“Design instructional programs based on learning principles and theories”
Introduction
Human beings learn in a variety of ways, based upon our senses. There are people who learn best by hearing, while others excel when they merely watch or directly interact with the world. Yet appealing to an audience using only one manner of communication is a sure way to alienate many of its members, as any combination of these three experiential modes can also function as a person’s optimal learning style. There are persons who learn most effectively when able to read transcripts of lectures while listening to them, and others who prefer to handle a tool while hearing how to operate it correctly. Any instructional program that aims for broad appeal must be designed with this natural variation in mind.
Learning anything is a complex process. One typically encounters new information and then through recall (study, rehearsal, practice) strengthens the neural associations that link to this information. As more mental mapping is created by making further associations to the new information, effective long-term learning is typically an iterative experience, requiring effort. Historically, learning in colleges emphasized this effort by focusing on oral memorization of classic written works. Contemporary college programs strive to increase critical thought though careful analysis and sometimes employ multimodal strategies.
Visual learners strongly prefer their education to come in the form of images and written information. Careful planning needs to happen in order to appeal to this type of learner, with handouts, written instructions, and lecture transcripts all providing tangible and useful benefits to recall. Visual learners usually sit in classrooms or learning environments where they can best see the displayed or presented lecture. They tend to struggle when information is conveyed primarily in an auditory method.
Kinesthetic learners, or people who learn by doing, most easily recall patterns of body motions. This method of learning is best matched with situations that offer solid and rewarding interaction with the physical realm. When this is not ideally suited to the subject matter, computer-based learning using both mouse and keyboard can still help kinesthetic (or tactile) learners make strong associations of how to perform tasks and remember sequences. Distributing objects in a classroom, such as molecular models for chemistry or origami paper for math, will dramatically aid kinesthetic learners’ recall by aiding them in remembering the motion and feel of the items, as they naturally associate these attributes with information.
People who learn primarily from listening, the auditory learners, represent perhaps the greatest percentage of learning types. Their ideal method of teaching naturally focuses on providing spoken speech to explain ideas and new information, which can of course be delivered in-person or at a distance. Classical, in-person methods of auditory instruction are quickly being matched in availability and ease with distance methods, as information technology drives the popularity of this format. For many learners, it is now easier to watch a lecture with a detailed slide show on Youtube than it is to actually travel to a classroom or auditorium to receive the same information from a live presentation.
As mentioned above, however, there are many combinations of these learning styles possible. The most effective way to enable successful learning for an audience of any size, then, is to employ instructional techniques that support all three of these learning styles. When designing a distance learning course, it is vital that your lecture be more than just a disembodied voice– a presentation of text and images, and ideally a downloadable transcript of the lecture, need to be provided beyond the voice. By honoring the needs of the three different learning styles, any sort of instruction or information sharing will be far more effective for a much larger population.
Take for example the high school librarian’s task to instruct students on how to find, use and evaluate information. One method would be to simply conduct a presentation, or a slide show with an accompanying lecture. Yet a handout with images and some major lecture points in outline format easily strengthens the diversity of the information and guarantees that it has wider instructional impact with anyone who learns in a tactile fashion. This approach now appeals to all three types of learners, as a lecture with clean and helpful visuals can be further improved by simply offering physical objects to reinforce and elaborate the information.
Evidence
My first piece of evidence is a research paper from LIBR 243. This assignment tasked me with selecting a topic related to the field of library and information science and writing a research paper. My selected topic was providing continuing education to employees, so I researched the different methods of continuing education, and issues as to why employees do or do not continue their education. Some of the positive methods included providing a more flexible schedule and delivery of classes, including distance education and weekend courses. This demonstrates my understanding of the importance of tailoring instructional strategies to student needs.
My second piece of evidence is a class curriculum handout called “Introduction to Twitter and LinkedIn” I created during my time volunteering for the Adult Services department of a local public library. This handout contains images, screenshots and text, meant to appeal to the visual mode of learning. However I also created a slide show and read-aloud instructor packet, both to be used in conjunction with this visual/tactile handout, all of which have step-by-step instructions for using the two sites. The handout also contains a glossary and additional helpful resources that can be found or reserved at the library. This demonstrates my awareness and understanding of the need to include different learning strategies in any kind of instructive materials or presentation creation.
My third piece of evidence is another class curriculum handout called “Introduction to PowerPoint” that I created while volunteering for the Adult Services department of that same local public library. This computer class handout was created to teach basic functionality of the Window’s PowerPoint program, so I took screenshots and labeled them, and created small tasks for students such as creating and editing slides. I designed an accompanying slide show for this handout, with additional information and a selection of additional titles that can be found or reserved at the library. Here, too I also created a “teacher’s packet” as a resource for the instructor of the class to use while lecturing. This shows my understanding that learning occurs in a variety of ways and if one expects to reach the maximum amount of people in the audience, several methods of information instruction and delivery need to be utilized.
Conclusion
Learning happens through receiving information in one of three main sensory modes, be it auditory, visual, kinesthetic or in any combination of these. While one individual may need to interact with learning materials while listening to a lecture on the same topic to effectively learn the information presented, another person may only require detailed visual materials in order to learn the same information. In any teaching situation, these three different learning modes need to be considered when designing strategies for optimal retention, such as providing materials along with a spoken presentation or transcripts along with a lecture. Accommodating all three strategies enables everyone potential learner in the audience to receive information in the manner that will most benefit their retention of it.