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Optimizing reflective learning with a portfolio frame based on learning styles? Revising a research framework.
Book Contribution - Book Chapter Conference Contribution
Abstract:The topic concerns the stimulation of the learning process during traineeship in higher education by applying the personal learning style.
Context. Learning styles (Vermunt's Inventory of Learning Styles) are basic knowledge for students of the teachers education department. At the institute they learn how to anticipate on the 4 different learning styles that will always be present in their class. Working as an assistant in the department of teacher education, in the follow up of the trainees, I see the strength and the value of learning styles. (Van Looy & Elias, 2000)
As an assistant in the department of communication sciences, doing the counselling and support of the master students in their traineeship in different organisations and company's, I notice the difficulties that students descry in defining their learning processes on different levels through self reflection. However, confronted with a large amount of new skills to learn at cognitive and socio-affective level, it is of the greatest importance that they take their personal learning style into consideration. For several years now, I turned the traditional way of reportage about their apprenticeship (mostly descriptive) into a portfolio-concept, taking into account the ability of self-reflection. A lack of understanding of their personal learning styles might be the reason why the trainees don't (always) manage to get into self reflection in order to become conscious of their learning profits.
Description. My doctoral research focuses on the verification whether (1) using the portfolio concept as a way of exploration of the achieved skills on cognitive and socio-affective level, and whether (2) giving the trainees the opportunity to compose their portfolio according to their individual learning style, will optimize learning results. The value of portfolio as a means of evaluation has already been acknowledged (Tisani, 2008), but will further be subject to research. We also want to examine whether learning styles, as used in classroom context, can be applied more widely, e.g. in a commercial/professional setting.
Therefore I designed a 'multi-layered analysys framework' in order to invesitgate the scientific value of my portfolio-concept. In the long run of my doctoral research I would like to obtain a model that can be applied in other academic educations of sciences of communciations.
From a methodological point of view, a literature study triangulates the rough empirical findings. Analyses of approximately 400 portfolio's and subsequent interviews/surveys will be done to validate the hypotheses. These portfolio's are produced by Masterstudents in communication sciences (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) during the last five years. The purpose of our research is to determine portfolio's impact, to optimise its usage and to examine its relevance towards multi-style learning abilities. (Van Looy, Coninx & Elias, 2004) Evidently, it is utmost important to quantify the aspects of portfolio to objectify its parameters.
Relevance and originality. In academic teacher training internship is not taken seriously. However, state audits in Belgium stress the importance to link academic studies to societal praxis. In non-university higher education, however, the tradition to implement internship exists and is indeed valued, yet there is a huge difference between academic and non-university training. This research project wants to prove the usefulness of portfolio as a manner of self-reflection, suitable to implement research competences (Van Looy & Elias, 2007), adaptable to all learning styles, and propose a standard portfolio frame.
We expect the surveys and studies evidently to confirm what experience (see above) in the field suggests. Therefore, we believe that when trainees become conscious of their own learning style, they will be able to reflect profoundly and they will optimize their cognitive and socio-affective skills and learning results. The new portfolio-model based on the multi-layered analysys framework could be the most appropriate method to achieve previous proposition.
Context. Learning styles (Vermunt's Inventory of Learning Styles) are basic knowledge for students of the teachers education department. At the institute they learn how to anticipate on the 4 different learning styles that will always be present in their class. Working as an assistant in the department of teacher education, in the follow up of the trainees, I see the strength and the value of learning styles. (Van Looy & Elias, 2000)
As an assistant in the department of communication sciences, doing the counselling and support of the master students in their traineeship in different organisations and company's, I notice the difficulties that students descry in defining their learning processes on different levels through self reflection. However, confronted with a large amount of new skills to learn at cognitive and socio-affective level, it is of the greatest importance that they take their personal learning style into consideration. For several years now, I turned the traditional way of reportage about their apprenticeship (mostly descriptive) into a portfolio-concept, taking into account the ability of self-reflection. A lack of understanding of their personal learning styles might be the reason why the trainees don't (always) manage to get into self reflection in order to become conscious of their learning profits.
Description. My doctoral research focuses on the verification whether (1) using the portfolio concept as a way of exploration of the achieved skills on cognitive and socio-affective level, and whether (2) giving the trainees the opportunity to compose their portfolio according to their individual learning style, will optimize learning results. The value of portfolio as a means of evaluation has already been acknowledged (Tisani, 2008), but will further be subject to research. We also want to examine whether learning styles, as used in classroom context, can be applied more widely, e.g. in a commercial/professional setting.
Therefore I designed a 'multi-layered analysys framework' in order to invesitgate the scientific value of my portfolio-concept. In the long run of my doctoral research I would like to obtain a model that can be applied in other academic educations of sciences of communciations.
From a methodological point of view, a literature study triangulates the rough empirical findings. Analyses of approximately 400 portfolio's and subsequent interviews/surveys will be done to validate the hypotheses. These portfolio's are produced by Masterstudents in communication sciences (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) during the last five years. The purpose of our research is to determine portfolio's impact, to optimise its usage and to examine its relevance towards multi-style learning abilities. (Van Looy, Coninx & Elias, 2004) Evidently, it is utmost important to quantify the aspects of portfolio to objectify its parameters.
Relevance and originality. In academic teacher training internship is not taken seriously. However, state audits in Belgium stress the importance to link academic studies to societal praxis. In non-university higher education, however, the tradition to implement internship exists and is indeed valued, yet there is a huge difference between academic and non-university training. This research project wants to prove the usefulness of portfolio as a manner of self-reflection, suitable to implement research competences (Van Looy & Elias, 2007), adaptable to all learning styles, and propose a standard portfolio frame.
We expect the surveys and studies evidently to confirm what experience (see above) in the field suggests. Therefore, we believe that when trainees become conscious of their own learning style, they will be able to reflect profoundly and they will optimize their cognitive and socio-affective skills and learning results. The new portfolio-model based on the multi-layered analysys framework could be the most appropriate method to achieve previous proposition.
Book: Exploring styles to enhance learning and teaching in diverse contexts. Proceedings of the 15th Annual Conference of the European Learning Styles Information Network.
Pages: 177-181
Number of pages: 5
ISBN:978-972-789-312-6
Publication year:2010
Keywords:portfolio, learning styles, self reflection