Learning Styles and MI Activity

1. The learning style instrument: Memletics Learning Styles Questionnaire
2. URL to "Memletics learning styles questionnaire"
3. A short description of what it measures: This is supposed to measure what your dominant learning styles are, out of 7 styles, and is roughly based on the theory of multiple intelligences.
4. A discussion of what you “learned” about your learning style from it: The scores are out of 20 possible points, 20 indicating frequent use of that style. According to this inventory, I learn most verbally and socially, but I also learn well visually, physically, and solitary. Either this is not a very accurate quiz, or I just learn differently in different situations. I think the answer might be a little bit of both. To give the test some credit, I would say that I do tend to like mixing it up quite often, depending on the environment or material I need to learn, not only to learn better, but also to prevent boredom.
5. How you could incorporate this new understanding about your learning style into your future teaching: This will help inform my teaching by helping keep me aware that just because one student's dominant learning style isn't being catered to in class, doesn't mean that they won't learn well. Students can have several preferred learning styles. It is also important to be aware that using multiple teaching strategies can prevent boredom.

6. Discuss how you might incorporate student learning styles into your teaching and classroom activities and on your preparation to teach (lesson planning): I read the surfaquarium page about "Jaime." This was a great example of how to incorporate different learning styles into teaching toward standards. Incorporating learning styles in English would be pretty easy. For example, I could teach a unit on a Shakespeare play that could incorporate brainstorming with concept maps for visual learners, dramatizing certain scenes for kinesthetic, rhythmic, and linguistic learners, group work for interpersonal learners, and a research project for existential learners.
   

7. Discuss the value you would see in having your students complete a learning style inventory and having them use that info to adjust their own learning. This would be helpful so I can be aware of what my students need to learn best. It would also be helpful so that students can be aware of their own needs, and hopefully communicate that to me.