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The Kolb 's Learning Styles Model

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The Kolb’s Learning Styles model can help teachers to realize that students have different approaches to gaining knowledge. To address such a diverse group, teachers should provide learning objectives in many different ways to ensure that all learning styles are addressed. Today 's teachers are finding it increasingly challenging to engage students. When students show signs of lack of understanding and boredom, it is important that faculty adjust their lecture style. To help students be more engaged in their classes, the faculty must ensure that they combine a mixture of learning style methods and preferences in order to avoid losing learning opportunities for the students (Kumar et al., 2012; Romanelli, et al., 2009), especially …show more content…

For centuries, professors taught through traditional lectures because it was thought that students could not practically obtain full access to content central to the course (Michel, et al., 2009). Most lectures last 50-90 minutes, which is much longer than the attention span of a typical student (Bunce, Flens, & Neiles, 2010). One study found that 60 percent of students find half of their lectures boring, while 30 percent of students find nearly all of their lectures boring (Mann, 2009). When bored, students cope by daydreaming (75%), doodling (66%), and sending texts (45%) (Mann, 2009). In Davis’ (2011) study, it was found that students do not want just to sit, listen to the lecture, take notes, and leave at the end of class. McDaniel’s (2010) study of classroom lectures summarized that lecturing does all the thinking for students, and does not give them a way to engage with the materials. McDaniel found that classroom lectures should be removed entirely from classes. The study reported that lecturing is more beneficial when integrated with other modes of instructions, and is more productive with small group exercises. The study concluded that when a lecturer begins to speak, students turn off their brains, with no plan of using them for the next 50 minutes. Students nature shut-down happens because they have been taught to

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