Advocate Online

Thriving in Academe

One Size Doesn’t Fit All

We have all had the experience of making a point to a class, only to look out and witness a sea of blank expressions. We wonder, “Why aren’t they getting it?”

In many cases, when we find we are unable to reach our students, there may be a mismatch of teaching and learning styles. Often mistaken for a student’s lack of ability, a difference between an instructor’s teaching style and a student’s learning style can result in miscommunication, struggle, and frustration for both instructor and student.

Observation and research indicate that a high percentage of instructors, for instance, often approach material from a “big picture” and intuitive perspective, while students are often trying to approach the same material from a sequential and detail-oriented viewpoint. Clearly, there is going to be some miscommunication.

In our own classrooms, we are often surprised that we need to be so explicit in our lessons for students to respond successfully. But the challenge is not the students’. It’s our own approach that needs tweaking.

Being aware of our own teaching style and preferences can guide us as we plan assignments for a range of students. Several indicators have been widely used and recognized in education as useful instruments in identifying and measuring teaching and learning styles. One of the more prominent tools is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). This instrument shows us where we are on a spectrum between being introverted and extroverted, sensing and intuitive, thinking and feeling, and judging and perceiving.

Kolb’s experiential learning cycle has also been adapted to suggest four learning styles and a range of teaching strategies appropriate for each stage of the cycle (see above). Using a tool such as the MBTI can help us bridge the teaching and learning communication gap.

Being aware of our own preference type and teaching style should be our starting point as we plan classroom activities. As we begin to understand inherent strengths and potential weaknesses in ourselves and in our students, we begin to empathize and adopt a more student-centered approach. The rub is, of course, that this active awareness asks us to move outside our comfort zones at times.

While this approach may require something more of us than what is comfortable, we are in fact modeling behavior for our students. We often tell them that what is comfortable may not always be what works best. If we expect students to change their habits and become better at what they do, we need to embrace this behavior in our own endeavors.

Using our awareness of learning styles, we vary classroom activities. When we do so, every student spends some time operating within his or her comfort zone and has a chance to “shine,” but each student is also asked to navigate beyond the student’s own preferences.

Varying activities requires some strategic planning and reflective practices on our part as well as on the part of our students. Some examples include keeping a teacher’s journal, participating in professional development activities, and adopting an experimental perspective by designing projects and activities that may not be what we would normally do.

Helping students understand learning styles
We find that our students need help in breaking their own comfortable, yet sometimes unsuccessful habits. To accomplish this, we should help students to understand their own learning style preferences, and learn to navigate environments that may not cater to their individual approach. This practice encourages critical thinking and self-directed learning, which for many students may be a new concept and a bit uncomfortable in and of itself.

Ultimately, teaching students that they are indeed in charge of their own learning may prove more empowering and beneficial than going over the material in a different way. Students, in the past, may have been in learning environments that were not a match for their particular learning style without the knowledge or tools to know how to alter their approach and change the situation for themselves. Now, as more self-aware college students, they may realize that they can adapt to different situations and have choices in how they approach the material. This newfound power could serve to motivate students who seem disconnected from the learning process when they enter our classrooms.

Teaching students to assess not only their performance, but their approach, requires some discussion of learning style and possibly the use of one of several learning styles inventories available. One online inventory we use is Felder’s Index of Learning Styles. In this inventory, students are encouraged to make honest choices in a multiple answer format and to learn about their preferences based on those choices. Students then engage in self-reflective activities, allowing them to take ownership of their learning style.

As students learn that there are advantages and disadvantages to both sides of the preferential spectrum, they begin to see how to capitalize on their strengths. As they identify the potential disadvantages inherent in their particular style, we can ask them to think about habits or strategies that may be ineffective and ultimately to alter them.

Strategies for variance in ability
Still, some of our students may simply not be ready for our classes. We may think that even students who possess true challenges in their ability can benefit from an increased self-awareness and knowledge of their learning style, but sometimes additional resources and strategies are necessary.

As one possible response, many instructors prepare a test of the prerequisite skills needed for their class and administer it during the first few days of the semester to help students decide if they’re ready for this particular class. With diagnostic results that identify which skills he or she needs to work on, a student can, with encouragement, get help early in the semester. Encouraging the use of the tutoring center, a study group, or other resources in the beginning, rather than waiting for the first graded test of the semester, can also be valuable. Some instructors set up study groups that meet in person or online to ensure that support is there.

Paired classes, or classes where instructors work together to connect the subject matters with a common theme, can also provide students with a basis for understanding courses that may pose a challenge. If they are stronger in one subject, they can use their understanding of that class to help them in the course they find difficult.

Learning communities can also offer the support that many students need. Encouragement of supplemental instruction—the University of Missouri-Kansas City model, for example—or attendance at student success workshops should also be encouraged.

Although there is no one solution that will address the complex needs of students of diverse abilities, instructors can implement a variety of solutions to ensure that we reach more of our students as often as possible. Teaching students to take responsibility for their own learning by demonstrating and facilitating the development of diverse strategies is perhaps the most beneficial use of our instructional time. Doing so can help our students become truly independent learners.

next "Thriving" article