Research Paper Intro and Body

The following is what I have so far for my research paper...

Introduction:

I have always wondered the ways that someones learning styles can affect the way the learn. Especially as an aspiring teacher, it will be extremely important to examine the learning styles of the students in my classroom and to try to cater to them. Considering everyone learns in different ways, it is important to see what helps students and what doesn’t. Therefore, I will perform an interview to see how learning styles affect the way we learn to read and write. 

“One concept in particular which has provided some valuable insights into learning in both academic and other settings is learning style.” (Cassidy). This quote explains that discussing learning styles and the way people learn has been extremely relevant lately. Discussing learning styles and how they affect our students today has been extremely helpful to teachers and the like. Years ago, teacher were not as worried about integrating all different types of learning styles as to reach out to every student in the class. Now, teachers are learning that there are so many different ways that children learn. As I talk to my subject, I get the feeling that things have changed throughout the school system as the years have gone on. Also, the way that parents are involved within children’s schooling has changed drastically as well. Furthermore, throughout my study I will use the interview method to find out information on my subjects learning style and the way it affected her throughout her schooling process.

Body:

First, I explain to my subject that we will be talking about learning styles and the way they affected the way she learned to read and write. Since my subject is in her 60s, it will be interesting to examine the difference between the way teachers adapted to teaching styles back then as opposed to the way they do now. Since her siblings are 10 and 16 years younger than her, a lot of her schooling process it was just her and her parents. All of her schooling through highschool was done in Lodi, New Jersey where she grew up. When she graduated highschool, she went to Hackensack Hospital School of Nursing. She explains that they did all of their nursing classes at the hospital then took college courses at Farleigh Dickinson. 

As we get into her schooling experience, she explains to me that she always did well in school, for the most part. Math was a struggle for her as she got older, but that seems to lend hand-in-hand with her learning style, which we will get to later. Reading and writing were always her strongest subjects. She explains to me that she was always the spelling bee champion in her classes. In highschool, she was in honors english throughout her four years. 

After getting to know the subject, I began asking her about her learning styles and I asked her the way she thought she learned best. When I first asked my subject about her learning styles, I had to explain to her a little bit about it because I could tell by the confused look on her face that she was a little confused about what I was talking about. As we got more into learning styles, she began to understand what I was talking about. I asked her how she thought the best way she learned was and she explained to me that she thought she learned best by doing something or watching someone else do it. She explained to me that she could not easily do something by simply hearing instructions of what to do. So when I heard this, I categorized her in my head as either as bodily/kinesthetic learner or linguistic, since she explained to me that she was a great reader. 

Meanwhile, I had my subject take a survey to determine what type of learner she is. It wound up that she was 100 % for linguistic learning. Interpersonal was her second highest at 89%. When I asked her about her results, she explained to me that she was not surprised at all and that this is what she was expecting. She explained “Linguistic is totally me. Talk, talk, talk. Anything with written or spoken word totally relates to me. I think it pretty much sums up the way I learn. My brain has an affinity for that I guess”.