Learning Styles

My Learning Styles and Intelligences Theresa C. Smith Azusa Pacific University

Learning Styles

As a teacher I know the value of assessing and being aware of my students learning styles. Although I have often assessed my students, before this assignment I had never thoroughly explored my own learning styles, so this was an insightful and valuable process for me. I began my investigation by taking the web version of the Learning Styles Survey by Jester (n.d.), which indicated that my primary learning style is the visual/verbal learning style. According to Miller (2000), I learn best when information is presented visually and in a written language format. I was not surprised by these results as I have always preferred to get information in written form and to read information on my own rather than listening to a lecture. Another way to assess learning styles and to provide a more in-depth picture of an individuals educational strengths and weaknesses is to examine his/her intelligences. The Multiple Intelligence Inventory by the Adaptive Technology Resource Centre (ATRC, 2002) indicated my strongest intelligence is the intrapersonal learner intelligence, followed closely by the linguistic learner intelligence. I was not surprised by the high score in the linguistic learner category as it echoed the results of the first survey. However, I was a bit surprised that my highest score was in the intrapersonal learner category. ATRCs Eight Styles of Learning (2002) indicates that intrapersonal learners like to work alone, and while I do like to work on my own, I feel like I enjoy collaborating with others just as much. As I previously stated, I have regularly assessed my students learning styles and intelligences, but investigating my own learning styles and intelligences helped me to appreciate my strengths and to get a realistic picture of my weaknesses. This information will be very useful to me throughout my journey through the Educational Technology program at Azusa Pacific University.

Learning Styles

References Adaptive Technology Resource Centre. (2002). Eight styles of learning. Retrieved from http://www.ldrc.ca/projects/miinventory/miinventory.php?eightstyles=1 Adaptive Technology Resource Centre. (2002). Multiple intelligence inventory. Retrieved from http://www.ldrc.ca/projects/miinventory/miinventory.php Jester, C. (n.d). A learning style survey for college. Retrieved from http://www.metamath.com/multiple/multiple_choice_questions.html Miller, S. (2000, October 25). The four learning styles in the DVC survey. Retrieved from http://www.metamath.com/lsweb/fourls.htm