Sankovich 1 Kyle Sankovich Professor Berry ENC 1102 3 April 2013 Stakeholders in the Realm of Learning Styles Learning

styles are a becoming an increasing topic of discussion in the field of public education. A personalized plan for each student is in the near future and will hopefully jump start education in the U.S. However, we are not at that point yet and must continue to support this plan. There are many people that have a say in the adoption of personalized lesson plans, they range from the politicians that decide education funding all the way to the parents of the students involved. All parties that play a role in the debate over learning styles will be acknowledged along with an actual students opinion on the matter that will be explained and analyzed. Stakeholders can be divided up into four mains groups based on power and interest. Those that are the least important are those with low power and low interest. This includes some students that do not care about school/education and the companies that hire the students. They need to be convinced that learning styles are key, however even if you do convince them, they will not be much help because they do not have the power to carry out action. That is why they are the least important. The next group consists of those that have a large amount of power in the debate, but neglect to use it because they are apathetic to the situation. This group consists of local school boards such as the one in Orange County, Florida. Another group is the taxpayers of Orange County. For example, they would provide the schools funding for a learning style program but leave the decisions of how that money is used up to those who are more qualified, such as the

Sankovich 2 school board. Politicians that deal with education at the local, state, and national levels also have a lot of power on the subject but choose not to use it. The most important of all the groups consists of the stakeholders that have high power and high interest. This group consists of Researchers in the field of learning styles such as Amit Shah, Mark Threeton, and Richard M. Felder. Without their confirmation that learning styles are effective, then the other stakeholders would only hold a miniscule amount of interest in learning styles. That is why they are the most important out of all of the stakeholders in this article. Unfortunately they are also hard to contact. Another important stakeholder group is the Universities that may employ a learning style program. They are the reason the researchers are conducting research to begin with because without them, no one would be interested in the research. The fourth and final group is made up of teachers and students. Teachers have high interest in learning styles because they want their students to succeed. They also have the power to teach based on particular learning styles, but this is only if the school they teach at allows them to do so. This is why they are not grouped with the researchers and universities. Students are the most interesting of all the stakeholders. This is because they are affected directly by teachers using learning styles to enhance teaching. Therefore, they should be one of the most interested groups. However, not all students care about education as much as the others and only those that care about the quality of their education will be interested. The students that are interested weak in power individually because what they say typically has no effect on new policy. If the students were to collaborate, then they could achieve something. Since I did not have easy access to the high power, high interest stakeholders with the time constraint, I felt that by discussing the use of learning styles with a student to be most acceptable.

Sankovich 3 After the conversation I had with the student, I felt as if I had a better understanding of what an interested student would think. The student I talked with is pursuing a degree in finance and is currently on the Deans List. Since the student is obviously interested in his/her education, I felt as if I received reliable results. Of course I would have to talk to many more students for proof but again I was constrained by the amount of time I had. The student seemed eager to discuss learning styles because they had a little background on the subject and know what some of its capabilities are. We discussed how some teachers excelled at catering to multiple learning styles and some only please one. They also said that it more beneficial to students when a teachers attempts to satisfy multiple learning styles. I then asked the student if they might be interested in a program that would help set up study groups based on learning styles. They said they would definitely be interested because it could help students study with one another and also help some of the introvert students get out and meet people. This program would help a school such as UCF grow more connected as well as improve education, all through the use of learning styles. The University would have to appropriate funding to the program but other than that they have nothing to lose, and once the students see the benefits of learning styles, they will make a stronger push to see this idea spread. It would take a little bit of effort from each of the interested stakeholders, but they could get the job done and make great use of learning styles.

Sankovich 4 Chart 1

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Chart 2 Stakeholder Interest Impact Strategies for Support Demonstrating effectiveness through conducting studies.

Teachers of all subjects at all levels

I believe that teachers will be interested in my research because it can help them help their students.

Teachers can help students form study groups, which will help them, succeed in school.

Universities & Colleges (state, private, community)

Universities would be interested because it is an opportunity to help their students. Hopefully they will accept it.

Schools can set up a study group program that allows students to find others with the same learning style and classes.

Showing results of studies I conduct. Then getting the schools permission to set up a test program.

Researchers in the field of Learning Styles (Amit Shah, Mark Threeton, Felder/ Silverman).

They will be interested in my work because they have all discussed teaching and learning styles, never study groups and learning styles.

It will prompt new debate and studies as to whether or not the combination of learning styles and study groups is valid.

Showing the researchers positive results that learning groups improve study groups so that they hopefully will conduct studies of their own.

Sankovich 6 Chart 3

Stakeholder Interview Questionnaire: *Answers from discussion are underlined. Introduction: Hello, my name is Kyle Sankovich and I am from Christian Berrys ENC 1102 class. I am conducting a few interviews in order to understand the significance of learning styles here at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Your responses will play an important role in determine how serious UCF takes learning styles and what the University can do in the future to improve upon the situation. The interviews conducted will be short but require your full attention along with serious responses to the questions asked. The information you provide will be analyzed and processed to help formulate a general student opinion. I would now like to ask you a few questions about your experiences and opinions with learning styles here at UCF. 1. Are you a student at the University of Central Florida? What is your major and year? a. Is a student at UCF and is a finance major in 2016 2. What do you currently know about learning styles and do you know your own learning style? a. Knows that 3 main types, thinks he is more seeing and doing vs. hearing

Sankovich 7 3. Do you believe that UCF does a satisfactory job of catering to the learning styles of others as well as your own? How so? a. It depends on the prof, most just read off of slides while others are follows along with PP and does examples feels like he does better than those that just read. And the good ones accommodate them very well. 4. What guidelines does UCF have in place for professors so that they are encouraged to use learning styles? a. No doesnt know of any 5. Do you think that teachers should use learning style more, less or the same amount they currently do? Why do feel this way? a. Believes that professors need more examples and dont like the ones that just read off slides. They need more examples and get students more involved with whats going on 6. How important are policies regarding learning styles to you? Do you believe that action should be taken in order to create change here at UCF with regard to learning styles? a. Yes but doesnt know how to accomplish this. Doesnt know of any specific organizations but thinks that there may be something out theyre that could/ is helping. 7. Are there any organizations you are apart of that believe that UCF should incorporate learning styles more? a. Start with students and move towards SGA because they have a decent amount of power here at UCF. Then move up power chain

Sankovich 8 8. If you were to start a movement for a greater incorporation of learning styles at UCF, where would go? Why? Do you believe that this movement would be successful? If so, how much progress do you think you could make? a. Believes there could be a successful movement here at UCF because students are willing to work and learn 9. If a program was created in which UCF would match you up in a study group with members of the same learning style, would you favor it or no? What if it matched you up with members of all different learning styles? Why? a. Yes because some students have tough time with meeting people and studying on their own if you accommodate their learning styles and studying, along with meeting new people.