Considering Learning Theories and Styles

Previous to this course I had a very minimal understanding of learning styles and virtually no knowledge of learning theories. Through the duration of this course I have learned a great deal more about learning styles, learning theories as well as educational technology and how to motivate your student. I was able to develop a whole new understanding about how learning works and how to use what I have learned to improve my instructional curriculum.

One of the aspects of our learning that I found most surprising were that traditional elements in some of the learning theories that we have studied. For example, there were elements of Behaviorist and Cognitive theory that I found surprising because they incorporated methods that were, what I consider, culturally intuitive. You can see similar behaviors practiced by parents with young children, such as the reinforcement of positive behaviors and the attrition of negative behaviors in Behaviorism; and also the significance that a learner’s experience is in Cognitive theory. Both of these elements are quite basic and I was surprised to find that they are approved methods of teaching and do help in the learning process for all learners.

Although I did not have a great deal of knowledge of learning theories and styles before this course I did have an understanding of the basics of my own learning styles from my undergraduate classes. I did have an opportunity, at the time, to take several self-assessment tests which I found helped me to understand how I learn. Back in undergraduate school I learned that I was primarily a visual learner but I was also a kinesthetic learning. I was able to use this information to my advantage to comprehend and store information better. During this course I got to explore learning theory’s more and I discovered that Connectivist learning theory was the most beneficial to me and my lifestyle.

I was also able to discover that learning theories, learning styles, educational technology and motivation are all very closely related. To develop the best curriculum, I believe, that you must include elements of all of these processes to better serve your students’ specific needs. I will take from this course a great deal of knowledge and understanding about how learners learn and how to incorporate a combination of elements into a learning plan that suites my audience.