Session Information
22 SES 05 C PS, Interactive Poster Session
Interactive Poster Session
Contribution
The purpose of this study was to explore how the fit between the students’ learning styles and teaching styles could differentiate "good" teacher from the "bad" teacher. It has been popular to apply inventories of students' evaluations of teaching (SET) as one of the evidences of the qualities of teaching at universities across the world (Pike, 1998; Shirk & Miller, 1994) . As the increasing importance of SET, it has been queried if the results of SET reflect teaching qualities and has been concerned if there are any other factors that could have effects on the results of SET. Factors have been contented to have effects on SET include grading leniencies (Badri, et. al., 2006; Ellis, Burke, Lomire, & McCormack, 2003; Griffin, 2004), gender (of me2006; Potvin, Hazari, Tai, & Sadler, 2009; Richards, Taylor, and Ramasamy, 1997; Smith, 2009), and class size (Pike, 1998). However, these factors could explain for only 10% to 20% of the variances of SET (Lu & Wu, 2008), and teaching qualities could explain for very limited amount of variances of SET (Lu, 2012).
In this study, the researcher contended that the fit between learning styles and teaching styles could have effects on the results of SET. Learning styles refers to how students prefer perceiving and processing information during leariing (Grimley & Banner, 2008). It has been shown that learning styles could explain for the students' achievements in different disciplines (Dunn, 1980;Dunn & Griggs, 1995;Felder, 1996; Graf, Lin, & Kinshuk, 2008;Hlawaty, 2008;Lin & Graf, 2009;Lu & Lin, 2010; Lumsdaine & Lumsdaine, 1995; Peterson, Rayner, & Armstrong, 2009).
Teaching styles refer to how an instructor presents the lecture. Teachers of different discipline could have different teaching styles (Lumsdaine & Lumsdaine, 1995). Felder and Silverman (1988) contended that teachers should teach according to students' learning style to improve the learning. As a result, if the teaching styles fit the learning styles of students, the students could feel more comfortable in the class, and rank the instructor as a good teacher. In the contrast, if the teaching styles do not fit the learning styles, the students are more likely to rank the instructor as a "bad" teacher.
In this study, the researcher want to explore the differences between those college instructors who were ranked as the best in SET and those who were ranked as the lowest in SET in terms of teaching styles.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Felder, R. M., & Silverman, L. K. (1988). Learning and teaching styles in engineering education. Engineering Education, 78(7), 674-681. Felder, R.M. (1996). Matters of Style. ASEE Prism, 6(4), 18-23. Graf, S., Lin, T., & Kinshuk (2008). The relationship between learning styles and cognitive traits – Getting additional information for improving student modelling. Computers in Human Behavior, 24, 122-137. Herrmann, N. (1981). The Creative Brain. Training & Development Journal, 35(10), 11-16. Lumsdaine, M. and Lumsdaine, E. (1995). Thinking Preferences of Engineering Students: Implications for Curriculum Restructuring. Journal of Engineering Education, 84 (2), 193-204. Kinshuk , Liu, T.-Z. & Graf, S. (2009). Coping with mismatched courses: students’ behaviour and performance in courses mismatched to their learning styles. Educational Technology Research & Development, 57(6), 739-752 Raupers, M. (1999). Effects of accommodating perceptual learning style preferences on long-term retention and attitudes toward technology of elementary and secondary teachers in professional development training. Dissertation Abstracts International,59(11),4031A.(University Microfilms NO. AAT99-4066). Nicoll-Senft, J. M., &Seider, S. N. (2009). Assessing the Impact of the 4MAT Teaching Model Across Multiple Disciplines in Higher Education. College Teaching, 58(1), 19-27.
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