My Ninth Week Journal of E-Teacher Scholarship Program

My Ninth Week Journal of E-Teacher Scholarship Program

From the first discussion on Multiple Intelligence and Learning Styles and Strategies vis-a-vis technology, and draft, re-editing,and final submission of the project task, this ninth week has become more and more productive.

MI and Learning Styles and Strategies

Multiple intelligence is a psychologic term pioneered by Gardner,H. in the book called Frames of Mind of Havard University in 1983.Here he claims that a student has more than a way of learning a term or, let's say, adopting an exposure. According to the writer almost all human beings possess the nine intelligence more or less. They are;

•         Verbal-Linguistic

•         Logical/Mathematical

•         Visual/Spatial

•         Bodily/Kinesthetic

•         Musical/Rhythmic

•         Intrapersonal

•         Interpersonal

•         Naturalist

•      Existentialist

While talking about multiple intelligence, one should not take it for granted that each two persons' intelligence is identical. Rather they may appear differently in a continuum of dialogical relationship in-between.

The term multiple intelligence and Learning Styles and Strategies are co-related.I assume that the degree of multiple intelligence is visualized while being exposed to the learning chunks by the learners. Though linguists and psychologists have been asserting, on the basis of learning strategies, the three major types of learners,viz. kinesthetic, visual and auditory, Felder,R.M. from North Carolina State University,USA advocates the given four dichotomies of learners:

1.    Active and Reflective Learners

2.    Sensing and Intuitive Learners

3.    Visual and Verbal Learners

4.    Sequential and Global Learners

Excerpt nOTE on reading of the Article Learning Styles and Strategies

 Active and Reflective Learners

"Let's try it out and see how it works" is an active learner's phrase; "Let's think it through first" is the reflective learner's response.Everybody is active sometimes and reflective sometimes. Your preference for one category or the other may be strong, moderate, or mild. A balance of the two is desirable. If you always act before reflecting you can jump into things prematurely and get into trouble, while if you spend too much time reflecting you may never get anything done.

How can active learners help themselves?

Study in a group in which the members take turns explaining different topics to each other. Work with others to guess what you will be asked on the next test and figure out how you will answer. You will always retain information better if you find ways to do something with it.

How can reflective learners help themselves?

Don't simply read or memorize the material; stop periodically to review what you have read and to think of possible questions or applications. You might find it helpful to write short summaries of readings or class notes in your own words. Doing so may take extra time but will enable you to retain the material more effectively.

SENSING AND INTUITIVE LEARNERS

Sensing learners tend to like learning facts, intuitive learners often prefer discovering possibilities and relationships.

If you overemphasize intuition, you may miss important details or make careless mistakes in calculations or hands-on work; if you overemphasize sensing, you may rely too much on memorization and familiar methods and not concentrate enough on understanding and innovative thinking.

How can sensing learners help themselves?

Ask your instructor for specific examples of concepts and procedures, and find out how the concepts apply in practice. If the teacher does not provide enough specifics, try to find some in your course text or other references or by brainstorming with friends or classmates.

How can intuitive learners help themselves?

Ask your instructor for interpretations or theories that link the facts, or try to find the connections yourself. You may also be prone to careless mistakes on test because you are impatient with details and don't like repetition (as in checking your completed solutions). Take time to read the entire question before you start answering and be sure to check your results

VISUAL AND VERBAL LEARNERS

Visual learners remember best what they see--pictures, diagrams, flow charts, time lines, films, and demonstrations. Verbal learners get more out of words--written and spoken explanations. Everyone learns more when information is presented both visually and verbally.

How can visual learners help themselves?

Ask your instructor, consult reference books, and see if any videotapes or CD-ROM displays of the course material are available. Prepare a concept map by listing key points, enclosing them in boxes or circles, and drawing lines with arrows between concepts to show connections. Color-code your notes with a highlighter so that everything relating to one topic is the same color.

How can verbal learners help themselves?

Write summaries or outlines of course material in your own words. Working in groups can be particularly effective: you gain understanding of material by hearing classmates' explanations and you learn even more when you do the explaining.

SEQUENTIAL AND GLOBAL LEARNERS

Sequential learners tend to gain understanding in linear steps, with each step following logically from the previous one. Global learners tend to learn in large jumps, absorbing material almost randomly without seeing connections, and then suddenly "getting it."

Sequential learners tend to follow logical stepwise paths in finding solutions; global learners may be able to solve complex problems quickly or put things together in novel ways once they have grasped the big picture, but they may have difficulty explaining how they did it.

Strongly global learners who lack good sequential thinking abilities, on the other hand, may have serious difficulties until they have the big picture. Even after they have it, they may be fuzzy about the details of the subject, while sequential learners may know a lot about specific aspects of a subject but may have trouble relating them to different aspects of the same subject or to different subjects.

How can sequential learners help themselves?

Ask the instructor to fill in the skipped steps, or fill them in yourself by consulting references. When you are studying, take the time to outline the lecture material for yourself in logical order. In the long run doing so will save you time. You might also try to strengthen your global thinking skills by relating each new topic you study to things you already know.

How can global learners help themselves?

Before you begin to study the first section of a chapter in a text, skim through the entire chapter to get an overview. Instead of spending a short time on every subject every night, you might find it more productive to immerse yourself in individual subjects for large blocks. Try to relate the subject to things you already know, either by asking the instructor to help you see connections or by consulting references. Above all, don't lose faith in yourself; you will eventually understand the new material, and once you do your understanding of how it connects to other topics and disciplines may enable you to apply it in ways that most sequential thinkers would never dream of.

IN RELATION TO TECHNOLOGY

The use of technology, especially, internet is very much productive for addressing the multiple intelligence of aforementioned varied learners since it contains a pool of materials and resources fostering economy on the part of teachers.

PROJECT-BASED EXPERIENCES

From concept conceiving to weekly discussion on the project, draft and feedback sharing to compilation. and towards final submission, there are novel experiences to share.

First and foremost, documenting all our discussion in the nicenet class helped me a lot while drafting the project. My peer Tatsiana also provided me an invaluable feedback through the checklist though I also did little to hers. Going through numerous reference resources like articles and journals, websites and good projects available in the UO-AEI project gallery boosted up our project into this shape and size despite further comments and suggestions. Adding survey with the help of survey monkey template and tables in the appendices section also garnered good insights, especially the content.

My students, although quite slowly, helped me for implementing this project upon. Having had frequent inquiries , they have started posting on the nicenet pages. We do exchange our feelings via e-mail and facebook. Some, smarter ones, have already made their blogs. We have a class wiki and, as just mentioned,a nicenet class to discuss the issues, comment and give feedback.

Above all, the project implementation is slowly and steadily on the way to a giant leap,I expect.

THANKING YOU.

Yours,

Young & Yummy

Yubaraj Neupane

Kathmandu,Nepal