The problem seems to be more the label 'learning styles' with all its baggage than what she actually did. If a more neutral label like 'learning strategies' was substituted it would help.
Another suggestion would be 'the man from Mars'. Have her describe the different learning strategies as if she were an alien who had never had any contact with humans and knew nothing about human behavior. On Mar 29, 2014, at 12:29 PM, drnanjo wrote: > > Hi Joan and everyone - > > I was able to be relatively straightforward with her and my judging team. > She acknowledged that the literature doesn't support the existence of "styles" > and also kept her cool when I pointed out (correctly) that learning by taking > notes is NOT really kinesthetic, and that the distinction between three of > her four styles: visual, print and kinesthetic (defined by "writing things > down) is very tenuous indeed. She also tested them against "UDL" - universal > design learning - which really sounds like the next big Ed fad more than > anything else. > > Holding this aside, her research design was good. For this reason, she placed > and I had no problem with that. Being a scientist is about these things. > > My judging team included a neuroscience researcher from UCLA and two middle > school teachers. No one was terribly upset by my putting forth the view that > learning styles are a bunch of hooey. > > Nancy Melucci > Long Beach City College > -----Original Message----- > From: Joan Warmbold <[email protected]> > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) <[email protected]> > Sent: Fri, Mar 28, 2014 1:33 pm > Subject: Re: [tips] Help! Learning Styles are Eating the Brains of Our Young > > Nancy, > > Please do get back to us re: how your critique on learning styles is > received by the H.S. teachers. You might receive as much or similar > resistance from the teachers as you expect to get from the student. > > Also would appreciate hearing the type of literature review required of > the students. > > Joan > [email protected] > > > > Put a post-it note on that page, sticking out the top of the book > just in > > case. > > > > Paul > > > > > As has already been mentioned...just a fair review of the project, > design,controls, etc. Try to emphasize a good review of the literature . > . ."50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology" by Scott Lilienfeld > > et al to give to some of the teachers or students interested in Psych. > > This myth is discussed on pp. 92-96. > > > > > > G.L. (Gary) Peterson,Ph.D > > Psychology@SVSU > > > > > > On Mar 28, 2014, at 9:50 AM, drnanjo > > <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > I am about to embark on a day of volunteer judging of science fair > > projects for the Los Angeles Unified School District. I've previewed the > > 20 or so projects to which I am assigned. One of them claims to confirm > > the existence of learning styles. > > > > We don't hold kids to the same standards, I understand. I don't want to > > obnoxiously squash the research aspirations of budding young, enthusiastic > > scientists. Any suggestions for how I both assess the work fairly and > > gently challenge the presenter to reconsider this idea....? I am worried I > > will come across as a kind of brute.... > > > > I'll deal with my fellow judges as adults, since I anticipate more > > receptivity among the HS Teachers. > > > > Nancy Melucci > > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=12993.aba36cc3760e0b1c6a655f019a68b878&n=T&l=tips&o=35615 > or send a blank email to > leave-35615-12993.aba36cc3760e0b1c6a655f019a68b...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13438.3b5166ef147b143fedd04b1c4a64900b&n=T&l=tips&o=35640 > > (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) > > or send a blank email to > leave-35640-13438.3b5166ef147b143fedd04b1c4a649...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > > Paul Brandon Emeritus Professor of Psychology Minnesota State University, Mankato [email protected] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=35642 or send a blank email to leave-35642-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
