Teaching in Extension – Learning Styles

Darrell A. Dromgoole, Associate Professor and Extension Specialist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
Jana Osbourn, Regional Program Leader-Family and Community Health/4-H and Youth Development, South Region, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
Stacey Dewald, Graduate Assistant, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
Katy Gottwald, Extension Program Specialist I, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
Michelle Payne, Extension Program Specialist I, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

Extension professionals wear a number of hats in the day-to-day operations related to Extension programming. Extension educators have to be organizers, learners, and facilitators. However, at the end of the day, every Extension agent and specialist is an educator. As Dr. Bob Robinson, Regional Program Leader Emeritus once stated,

“Anyone can make coffee and bring the donuts to a meeting, but it’s the educator who will make the difference!”

In order to be an effective educator it is imperative that there be an understanding of learning styles of our clientele. According to Ripley, Cummings, Lockett, Pope, Wright, Payne, Kieth and Murphrey (2011), learning occurs when clientele is provided with new information or acquires new skills. Everyone has preferred methods of receiving information, or learning styles and can be best described as simply different approaches or ways of learning (Ripley et al., 2011). There are three primary learning styles (i.e., visual, auditory, and tactile/kinesthetic) described in Figure 1 (Ripley et al., 2011):

These three primary learning styles are represented by each individual in every Extension program target audience. It is important for Extension educators to develop educational plans that accommodate all the different learning styles. In doing so, Extension programs will be effective for all participants. Keep in mind, as an educator we tend to employ a learning style that aligns with our preferred learning style, therefore we should attempt to accommodate the learning styles of our program participants.

To help educators in accommodating learning styles, Figure 2 provides teaching methods appropriate for various learning styles (Ripley et al., 2011):

Reference

Ripley, J., Cummings, S, Lockett, L., Pope, P., Wright, M., Payne, M., Kieth, L., & Murphrey, T. (2011). Creating Excellent Programs.  Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Publication. E-345.  Retrieved from http://agrilifecdn.tamu.edu/od/files/2010/03/E345.pdf