Module Two

 

MODULE TWO

Concept One: Learning Styles

Summary

    In chapter four, Woolfolk discusses intelligence.  One of the major points in the chapter is about learning styles, and how educators should use caution when using them.  Woolfolk states that “...learning preferences is a more accurate label because most of the research describes preferences for a particular learning style…”.  She then goes on to prove her point by providing examples of studies in which learning style had no impact on how a student learned.  On pages 139 and 140, a situation is described in which college students were able to identify their chosen learning style and used that in the classroom.  It had no impact on learning.

Reflection

    The idea that learning styles have not been proven to be an effective method of improving learning stuck out to me simply because I have always been taught that it did.  I remember taking tests in school designed to figure out our learning style, and then learning strategies as to how to best use them to our advantage.  These surveys would have questions like: 

 

What space-related activity would you prefer?

A.              Read a book about Mars

B.              Listen to a lecture about planets

C.              Make a model of the solar system

 

I would just pick the questions that involved reading so I could just answer questions about an article (we always did an activity involving learning styles after the survey).  I have always thought of myself as a visual learner, but when I really think about it, I do not think that an assignment has been easier for me based on whether I could see or read about how it was done beforehand.

    I agree with Woolfolk that learning preference is a better term than learning style.  I prefer to have visuals, but I don’t need them.  Woolfolk made the point that these provide an illusion of understanding, sort of like a placebo effect (pg. 140).  The students feel more comfortable because they think they learn better by hearing or doing or whatever the test tells them they will be best at.  After doing the reading, I am not sure that learning styles are something I would want to use in my classroom.  Learning styles may give students a sense of confidence, but they also don’t really seem to encourage them to work on other methods of learning.

Concept Two: English Language Learners

    Chapter five focuses on language and how it can impact learning.  A rather large portion of the chapter is spent focusing on those who are either bilingual or are just beginning to learn English as a second language.  Woolfolk provides several strategies for working with students who are just beginning to learn English.  For example, she discusses using strategies in the classroom, and mentions on page 204 that these strategies, like providing visual guides, can be used for students of all ages.  She also stresses the importance of having bilingual teachers and encourages educators to work on their skills if they know some of another language.

Reflection

    I am not bilingual, but I really wish that I was.  One of my biggest fears about becoming an educator is that I will not be able to communicate effectively with students whose first language isn’t English.  I don’t want my students to struggle because of something that I didn’t do, like take the time to learn at least a little bit of another language.  I’ve always kicked around the idea of taking a foreign language course at one of the community colleges, and after doing the reading I know that learning a second language will be an important asset to have in the classroom.

    It was nice to know that there are strategies for working with students who are just learning English, and they seem like they would be relatively easy to implement.  The idea of the literature response groups on page 204 were especially intriguing.  Unless I did not understand the text correctly, it seems like the students learn from each other?  I would love to see this in action, and I imagine it might be less pressure on the student because the instructor isn’t looking over their shoulder the entire time.

Concept Three: Gender Roles

    Chapter six discusses gender roles and how they impact the classroom.  For example, according to the text girls and boys are treated differently from birth in basically every aspect of their life, where they can go, what they play with, and even how they interact with people they know (pg. 240-241).  These interactions lead children to form gender schemas, which help them establish the differences between male and female.  This can influence them in their careers and subjects they show interest in.  The parent also plays a pretty big role in this.  Woolfolk used the example of a parent who sees value in working in a STEM field, and how their children are more likely to take those sorts of courses in school whether they are male or female (pg. 241).

Reflection:

    The most shocking part of this section (to me at least) was that preschoolers have the strongest sense of gender roles, but after doing the reading it made much more sense.  It also led me to reflect more on how gender roles have impacted my life and education.  

    I have two younger brothers, and we were brought up relatively the same way.  Our parents never discouraged us from being interested in things that were more traditionally more masculine or feminine.  However, I do think that gender roles had an impact on my education.  I never really had much interest in any of the STEM fields, but I really wasn’t encouraged to get involved in them either.  My school counselors tried to push me to go into nursing even though I clearly showed no interest in the field.  My parents also played a pretty big role in the types of classes my siblings and I took.  Both of my brothers were in the band because we grew up hearing stories of my parents' experiences playing instruments.  I took a personal finance class my senior year because my parents deemed it to be a practical option (which they ended up being right about).  The fact that I was a girl really kind of played a role in that too.  They wanted me to be independent, which was probably why they pushed me to take it.