Hot Topic Blog (PSY 561)

          I remember learning about learning styles in middle school when my mom taught me about them. We determined that I was an “auditory learner” and that I learned best through hearing things. My mom claimed to be a “visual learner” and said that she has to see things in order to understand them. Learning styles are something that is taught in many teacher education programs and many teachers are encouraged to teach utilizing their student's specific learning styles in order to help their students more effectively. I always understood that if I taught my students using strategies that focused on their set learning styles they would be able to learn faster and better. The research on this topic says otherwise. What are learning styles?           Learning styles refer to the way that a student is learning material. There are many different learning styles, but the most common ones are known as visual, auditory, and kinesth...

  Critical thinking is a topic that frequently comes up in the world of education. As teachers, we are often asked to make sure our students are thinking critically and to ensure we are providing them with opportunities to practice their critical thinking skills. But what actually is critical thinking beyond just thinking deeper? Robert Ennis (2011, pg. 5) gives a detailed description of his idea for critical thinking, but he mainly defines it as “reasonable reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do.” Paul and Elder (1993, pg. 4) describe critical thinking as “the art of analyzing and evaluating thinking with a view to improving it.”  We can teach our students critical thinking skills in many different ways to turn them into independent critical thinkers. Ennis (2011) gives many great strategies, one simple one being Reflection, Reasons, and Alternatives, or RRA. You can encourage your students to be reflective by asking them to stop and think about som...