Learning Styles and Student Achievement

Paper Summary:

This paper presents and discusses the implications of the findings of a study of two high school classes, one taught in the traditional way, and one where different learning styles were used. The author discusses the importance of reaching students and opening up to them, and different kinds of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation that can be used by their educators. Effective use of motivation and rewards can contribute to a student's success both in high school and in life. The author explains that diversity in teaching styles allows all of the students to benefit from the lesson, instead of only those students that have a particular, specific learning style. The author points out the limitations of the study and provides recommendations for further research. The paper includes tables.

Outline:
Chapter 1
Introduction
Description of Findings
Summary of Results
Summary
Chapter 2
Introduction
Conclusion
Implications
Recommendations
Summary

From the Paper:

"Opening up to students is very important for teachers. While it is obviously not appropriate for a teacher to confide intimate personal details to the class, or gossip about others to try to be more accepted, there are ways that a teacher can seem more 'real' to the students. For example, crying over something very sad or letting the students know when the teacher is getting angry with their misbehavior goes a long way toward having students see teachers as real people. Children in the second and third grades often react very positively to this behavior, but there are ways to reach high schoolers and older students as well."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Akin-Little, K. A., & Little, S. G. (2004). Re-examining the overjustification effect. Journal of Behavioral Education, 13, 179-192.
• Axelrod, S. (1996). What's wrong with behavior analysis? Journal of Behavioral Education, 6, 247-256.
• Barrish, H. H., Saunders, M., & Wolf, M. M. (1969). Good behavior game: Effects of individual contingencies for group consequences on disruptive behavior in a classroom. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 2, 119-124.
• Bates, J. A. (1979). Extrinsic reward and intrinsic motivation: A review with implications for the classroom. Review of Educational Research, 49, 557-576.
• Bem, D. J. (1967). Self-perception: An alternative interpretation of cognitive dissonance phenomena. Psychological Review, 74, 183-200.

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