opening. I put thought into this in relevance to my own students in the Bronx.
For the second article, the last line of the abstract that says, “this article delivers an evidence-informed plea to teachers, administrators and researchers to stop propagating the learning styles myth”, really took me by surprise. To me it seemed that these two articles contested one another. And if I'm to be honest and reflective in my response and reflection, I would take the side of Mr. Kirschner. So many students have so many different backgrounds in so many different styles to learn that it would nearly be impossible to put them all into one file one category. In many articles, the tables and graphs are sometimes confusing data, but I found Table 1 titled “30 learning styles” discussed and the vocabulary used in it to be very interesting. The sections where he implies that instruction using different methods (differentiation) to match the styles of certain students was very truthful. I am going to try to find a way to use the knowledge from this article when I work with my challenged learners.
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ReplyDeleteSimilar to what Paul A. Kirschner wrote in “Stop Propagating the Learning Styles Myth”, I think learning styles were mainstreamed and adopted the masses in education. It seems as an effort to cater to students based on preferences and “the best way they learn.'' I myself have asked students what type of learner they are, explaining the different types of learners and giving a learning styles inventory. Learning styles do seem to box the individual learner in and categorize as such that they will solely learn best and succeed through specificity. Learning styles seem as a means to tailor differentiation in instruction to reach each student. And while I do think differentiation is fitting, learning styles appear to set confides for the learner rather providing scaffolding to reach the learner.
ReplyDeleteAs educators, it is our goal to reach our students, helping them to engage with, understand, and excel in content. Educators will even use learning style inventories to try to reach students in an attempt to facilitate comprehension and mastery. As an educator myself I do not think I would completely disregard learning styles, however I do not think it should be the driving factor behind how content is delivered. I think as important is the individual learner so is the collective class. If learning styles were a major determinant in how I delivered instruction, then in theory many students would apparently not be engaged in the lesson and thus not understand. If the following were to be true who would then be more accountable for lack of student success, the student or the teacher who did not facilitate the learning style? I do believe it is important to accommodate student needs and according to the research presented by Kirschner learning style appear to be ineffective in truly accommodating students in such a way that they are succeeding in class. As an educator I can look at other strategies that could factor into student understanding and success.
Faith Kaya details in her writing “Intelligence and its Relationship to Achievement” of intelligence tests being pioneered by Spearman. Spearman showed that people who performed well on cognitive tests also performed well on other tests. After Spearman was Thurstone who believed there were multiple factors to evaluate one’s including intelligence. More recently, multiple intelligences have been looked at rather than just cognitive. Kaya also expounds upon the relationship between intelligence. Kaya writes that one’s intelligence can be a predictor not only of educational outcome but also socio-economic outcomes. According to Kaya two ways to measure intelligence is through “IQ tests” and school based assessments (ie. tests, quizzes, etc.). I agree that such standardized tests can help measure an intelligence however it is not a holistic measure of one’s intelligence. Kaya also mentions multiple intelligence in her article, in which intelligence is not solely based on cognitivity or “IQ”.
Someone that I know is intelligent is a person who invests in their craft. They were able to perform their craft at the highest level. This person has a mindset of constantly improving and putting in the work necessary to be successful at what they do. Due to the work that this person put in they were able to reap the reward they were looking to gain. This person did not only excel in their craft, they are also multilingual and able to invest their time and effort in other ventures that have been successful. This person has shown their intelligence in their understanding of what they do, being able to explain it to others, and leading others as well. The application of intelligence to impact self and others is what is valuable. A person’s intelligence and dedication in an area will affect their achievement in that area.
-J. Mercer
Charlotte Odiase
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Reflection #9
1a. The most important idea that Kirshner poses is the significance between learning styles and its correlation to how knowledge is received and translated. I am impartial to the article as a whole because I believe that the classification of a “learning style” is most accurate when supported by evidence. And in this case, Kirshner’s among other researchers’ case studies don’t actually negate my personal beliefs on whether or not a classified “learning style” can be determined. Although, I am no scientist, I do believe that I have a particular ability to learn best in some ways versus others. I do believe that classifying my learning style has helped me to retain and relay knowledge and information to people I encounter in my personal and professional life in a relatively effective way, when I rely on my learning styles to communicate my understanding. Nevertheless, I do agree, that often times people mis-communicate or mis-associate their particular learning styles inaccurately. The way that people share information, I believe is a direct reflection of how they themselves have processed that information. In some cases, the information can be dispersed and received effectively but it can also be received and interpreted in-effectively. Hence, miscommunication and misunderstandings. As a sped-educator, considering learning styles has major influence on how I develop and craft lesson plans. Nonetheless, it is typically more valued in a self-contained classroom. Although the goal of ICT settings is to provide equitable support to students, I find it difficult to facilitate in a classroom with a general educator who doesn’t recognize and appreciate the need for differentiation.
1b. I believe that “learning styles” are a necessity in special education classroom. Teaching students to tap into knowledge from a particular perspective can provide access to understanding in a number of ways. I believe it requires practice and discipline to learn and determine which “learning style” can and will facilitate the most access to any area of knowledge.
2. According to the Kaya article, intelligence can be measured in a series of ways. If I had to select the most interesting two definitive descriptions, I would choose, the capacity to acquire knowledge and the problem-solving ability. I find that persons who have mastered these two skill-sets often reflect my concept of intelligence. According to the article, Kaya notes that intelligence is a general capacity, among other things that involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience. This rationale for intelligence is in fact the one consensus that all theories stem from in one way or another. Although, all aspects of the rationale may not meet the standard for some definitions, it can serve as a rough template from which people would select their preferences.
2b.I have been blessed to encounter many intelligent people in my lifetime. I define the concept of intelligence to be a multifaceted understanding of life and its ever-changing elements. One is intelligent because they are and can be savvy and intuitive. They are and can encounter a series of elements (emotions/experiences/dilemmas) and navigate them with ease. They are often present in the moment but can and will display a wisdom beyond her physical age. Their understanding and ability to effectively communicate is admirable and is often envied. One human being possessing these attributes can only be successful. Despite whatever hurdles they encounter and have experienced, I can only recognize that they are resilient and consistently growing. Thus, making them someone who have achieved greatly and I can only look up to and greatly respect them.
Daniel Santana
ReplyDeleteEveryone learns otherwise. This is why differentiation, the concept in education, is important. Differentiation implies that education supports different styles of education. Without getting into a bit much detail here, there are diversity of teaching styles. The most widely recognized styles are spoken, visual, and kinesthetic. Matching the learning style isn't complex and doesn't take to end the plan. if you are a verbal or science learner, you can likely see success where this reliance is understanding of the written documentation.
A tip for educators: because of these education style differences, people use these learning modes, the learning cycles should be considered an idealized portrayal of the learning process that can vary widely in application. Some of my students may start with their preferred style and pursue these learning modes in their own manner regardless of how I conduct my lesson. The idea that learning must always be with practical education and move through the different stages in the cycle is not a concrete rule. Although a number of my co-workers are powerful proponents of starting learning experiences with the through practical education, they have strong arguments for this exercise. They argue that starting with the shared through education brings students into the room, democratizing the learning process between teacher and student. Additionally, the puzzles or questions demonstrated by direct education involve learners and make questioning and observation, starting the learning cycle.
Learning styles are pretty well ubiquitous in education today. What started out as the classroom management method has become the strong concept of teaching. This can ultimately destroy an individual's need for education because people consider the labels that they are made. If you deal with young kids, just don't label. Instead of telling them how clever, stupid, good, bad, talented, or clumsy they are, talk to them about how well they have done in terms of effort and work. Instead of saying how impressive they are, praise the job that they must get done in order to accomplish whatever they have done. Make them focused on their work and effort. This instills the growth mindset. The more you work at something, the better that something will become.
Eva Millan
ReplyDelete1a. Learning styles are important because they classify learners into distinct groups. Learning styles are used in most schools, including where I work at. Students are given a survey in the first few days of school where they explain how they learn best. These surveys are also ask questions about their personality and previous experiences in school. The survey is used to help guide teachers formulate their lessons and modifications to the lessons in order for all students to access s content. It is very difficult to classify learners because everyone is so different.
1b. Although evidence isn’t concrete for different learning styles, they should still be considered. As an educator, I feel that content should be presented in multiple ways in order for students to access information. During my lessons, I present information to students via text, visuals/video, movement, etc.
2a. Kaya et al. wrote about a few different intelligence tests administered over time. The Binet–Simon Scale, was invented to measure the differences in students’ cognitive capability and identify those who needed educational assistance. These tests included the measurement of language, learning and memory, judgment and problem solving, auditory processing, and visual processing. These tests are similar to tests given to special education students in order to assess them and provide them with the services that they need. However, my noticing has been that sometimes these tests are not accurate. Sometimes students rush through them or don’t put in the effort needed to accurately assess them. IQ tests are another example of how intelligence can be measured. These tests have been used by schools, jobs, and the military.
However, according Kaya et al, the U.S. public generally dismisses it as given the belief that all people “born equally able and that social inequality results only from the exercise of unjust privilege.” I believe that tests are not always accurate. I agree with that statement; socioeconomic factors affect many students. I have seen this working with students in the Bronx, especially within my special education students. Not all students have access to the same technology, learning resources, and quality of education.
2b. The most intelligent people I know all share one attribute. This attribute is curiosity. Curiosity allows people to never stop learning and growing. I know that these people are intelligent because they never stop looking for ways to grow. Intelligent people master a skill and then move on to see what other skill they can learn. Being able to master skills and set the goal to master another skill is how intelligence is related to achievement. Kaya et al. defined educational achievement as the mastery of knowledge and skills and performance on a specific test and skill. This definition is similar to my definition of achievement. Achievement and intelligence are intertwined.
The article also took me by surprise as you mentioned Matt.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the article when it mentioned that people differ in many ways so it makes at first , people will also have different styles of learning. At the start of the school year, teachers at my school give students learning questionnaires. A popular question most ask is , “what is your preferred learning style”? It always surprised how a 6th grade student can know how they learn best. From my own experience as a student I didn't know what my preferred learning style was. The author says “ what people prefer is not, per definition, what is best for them”. I think these learning styles are so popular to further support the fact that educators need to “differentiate” instruction for each student.
I think incorporating a variety of learning modalities is important to reinforce concepts. In science, we conduct hands on investigations, make models using a simulation or hands on models. Then we read about the topic and gain further insight to support/go against our observations. The use of videos is also essential in my classroom. However, I am not targeting a specific student when playing the video or the hands on activity. All of us participate in the activity regardless of preferred learning styles. The article mentioned researchers used a self-report method and results were subjective and participants were over extending the time spent on homework. According to the article, “A preference for how one studies is not a learning style” .
Cindy Jimenez
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