How People Learn
by Kate Loehman

What do we ultimately know about student learning?

K. Patricia Cross, Higher Education Professor Emeritus, writes, "What we know about student learning is that students who are actively engaged in learning for deeper understanding are likely to learn more than students not so engaged." So student learning results from student engagement—the combination of time and energy committed. Therefore, if we are to stimulate student learning, we have to persuade our students to commit their time and energy. We must try to help them learn effective time management techniques (by encouraging them to keep on task during in-class workshops and by helping them break down large assignments into manageable pieces), and we must attempt to present issues in a meaningful way.

How can we present information in a meaningful way?

First we must carefully consider the various ways in which our students receive and process information. Learning modes are often broken down into four categories: visual, auditory, tactile, and reading/writing—titles which represent the different processes through which learners internalize new information. Visual learners, for example, respond best to information that they can see (such as graphics, pictures, and demonstrations) while auditory learners comprehend information best when it is spoken out loud. Auditory learners, therefore, tend to succeed in lecture-based environments. Tactile learners (also called psychomotor or kinesthetic learners) prefer to participate in activities in order to understand the concepts. They learn best by "doing" activities such as experiments, role-play, and discussion. Reading/Writing learners retain information by reading it first and then rewriting it in a way that is personally meaningful—in lists, categories, paragraphs, etc.

While the learning modes can be broken down quite neatly, individual student needs cannot. Most of us are, after all, multi-modal learners. We learn best using a combination of these strategies. Instructors should attempt to employ a variety of these teaching modes in order to accommodate a variety of student needs. A class session divided into several different kinds of activities (individual writing, student presentations of material, small group discussion or role-play) is effective for a greater variety of learning needs than a session devoted entirely to lecture. One of our objectives should be to "help students build their skills in both their preferred and less preferred modes of learning," Richard Felder, a developer of a learning styles model, concludes: "Learning style models that categorize these modes provide good frameworks for designing instruction with the desired breadth. The goal is to make sure that the learning needs of students in each model category are met at least part of the time."

Encouraging Students to Consider Their Learning Styles

In order to begin accommodating student needs, many instructors prompt their students to consider their individual learning styles early in the semester. There is an abundance of online resources that promote this kind of reflection. The terminology varies from site to site, but the idea is the same—they all argue that individual learners have learning needs based on their unique personalities and that recognition of these individual learning styles can help the instructor and the student to design an approach suitable to the student's needs. Many educators use a personality type indicator test (such as the Myers-Briggs model) to help students diagnose their learning style through their personality.

Links to Help You Recognize and Understand Your Personal Learning Style

Active Learning

Effective instruction engages students in active learning experiences. The theory behind active learning is that students will arrive at deeper understanding of a subject if they approach it in a variety of ways. Teaching for active learning therefore employs different activities in conjunction, to encourage student interaction so that we may "create a dialectic between experience and dialogue" (Fink).

L. Dee Fink's model of active learning divides student activity into two categories, "Dialogue with Self" and "Dialogue with Others." Dialogue with Self is reflection, or thinking about thinking, in which students learn by building on what they already know. Throughout the course of the semester, students can maintain a journal for their observations about what they are learning (see LRO observations), how they are learning it, and what the significance of that knowledge and experience is. Instructors can begin sessions by asking students to write in their journals their current ideas about the subject before they move into small group discussions. Discussion, or Dialogue with Others, prompts students to articulate their own ideas and to understand and respond to the ideas of other students. In the attempt to do so, students question each other and incorporate other ideas. Ultimately, they are often prompted to reevaluate their own ideas.

This model of active learning also requires the student to take on two distinct roles, the Observing Learner and the Doing Learner. The Observing Learner watches or listens to someone else "Doing." For example, the learner observes another student (or the instructor) presenting an argument. The Observing Learner becomes the Doing Learner by then performing the activity.

It is the combination of the two activities and roles that accomplishes the whole active learning experience. For example, before engaging in small group discussion, students have the opportunity to reflect on their own thoughts on a given topic (Dialogue with Self.) After they have written down their initial ideas and they can discuss the issues (Dialogue with Others) in a small group discussion much richer than if students had not processed individually. They can follow up the process with another entry in their journals, reflecting on what they have gained from the experience.

Collaborative Learning

Educators recognize that students tend to succeed when there are plenty of opportunities for interaction with and among students. Collaborative learning is not simply group work, but rather group work with a distinct attitude. K. Patricia Cross describes the spirit of collaborative learning as a more radical departure. It involves students working together in small groups to develop their own answer—not necessarily a known answer—through interaction and reaching consensus. Monitoring the groups or correcting "wrong" impressions is not the role of the teacher since the teacher is not considered the authority on what the answer should be. The teacher would be interacting along with students to arrive at a consensus. The environment for collaborative learning to occur must be open and respectful of individual ideas and opinions.

What Helps Students Learn?
Finally, we know what elements of the classroom help develop an effective learning environment. Instructor enthusiasm for the subject, the clarity of expectations for learning, and the means of connecting course content to students' frames of reference are all factors in creating a positive learning environment. A few simple Classroom Management (See the "Classroom Management" Teaching Tip) strategies can also greatly increase the potential for student learning.

Works Cited
Cross, K. Patricia. "What Do We Know About Students' Learning and How Do We Know It?" AAHE (American Association for Higher Education) 19 July 1998.
http://www.aahe.org/nche/cross_lecture.htm

Felder, Richard. "Matters of Style." Richard Felder's Home Page: Resources in Science and Engineering. NC State University. 19 July 2004.
http://www.ncsu.edu/felder-public/Papers/LS-Prism.htm

Fink, L. Dee. "Active Learning." Honolulu Community College Intranet. 19 July 1999.
http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/active.htm

Provided by:
Kate Loehman earned a BA in English from UT Austin and is currently seeking a Masters in Humanities, with a concentration in Literature Studies. She is particularly interested in 20th century American literature and history and Latin American literature.
She teaches Rhetoric 1302 at UT Dallas.