Learning Styles in the Classroom
For a long time, I taught my middle school life science curriculum with a “smallest to biggest” approach. I started with the smallest living organisms in the first half of the school year- cells and other micro-organisms, followed by body systems, then genetics. In the second half we moved onto large living systems and their interactions- ecosystems, interdependence, adaptations, and natural selection. But recently I changed things up a bit, redesigning one particular body system unit then moving it all the way to the start of the school year. There were two major reasons for this. First, I was looking for a better approach to teaching my classroom routines and procedures, one that really got my students thinking about the effect their behaviors have on the classroom environment. Second, I was finding myself a little perplexed with the NGSS standard MS-LS1-8*, which I always felt stood a little out of place… until now.
This past year, before jumping into cells and microscopes and even before jumping too much into our classroom procedures, I introduced students to what I call the Information Processing Unit. (I did have students setup their science notebooks in the first few days of school, before starting the unit, so we did talk some about classroom expectations beforehand).
In the Information Processing Unit, students learned how their specialty senses (sight and sound) and their general sense of touch provide the brain with information which can be used for immediate response or stored for later use. For each of us, our senses, our brain, and our nervous system form the basis of how we learn. But individuals receive and process information in very different ways. What made this unit so beneficial particularly at the start of the year was that we didn’t focus solely on the science of how our senses and nervous system worked, we also focused on how each of us process information in similar but also unique ways. We each have a different learning style… and there is extraordinary value to that, especially in the classroom! Each of our learning styles adds something important to the classroom dynamic, particularly when we are focused on collaborative learning structures. Discovering how this all works wasn’t just valuable science knowledge, it was valuable knowledge for who my students were as learners.
The unit really has two goals, to teach students the science standard but also to use the standard to help students better understand themselves as learners. The unit questions are: “How does the brain process information from the environment?” and “How can my understanding of the sensory processing system help me be successful in the classroom?”
I started the unit by introducing 2 different types of data collection we would use throughout the unit to better understand our learning styles and behaviors. The first was a Learning Behavior Survey. This self-assessment activity was the perfect metacognition tool to get students thinking right away about how they process information in the classroom. The second piece of data collection I introduced was a self-assessment check-in students would reflect on and answer at the end of certain lessons throughout the unit. The survey asked students to think about their overall behaviors, but the self-assessment check-in provided more specific, context-based data. Both tools proved to be valuable and useful in giving students insight into their learning styles and behaviors.
In addition to thinking about their behaviors in the classroom and with different styles of instruction, the unit took students on a deep dive into the sensory systems. While most students are familiar with the 5 senses on a basic level, our goal was really to go far deeper than that, to not only look at how the organ system operates, but to also understand how the body uses it to process information. Throughout the unit, students explored the ear and auditory sensory cues, the eye and visual sensory cues, touch, movement, and physical sensory cues, as well as the workings of the brain and nervous system. With each sensory system, we conducted labs and activities to help us better understand the mechanics behind the structures. We read about the systems and discussed our findings and applied our newfound knowledge to what we knew about ourselves as learners.
As a slightly off-topic sidenote, I decided to include a cow eye dissection with this unit, while we were studying the eye and visual sensory cues. For some reason, I had always left dissections like this to the end of the school year, letting them float in the pacing guide without really connecting them to the curriculum. Since many, many students looked forward to conducting dissections as part of life science, almost like a rite of passage, I think I saw them as a treat rather than a piece of the learning puzzle. There were those who thought I was a bit mad, jumping headfirst into a dissection no more than 3 weeks into the school year, but I found it to be an excellent choice overall. It set a tone for their year about the expectations, both for learning and behavior. Plus, it really connected the dissection to the standard and curriculum. The dissection enhanced our study of the eye and gave us a better understanding of the system. But, dissections aren’t for everyone, so I always have backups and alternative plans.
Because we were addressing 2 different questions in this unit, I felt it was important for us to end the unit with 2 different assessments. In the first, students used their data and a set of guiding questions to reflect on who they are as learners and how they can be most successful in the classroom. This assignment was really to answer the question “How can my understanding of the sensory processing system help me be successful in the classroom?” but I also built it into a larger discussion about our responsibilities in the classroom. Through this activity students didn’t just reflect on their own learning style, they saw how different learning styles operate in the learning environment and the benefit of having different styles in their learning groups. Where one individual may excel at sharing information orally and therefore enjoy giving group presentations, another may prefer to take notes and may offer to provide this skill for the group. I think we also gained an understanding and appreciation for the fact that we have different learning needs as well- everything from movement to stillness, quiet to noise. Digging into this from a science perspective created an environment of empathy amongst my students and it was something we could refer back to again and again throughout the year. “Remember, we all process auditory information differently.” “Remember, each of us has a skill we excel at that we can contribute to the group.” A lot of this information went on to build the foundation of how I formed groups (our groups have group roles, each with designated tasks) and the classroom seating chart.
The second assessment piece we did was geared more to the science of the unit and set out to answer the question “How does the brain process information from the environment?” but in a very personal way. In this assignment, students were able to choose between a poster (art piece) or written story. They then picked a favorite activity of theirs and told about it, either in picture or words. Only, they didn’t just tell about the activity. They explained the science behind the activity, the science behind how their body could perform whatever amazing feat they were engaging in! I loved this activity, especially because we did it at the start of the year. Because it was personal, I got to know a lot more about my students, what they love and what they do during their free time. It provided so much insight into them as individuals and really helped me start building relationships right away.
After this unit, we went back to cells, microscopes, and micro-organisms and continued from there, but I really felt like journeying into this slightly larger body system first was well worth it. It gave my students some science context about how we learn and why we learn differently from each other. It also gave us an opportunity to empathize with classmates whose learning styles were different than our own and grounded our system of routines and procedures in cognitive behavioral science. My students, I noticed, were a little more thoughtful about the choices they made in the classroom, about how those choices would affect their learning but also how they might affect the learning experience of others. And, with the final project, I got to know my students a little bit better in a fun and interesting way. It was definitely one of the most fun assignments I graded all year!
Be sure to check out the full unit here.
