CURRICULUM GUIDE FOR S.C. TEACHER CADET COURSE | EXPERIENCING EDUCATION, TENTH EDITION
Preferred Processing Styles
Theme I: Experiencing Learning
Unit 2: Styles and Needs
*Mandatory lesson
Objective: Students will be able to identify different preferred processing styles (visual,
auditory, and kinesthetic/tactile) and explain their implications for lesson
design.
Essential Question: How might knowledge of preferred processing styles affect lesson
design?
Note: No culminating activity exists for these first four lessons. Instructors may use the
minor assessments or create a summary assignment for this section on learning
needs, preferences, and styles.
Activities:
1. Explain to the Cadets that people learn in different ways; one way is not better than the
other. Dr. Rita Dunn at the Center for the Study of Learning and Teaching Styles
explained, “Learning style is a biologically and developmentally imposed set of personal
characteristics that make the same teaching method effective for some and ineffective
for others. Every person has a learning style – it’s as individual as a signature.”
(Learning to Teach by Linda Shalaway, 1998, 57). Explain that about 46% of the
population favors the visual learning style; about 19%, auditory; and about 35%,
kinesthetic/tactile.
2. Have Cadets complete the “Learning Styles Questionnaire” to determine visual, auditory,
or kinesthetic/tactile learning preferences. The highest total indicates their preferred
learning style. Invite discussion.
3. Give each Cadet a blank version of “Learning Pyramid: Average Retention,” and ask
them to guess which activities cause the most retention of information. Have them
complete the pyramid by placing the strategy with the least retention at the top.
4. Distribute copies of the completed version of “Learning Pyramid: Average Retention,”
and ask them to compare their guesses with the correct answers. This is an opportunity
to say that a teacher should consider how to combine lecture with another reinforcing
activity. Instructional variety reaches a diverse range of students.
5. Refer Cadets to the completed handout, “Learning Pyramid: Average Retention,” and ask
“How might this information impact teaching and learning?” People remember 10% of
what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, 50% of what they hear
and see, 70% of what they say, and 90% of what they say while doing something that
reinforces what they say. (Source: PACE I Curriculum, SC Department of E ducation,
2003.)
Materials:
• Handout: ”Learning Styles Questionnaire”
• Handout: “Learning Style Grid”
• Handouts: “Learning Pyramid: Average Retention” (blank copy and completed copy)
Assessment:
The students will write a reflective paper as a journal or portfolio entry, highlighting what they
learned about themselves and others as visual, auditory, or kinesthetic/tactile learners.
Time:
30 minutes
Standard:
I.2.1
Students will evaluate different learning styles.
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