Learning Styles

by Marlene D. LeFever

Do you ever wonder why Jeffrey talks all of the time?
Or why Toni can't sit still? Or why Alex loves work sheets?
Or why Jordan is always trying something new?

Learning Styles answers these questions and more. Effective learning follows a natural four-step process that answers these four questions:

and #149; WHY DO I NEED THIS?

and #149; WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT MY NEED?

and #149; HOW DOES WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES ACTUALLY WORK?

and #149; HOW WILL I USE WHAT I HAVE LEARNED?

By answering each of these questions, we will appeal to the four learning styles: Imaginative, Analytic, Common Sense, and Dynamic. A learning style is the way in which a person sees or perceives things best and then uses that knowledge. When we understand learning styles and adjust our teaching or parenting to those styles, we begin reaching everyone God gives us to teach.

A wonderful book capable of teaching us how we learn . . . and what to do with all that knowledge once we've learned it. Practical, helpful, and an eye-opening book for all of us in the teaching trade and #151;from mothers to professors! I heartily recommend this be a must for your bookshelf.
JILL BRISCOE, AUTHOR, SPEAKER

Learning Styles displays Marlene LeFever at her best. Few people see others in terms of their learning capability. Fewer still dedicate themselves to the study of how understanding occurs. Marlene long ago grabbed my attention and admiration with her teaching skills. Her insights deserve thoughtful reading by every teacher and meaningful discussion in every teacher training meeting. Learning should stir up pleasure and she shows us how.
HOWARD G. HENDRICKS, CHAIRMAN
CENTER FOR CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP DALLAS THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

. . . great teachers and preachers throughout the history of the church have realized the importance of answering the why, what, so what, and how questions.... The author has isolated and tied these elements to the teaching context so that their incorporation will be purposeful. Anyone involved in the communication process will be benefitted by Learning Styles....
DR. TONY EVANS, PASTOR
OAK CLIFF BIBLE FELLOWSHIP DALLAS, TEXAS

Easy reading, but not simplistic. Many authors ask hard questions; Marlene dares to suggest answers.... We now have no excuse for careless teaching.
MICHAEL S. LAWSON, PH D., PRESIDENT
PROFESSIONAL ASSOC. OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATORS (PACE)

Genres: Education, Teaching, Nonfiction, Christian Non Fiction, Christian, Ebooks

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 1995

Reviews

[John Andrew Szott III · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dated and repetitive but still thought-provoking at points!

[Zachariah Kenney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I felt like this book dealt with one of the most profound teaching concepts I’ve seen in a long time.

I discuss it more on my blog:
https://seminary2016.wordpress.com/20...

[John Lawless · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every Sunday School teacher should read this book....

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dated reference book for teaching to many different learning styles in a Christian context. This book would be helpful for any new teachers who want some ideas for lesson planning. It has sample lessons for kids, youth, and adults.

[Chad Benkert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Repetitive and out of date. Basic content is good..

If you read the first few chapters you have read the book. It's time for a new edition without Amy Grant and overheads.

[Patricia Tillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good for all kinds of teachers.

[Mita Hardiyanti · Rating 2 out of 5]

iwanna get this book

[Obadiah Dalrymple · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting and certainly provides things for teachers to think about. With that said, I'm not really sold on the importance of learning styles. I think learning preferences exist, but we're beings of higher cognitive abilities that can adapt to different situations if we want to. As such, labeling someone as a certain "learning style" is not only largely unnecessary, but also seems like a good way for someone to lean on excuses and say "I'm just that way" instead of working hard to overcome circumstances that are less than idea.

Furthermore, the tests that align people to certain types of learning styles are based on a very subjective method of classification. If I take a quiz that forces me to choose one of four options, then is it really an assessment of my true preferences? For example, if a question said, "which do you like best, a strawberry, grape, cantaloupe, or watermelon," my true answer would be "all of the above", or perhaps I might even have a different answer on different days. But in a test like "learning styles", I'm forced to choose an answer. So am I really a common sense learner with a preference toward kinesthetic, or did I just choose answers in a test that were arbitrary in their true measure of my preferences? I personally think the latter. As such, I think preferences are obviously a real thing, that can change frequently, but I also think that these are largely irrelevant to whether or not I will learn a subject. If I truly want to or need to learn a subject, visual, auditory, kinesthetic, analytical, and so on, won't really matter.

With all of that said, I do think the principles of this book can be used to encourage teachers to use a variety of methods as they teach, to better reach the preferences of individuals....or really just so people don't get bored.