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Board 79: Leveraging Learning Styles for Enhanced Student Outcomes: A Study at a New York University

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Conference

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Portland, Oregon

Publication Date

June 23, 2024

Start Date

June 23, 2024

End Date

June 26, 2024

Conference Session

Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM) Poster Session

Tagged Division

Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM)

Page Count

20

DOI

10.18260/1-2--48378

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/48378

Download Count

95

Paper Authors

author page

Brittany Leigh Oletti United States Military Academy

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Abstract

This is a Work-In-Progress paper. In an educational landscape where personalized learning experiences are gaining increasing attention, our research focuses on the dynamics of student-teacher pairing based on learning styles as assessed by the Silverman-Felder Index of Learning Styles (ILS). The primary hypothesis of our research is that a closer alignment, or smaller student-instructor Silverman-Felder pairing distance, between a student's learning style and their instructor's learning style will yield higher overall student grades and thus better student understanding. The Silverman-Felder ILS is a widely recognized tool that categorizes learning styles into four dimensions: active/reflective, verbal/visual, sensing/intuitive, and sequential/global. We define ILS alignment as the distance in four-dimensional space between the student’s ILS score and their instructor’s ILS score. A first round of research (n=300 students) indicates a statistically significant correlation between the student’s grade and their proximity to their instructor. This data was collected exclusively from advanced sections of first year mathematics courses. The current research (n=550 students) expands the scope to include general population and advanced sections of first year mathematics. Future work will include first year literature and history sequences to provide insight into non-technical courses. Using the results of this research, universities may be able to maximize student performance and understanding by providing instructor recommendations to students that minimize their ILS distances.

Oletti, B. L. (2024, June), Board 79: Leveraging Learning Styles for Enhanced Student Outcomes: A Study at a New York University Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--48378

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