GVSU Learning NetworkUnderstanding and Leveraging

Learning StylesOctober 28 & 29, 2014

Today’s Objectives• To determine the implications of the faculty

learning styles inventory results.– What does this mean for professional

learning?– What does this mean for how educators

interact with students?• Create a plan for debriefing faculty with

the results of their learning styles inventory• Create a plan of action for surveying

students for their learning styles

AgendaI. Objectives, Agenda, Norms

II. Quick Discussion: What have we learned since August?

III. Framing Learning Styles: Reflections from Howard Gardner (Video and Discussion)

IV. Clarifying Our Theory of Action for Learning Styles

V. Learning Inventory Results: Data Protocol Discussion

VI. Developing a Plan: How to Share with Our Faculty

Learning Network -Norms

• Silence mobile phones and other devices

• Be present and engaged• Listen actively• Make this relevant to your

work and your school• Call the baby ugly (call it

like you see it)—try to not be defensive; take care with people, also.

• Reduce side conversations• Come prepared

• Speak honestly• Vegas rule—share ideas,

but protect people, schools, sensitive issues

• Share speaking opportunities—watch talk time

• Avoid negativity and complaining

• Arrive on time, start on time, end on time

Ron Heifetz on Balconies and Dance Floors

Let’s say you are dancing in a big ballroom. . . . Most of your attention focuses on your dance partner, and you reserve whatever is left to make sure you don’t collide with dancers close by. . . . When someone asks you later about the dance, you exclaim, “The band played great, and the place surged with dancers.”

But, if you had gone up to the balcony and looked down on the dance floor, you might have seen a very different picture. You would have noticed all sorts of patterns. . . you might have noticed that when slow music played, only some people danced; when the tempo increased, others stepped onto the floor; and some people never seemed to dance at all. . . . the dancers all clustered at one end of the floor, as far away from the band as possible.

. . .The only way you can gain both a clearer view of reality and some perspective on the bigger picture is by distancing yourself from the fray. . . .

If you want to affect what is happening, you must return to the dance floor.

“Experience is not what happens to a man: it is what a man does with what happens to him.”

Aldous Huxley

What have we (the team; the school) done since August?

What have we learned about what you have done? What patterns have we seen?

A Primer: Gardner on Multiple Intelligences and Education

What is your most meaningful takeaway from Gardner’s reflections on education? Why?

What do you take away from Gardner regarding multiple intelligences/learning theory?

Learning Styles: A Starting Theory of Action

• If identify the learning styles of students, then raise student awareness and teacher awareness.

• If we make students more aware of their learning style, then they can self-regulate their learning.

• If we make teachers more aware of learning styles, then they can tailor instructional methods and differentiate for the needs of students.

What additions, subtractions, and modifications do you want to make so that it represents

YOUR theory of action?

Mark up the preceding slide accordingly.

Team Discussion: What Do Inventory Results Tell Us?

I. What parts of this data catch your eye? Just the facts. 2 minutes individual thinking; 8 minutes

discussion

II. What does this data tell us? What does this not tell us? Make inferences, but support with data.

2 minutes individual thinking; 8 minutes discussion

III. What conclusions can we draw?

10 minutes

Modified from NSR Faculty Protocol:http://www.wsfcs.k12.nc.us/cms/lib/NC01001395/Centricity/ModuleInstance/17572/Protocol_for_Examining_Data.pdf

How Will You Share This Information With Your Faculty?

Some Resources• http://

www.slideshare.net/bking/edu-5701-7-dunn-dunn-learning-styles-model1-presentation

• http://www.ilsa-learning-styles.com/Learning+Styles/The+Dunn+and+Dunn+Learning+Styles+Model.html

• http://wps.prenhall.com/wps/media/objects/863/884633/Volume_medialib/dunn.pdf

• http://americantesol.com/DunnLearningStyles.pdf• http://www.seechangeconsulting.com.au/_

literature_134767/Dunn_and_Dunn_Learning_Styles_Model