Practical Approaches to Using Learning Styles in Higher Education

by Dunn, Rita Stafford

• ISBN13: 9780897897037
• ISBN10: 089789703X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-04-30
• Publisher: Praeger Pub Text

Summary

Dunn and Griggs challenge the traditional instructional process of lecture/discussion in college teaching and describe the theory, practice, and research that support a wider variety of approaches to better accommodate the learning-style preferences of each student. Twenty-five practitioners from varied backgrounds and disciplines, representing 14 colleges and universities, outline alternative strategies they use with diverse students in their instructions of higher education. Some of these practitioners have been using learning-style approaches for decades. Others have conducted research to test the various tenets of the Dunn and Dunn Learning Style Model, and a few, only for the past five years, have begun providing instructional strategies that are congruent with their students' preferences.

Author Biography

RITA DUNN is Professor of Instructional Leadership and Director of the Center for the Study of Learning and Teaching Styles at St. John's University.SHIRLEY A. GRIGGS is Professor of Counselor Education at St. John's University and is co-author of Multiculturalism and Learning Style (with Rita Dunn) (Praeger, 1998).

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
I. Introduction to Learning Styles in Higher Education	1	(32)
Capitalizing on College Students' Learning Styles: Theory, Practice, and Research	3	(16)
Rita Dunn
Practical Approaches to Using Learning Styles in Higher Education: The How-to Steps	19	(14)
Rita Dunn
Shirley A. Griggs
II. Applications in Education	33	(110)
Learning Styles in Graduate Education Classes: The River of No Return	35	(7)
Sue Ellen Read
Educating Secondary Teachers to Work with Students' Diverse Styles	42	(12)
Nancy Montgomery
One Texas University's Approach to Integrating Learning Styles in Teacher Education: Talking the Talk and Walking the Walk	54	(14)
Janet Whitley
Pam Littleton
Hannibal ``Lecture'' Changes His Oral Menu	68	(7)
Kenneth J. Dunn
Distance Education: Reaching Beyond the Walls	75	(5)
Jody Taylor
Learning Styles in a Suburban College	80	(5)
Bernadyn Kim Suh
A Paradigm Shift: Learning-Styles Implementation and Preservice Teachers	85	(10)
Karen Burke
Learning Styles and College Teaching: My Experiences with Education Majors	95	(5)
Ann C. Braio
Tactual Learning at the Doctoral Level: A Risk Worth Taking	100	(9)
Barbara K. Given
Edward P. Tyler
Nora Hall
William Johnson
Margaret Wood
Divergent Styles, Common Goals: Implications for Counselors	109	(8)
Shirley A. Griggs
Teacher Training in Progress: Giving It Our Best Shot	117	(7)
Katy Lux
Project Learn: A University-Initiated Consortium of Science Educators and Practitioners	124	(11)
Barbara S. Thomson
Teaching Graduate Students with a Learning-Styles Approach: Adding Zest to the Course Ingredients	135	(8)
Laura Shea Doolan
III. Applications in Health-Related Professions	143	(10)
Incorporating Learning Styles into the Curricula of Two Programs in a College of Health-Related Professions	145	(8)
Joyce A. Miller
Rose F. Lefkowitz
IV. Applications in Schools of Law, Engineering, and Liberal Arts	153	(28)
Bringing Learning-Style Instructional Strategies to Law Schools: You Be the Judge!	155	(11)
Robin A. Boyle
Meeting the Academic Challenges of an Undergraduate Engineering Curriculum	166	(8)
Joanne Ingham
The Writing Portfolio as a Learning-Styles Tool in a College English-as-a-Second-Language Course	174	(7)
Herbert D. Pierson
V. Applications in Colleges of Business	181	(66)
Contract Activity Packages in Higher Education: The Flexible Flyer of Pedagogy	183	(10)
Heather Pfleger Dunham
Barbara-Jayne Lewthwaite
How I Found Pedagogical Nirvana: Beware of the Law of Unintended Consequences!	193	(8)
E. L. Deckinger
Global Teaching in an Analytic Environment: Is There Madness in the Method?	201	(46)
Ralph A. Terregrossa
Valerie Englander
Epilogue	211	(2)
Appendices
A. Award-Winning Learning-Styles Research	213	(3)
B. Hemispheric Preference Scale (Zenhausern, 1988)	216	(2)
C. Hemispheric Preference Scale: Scoring Instructions	218	(2)
D. Example of an Analytic-Format Syllabus	220	(11)
E. Example of a Global-Format Syllabus	231	(4)
F. Law School Quiz	235	(2)
G. Law School Quiz Answers	237	(2)
H. Alternative Instructional Methods Responsive to Diverse Learning-Style Characteristics	239	(1)
I. Research Concerned with College Students' Learning Styles	240	(7)
References	247	(14)
Index	261	(4)
About the Editors and Contributors	265