Exploring the World of Left Brain/Right Brain Thinking

Wayne Morris, in his 2010 article "A Whole Brain Is Better Than Two Halves," published in Education Today, says that the argument about left brain versus right brain is a "distraction from what really matters. We want our students to learn and our teachers to teach using all of their brain!" Instead, Morris proposes more emphasis on "Whole Brain Thinking"  (Morris, 2010, pg. 9).


Morris begins his article by defining "Whole Brain Learning." He also acknowledges that we, as humans, each have preferences for how we think. "We all have preferred ways of thinking," he says. "Some people focus on facts, others look for relationships. Some like detail, others prefer the bigger picture. Whilst our personal 'thinking preferences' can sometimes help us in certain situations, they can also inhibit our ability to function fully and effectively" (Morris, 2010, pg. 9). 


Morris then goes on to explain why it is important to understand what the thinking preferences are of those involved in the learning process -- both students and teacher. To better understand individual preferences, Morris recommends taking an online brain profile quiz to help one identify his or her thinking preference. 


Morris provides an example in the manner of a scenario featuring a teacher and two students. One of the students thinks in a similar way to the teacher. This student does well in class and is perhaps seen as the "teacher's pet." Another student is struggling with frustration and not doing well. Morris explains how the teacher and the first student share the same thinking preference, and the discourage student has a very different thinking preference. The point of Morris' scenario is that understanding how individuals may think differently helps everyone be more successful in a learning situation. And while no one way of thinking is better than others, Morris reiterates that it is important to understand how these differences influence our learning. Understanding the differences among learners is especially important for teachers, Morris says, as it allows them to address student's questions more effectively. Understanding thinking preference is also particularly helpful when group work is at hand, so that group members can work more effectively together.


I found Wayne Morris' article to be of particular interest. I, myself, am definitely a right-brain thinker; and I have a dear friend and colleague who is a poster child for left-brain thinking. We often tease each other about our different modes of thinking, and we find great humor and enjoyment in testing and comparing our left- and right-brain qualities. The whole idea of left-brain/right-brain is a strong area of interest for me. I wish Morris' article had been longer, and had gone into more detail about the subject. Otherwise, I found it to be well written and very accessible.


For fun, here is a link to an online left-brain/right-brain quiz. How do you score? I took the quiz, and my results are posted below. I scored more middle range than I expected. Interesting... 

Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz The higher of these two numbers below indicates which side of your brain has dominance in your life. Realising your right brain/left brain tendancy will help you interact with and to understand others. Left Brain Dominance: (10) Right Brain Dominance: (13) Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz

References


Morris, W. (2010). A whole brain is better than two halves. Education Today, (4), 8-10.

Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz. (n.d.). Intelliscript net - Custom Perl Scripts. Retrieved March 11, 2012, from http://www.intelliscript.net/test_area/questionnaire/questionnaire.cgi

New Perspectives on the Existence of Learning Styles

David Kelly is one of a growing list of instructional design professionals who are questioning the usefulness and validity of "learning styles" as the field has always known them. Just last week, David Kelly posted My Learning Styles Awakening on his blog. In his post, he declares that he sees no value in designing learning to individual preferences - in particular, he is addressing the theory of Visual-Auditory-Kinestetic learners. "Let’s get this out of the way quickly. I don’t believe there’s value in designing learning experiences to cater to individual learning styles" (Kelly 2012). Kelly goes on to describe his experience as an instructional designer with this theory of learning styles. He says that as a beginner in the field of instructional design, he heard and believed this particular theory of learning styles, assuming it was true based on the fact that nearly everyone else believed so, too. He says that the theory makes sense and it sounds "right," so it must be true. However, according to his experience, he eventually began to have doubts. Kelly says, "I don’t think I’m a unique learning and performance professional in making that mistake, and it’s a mistake we make in plenty of areas outside of Learning Styles. We tend to do things because it’s always been done, or because someone ‘who knows’ said it’s what we should be doing. We’re quick to accept theory and put it into action without verifying or tracking if the idea translates in practice."

As David Kelly progressed in his profession, he began to hear similar thoughts expressed in his wider circle of professional networking. "As I connected with more and more professionals, established professionals with credentials and experience that dwarfed my own, I noticed a common thread in some of their posts that conflicted with my position and beliefs about learning styles. While the verbiage varied, the core message was essentially the same: Learning Styles Don’t Exist" (Kelly 2012).

Ultimately, Kelly concludes that designing learning based on perceived preferences in "learning styles" does not have value. To that end, Kelly says that the argument about whether or not learning styles exist is not the point. Instead, he gives his readers three pieces of advice: don't do things that don't have value, nurture your "Personal Learning Networks," and stop debating learning styles. "We have more important and impactful work to do as a field," he says.

I found David Kelly's blog to be very intriguing and enlightening - and he certainly got me thinking more critically on the topic. I, myself, had not heard anyone make such claims before. Like many others in my field, I assumed that the theory of learning styles is universally accepted. It is very interesting to me to find out that that might not be the case. Further searches led me to a number of other well-thought-out posts that address the same issue and the same questions, so obviously David Kelly is not alone.

References

Kelly, D. (2012, March 1). My #LearningStyles Awakening. David Kelly. Retrieved March 10, 2012, from davidkelly.me/2012/03/my-learningstyles-awakening/

A Survey of Three Instructional Design Blogs

This week I located several instructional design blogs that I think are worth following. I have subscribed to these blogs, as well as to some others, on my RSS feed software.

Cathy Moore: Let's save the world from boring elearning

The first blog I would like to profile is that of Cathy Moore. Cathy is a consultant and speaker on instructional design and the creation of exciting and engaging learning. Her goal is to save people from "boring instruction," as she calls it. She has been in this field for 28 years, and she has a long list of prestigious and well-known clients in fields ranging from retail to government to higher education to nonprofits, and just about everything in between. Cathy's blog is titled "Cathy Moore: Let's save the world from boring elearning!" The title of her blog will give you a good idea of Cathy's personality and style. Cathy's blog is a collection of engaging and energetic posts (approximately one each month) that cover a range of instructional design concepts. Her articles are well written, well structured and nicely illustrated. Her postings provide practical, hands-on activities that instructional design practitioners can use in their own projects. I think Cathy's blog will be one that I will refer to again and again, to gain new insights and generate new ideas for designing courses more effectively.

Tom Kuhlmann: The Rapid e-Learning Blog

Tom Kuhlmann's blog presents "practical, real-world tips for e-learning success." One of the first things that I noticed about Tom's blog is that it is very colorful and engaging. Tom uses a lot of vibrant colors on his site, including cartoon motifs, photographs, illustrations, and videos. While these elements in themselves do not guarantee quality in the content, they are an indication that the author is making a concerted effort to make his content visually engaging for the audience. Upon deeper examination, Tom's content holds up well to scrutiny. His posts are very specific and useful, presenting a lot of practical and thoughtful ideas that instructional designers can adapt immediately and easily to their own projects. Tom's blog is very well written, presenting very articulate and practical ideas.

The Upside Learning Blog

The Upside Learning Blog is a company -sponsored blog that features the work of multiple authors. Upside Learning is a consulting company that offers business performance improvement inspired by innovation and technology. It appears that the blog is written by multiple authors within the company, including Abhijit Kadle, Aneesh Bhat, and Vivek Garg, to name a few. At first I was hesitant to use this blog, as it is sponsored by a business, and that begs the question about whether or not the content is truly useful, or simply propaganda for the business. However, upon closer inspection, I found myself really impressed with this collection of targeted and specific articles. And, Upside Learning is located in Pune, India. I like the idea of keeping up with trends in learning around the world. I think reading a blog sponsored by an elearning company in India is a good way to keep up to date with global diversity, which is an increasingly important aspect of elearning. Upside Learning is a high-tech, innovation company, with customers in 13 countries. Most of their articles deal with technology issues in elearning. For example, they have a recent article on "The Future for Flash," which I know is a subject of intense debate in my elearning development team. They also have recent articles on mobile learning and gamification, which are two areas of intense interest in the elearning field right now. The Upside Learning blog is an excellent addition to the selection of learning blogs that I am following, as it provides a unique outlook on the technology and innovations that are driving elearning.

Welcome to my blog!

Hello. I'd like to welcome you to my blog. I hope you find some interesting reading inside. I've been an instructional designer for 18 years, first in corporate America, and now in higher education. I currently work as an instructional designer of online courses at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio. I also teach online courses in composition and research writing. I'm a Certified Peer Reviewer in the Quality Matters organization, which is a faculty peer-based quality assurance program for online courses, K-Higher Education.