Comments on: A Well Deserved Poke At Adult Learning Principles and Styles http://www.thetrainingworld.com/wp/training-wisdom-or-training-foolishness/a-well-deserved-poke-at-adult-learning-principles-and-styles/ Robert Bacal's Commentary and Learning Materials For Trainers, Managers, HR Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:59:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Robert Bacal http://www.thetrainingworld.com/wp/training-wisdom-or-training-foolishness/a-well-deserved-poke-at-adult-learning-principles-and-styles/comment-page-1/#comment-1233 Robert Bacal Wed, 26 Aug 2009 02:14:35 +0000 http://www.thetrainingworld.com/wp/?p=357#comment-1233 Thanks for commenting. An interesting thing about "sense channels", is they are modifiable via experience. That you are currently a visual learner does not mean you will always be so. My own direct personal experience (which may not be all that relevant) is that depending on how I spend my time, I may prefer different modalities. I happen to have or have had hobbies that include photography and music, in addition to writing, of course, and other numerous hobbies involving body movement. If I am more active in photography, I tend to perceive and value visuals more, and differently. When I played music, same with sound. To tell you the truth, all this seems to simply be habit, not anything else. And there is that research that suggests that MISmatching teaching method to style results in more learning. ANd of course findings that say the opposite. There ARE reasons to include a variety of stimuli in various sense modalities during learning experiences, but learning styles simply isn't one of them. And as for falling asleep in 15 minutes of lecture? Not in my classes in my prime. Lecture has a bad rap because most people do it so badly. Done properly, it can be spell binding (but even so, it is only part of an instructional strategy. Thanks for commenting. An interesting thing about “sense channels”, is they are modifiable via experience. That you are currently a visual learner does not mean you will always be so. My own direct personal experience (which may not be all that relevant) is that depending on how I spend my time, I may prefer different modalities. I happen to have or have had hobbies that include photography and music, in addition to writing, of course, and other numerous hobbies involving body movement. If I am more active in photography, I tend to perceive and value visuals more, and differently. When I played music, same with sound.

To tell you the truth, all this seems to simply be habit, not anything else. And there is that research that suggests that MISmatching teaching method to style results in more learning. ANd of course findings that say the opposite.

There ARE reasons to include a variety of stimuli in various sense modalities during learning experiences, but learning styles simply isn’t one of them. And as for falling asleep in 15 minutes of lecture? Not in my classes in my prime.

Lecture has a bad rap because most people do it so badly. Done properly, it can be spell binding (but even so, it is only part of an instructional strategy.

]]> By: Kelly Dawson http://www.thetrainingworld.com/wp/training-wisdom-or-training-foolishness/a-well-deserved-poke-at-adult-learning-principles-and-styles/comment-page-1/#comment-1232 Kelly Dawson Wed, 26 Aug 2009 01:45:56 +0000 http://www.thetrainingworld.com/wp/?p=357#comment-1232 I disagree with at least some of the opinions in your "well deserved poke". I have a few of my own theories on adult learning which may or may not necessarily line up with the standard way of thinking. As far as learning styles however, my own personal learning experience has taught me a thing or two. I am very much a "visual" learner. I remember things based upon visual recall. If you lecture to me only, I will be asleep within the first 15 minutes. I am not an auditory learner - at least not in and of itself. I believe that a well designed class should encompass all of the learning styles because everyone utilizes each of them. A little bit of lecture is okay, but you better mix it up with visual and kinisthetic to keep my attention. The courses that include all of these styles are the ones that I remember. The others are just history and mean nothing to me. Those are the ones that were a waste of my time. Thanks for allowing me to express myself - I enjoyed reading your thoughts and opinions. All are valuable. I disagree with at least some of the opinions in your “well deserved poke”. I have a few of my own theories on adult learning which may or may not necessarily line up with the standard way of thinking. As far as learning styles however, my own personal learning experience has taught me a thing or two. I am very much a “visual” learner. I remember things based upon visual recall. If you lecture to me only, I will be asleep within the first 15 minutes. I am not an auditory learner – at least not in and of itself. I believe that a well designed class should encompass all of the learning styles because everyone utilizes each of them. A little bit of lecture is okay, but you better mix it up with visual and kinisthetic to keep my attention. The courses that include all of these styles are the ones that I remember. The others are just history and mean nothing to me. Those are the ones that were a waste of my time.

Thanks for allowing me to express myself – I enjoyed reading your thoughts and opinions. All are valuable.

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