Does differentiation by learning style improve attainment by increasing student’s confidence through using their preferred methodology? Stephanie McManamon – English Learning Leader
Introduction
I persevered and focused on Gardener’s theory of multiple intelligences and appealing to different methods, preferred learning styles, to improve attainment.
This Action Project focused on differentiation by students’ learning styles. In the English department there are excellent resources and skills; however, they are mostly tailored towards visual learners. ‘At (my) school we treat each student as an individual’. Within my subject area I questioned whether I did this as successfully as I possibly could when teaching to, and differentiating by, learning styles. I considered using a Key Stage 3 group for this Action Project, but I felt it was too early for students to categorise themselves into a learning style. This could result in students not adapting their styles accordingly when needed in other lessons; therefore I decided to solely focus on my two Year 10 groups. I then compiled a list of resources used within the department to teach the girls. The majority of resources and methods are tailored towards visual learners with some catered towards audio learners. I needed to use and create resources that appealed to all learners, especially kinaesthetic learners. I also gave students a choice of how they could complete tasks based on their preferred learning method. I researched scholarly journals and articles in relation to the benefits of differentiating by learning style. I discovered that it does increase students’ self-esteem and confidence; however, it has not been documented in recent studies that it increases attainment.
Findings Auditory learners prefer to: • Learn through listening: verbal lectures, discussions etc. • Interpret the underlying meanings of speech through listening to pitch, tone, speed and other nuances. • Read aloud their notes, recording themselves and playing the tape back to themselves. • Perform speeches and carry out presentations. • Use musical jingle and mnemonics to aid memorisation. • Use verbal analogies to demonstrate their point. Kinaesthetic learners prefer: • Learning through moving, doing, and touching. • A hands-on approach, exploring the physical world around us. • Bright colours to highlight reading material. • Skimming through reading material first before sitting down to read it in detail. • To work in a standing position.
Visual learners prefer to: • See the teacher’s and fellow students’ body language and facial expressions to fully understand the content of the activity/task/lesson. • Sit at the front, but this is not necessary. • Look at pictures as visual learners feel they learn quicker by multi-media. • Receive handouts, as visual learners feel it is easier to absorb information. • Presentation is paramount as visualisation aids memorisation. • Use colour to highlight or prioritise. • Illustrate visual learner’s work. • Partake in quiet time as opposed to discussion.
Recommendations Auditory Learners How can you capitalise on what you already do? • Mute the interactive white board during presentations to allow for discussion to take place without distraction. • When issuing home learning, get students to devise their own mnemonics/musical jingles in relation to the specific material being addressed in lesson. This gives the student ownership of the task and it is personalised. • Students recorded home learning tasks on their own multi-media devices at home and brought them to school on a USB. What I did outside the classroom: • Investigated the media devices we had in the school. I discovered that in our Learning Centre we did not have any recording devices. In the English department we did not have any recording devices but two recording devices have been purchased for 2013/2014. • Created a resource bank of musical jingles and mnemonics.
Kinaesthetic Learners How can you capitalise on what you already do? • Use role plays for aspects of the curriculum other than drama. • Use the Learning Centre (library) more often as there are areas in which students can stand up and read or skim through reading materials. • Smiley faces (sad, neutral, happy) as a mini-plenary/plenary tool to assess student’s learning. • Project based learning – approach the Controlled Assessment Tasks in this way. Visual Learners How can you capitalise on what you already do? • Consider how you use your facial expressions and body language to communicate? We sigh, we moan, we groan, but how can we turn this into a learning tool or a method of learning? Charades for example. • When creating handouts and powerpoint presentations, we should vary our formats using spidergrams, time-lines, charts, graphs etc. Likewise when students are note taking.