Learning Styles Analysis

    Learning style refers to an individual’s preferred way of processing new information for efficient learning. Research shows that individuals exhibit different approaches during the learning process and one strategy or approach may not provide optimal learning conditions for all (Hunt, 1979).  Determining students’ learning styles can provide teachers with valuable information about their learning preferences and make it easier to create, modify, and develop more efficient lessons while improving our students’ motivation, and engagement.  

    Students navigate through different pathways of development throughout childhood. The cognitive pathway refers to how information is received and processed.  The linguistic pathway refers to a child’s ability to receive communication and express themselves. The social pathway involves children’s ability to communicate and interact with people in diverse situations. The physical pathway refers to the body’s biological development, including the development of the brain, motor skills, and coordination.  All these changes influence a student’s learning, thinking, and performance inside and outside the classroom.  

    To provide instruction for the students in my small group I would consider their learning preferences and reflect on the observations of these students during instruction.  Based on the learning styles assessments, the students have various preferences, including auditory, verbal, and visual learning styles.  To increase phonemic awareness skills, I would design lessons that appeal to each of their learning styles.  

Student Learning Style Data 

Auditory Learners 

  Auditory learners prefer to learn through listening.  These students often remember what they hear, and process and store information based on sounds (Malvik, 2020).  Phonemic awareness is the ability to identify and manipulate phonemes in spoken words. For auditory learners, students will listen to a sequence of spoken phonemes and then have the students combine the phonemes to form a word. /p/ /a/ /t/ is pat.  Based on data collected during observations, student 2 would benefit from this lesson as she shows a higher interest in listening when engaging in academic content.  

Verbal Learners 
    

    Verbal learners learn best when taught using spoken or written materials. These students prefer activities based on language rather than abstract or visual learning materials (Malvik, 2020). Because phonemic awareness involves speaking students can participate in verbal activities to increase their phonemic awareness.  Students can participate in activities where they produce multiple words that begin with the same sound (alliteration), produce rhyming words, or verbally segment sentences into individual words.  Phonemic awareness is a verbal skill, these lessons will appeal to all students but students 1 and 2 will likely grasp phonemic awareness skills at a more accelerated rate than the others in the group. Based on the data they are engaged more when they can discuss concepts and skills.  

Visual Learners
    

    Visual students prefer to learn using visuals. Visual learners prefer printed materials and pictures (Malvik, 2020). To engage these learners during a lesson on phonemic awareness students would use a visual sound wall and in phonics instruction, I would use visual phonics chants that include hand motions to represent the sounds made by each letter.  Students could also use visual phonics charts to “see the sounds” that letters make.  Elkonin boxes multisensory tools that build phonological awareness, students move counters to represent the sounds in words, this activity can also engage visual learners.  Student 3 indicated more visual preferences in her learning style inventory, however, kinesthetic learning was a close second, the Elkonin boxes will appeal to the multisensory needs of this individual student during small group instruction.  

    Through ongoing evaluation and assessment, I will consider the needs of the learners when developing future lessons.  Although students prefer one learning style now, as they grow and develop preferences may change.  We should allow students to reflect and share their feelings about their performance.  Frequent informative assessment data should inform and drive instruction to meet the needs of learners. When designing assessments for different learning we must ensure that assessments are integrated into instruction, include balance, multiple methods, and meaningful feedback, and are responsive to the needs of the learners.  We can do this by creating assessments that are project-based and that include collaborative cooperation in a group setting.