Learning Styles
Working hand in hand with a student’s sensory preference is his or her learning style – that is, how the rider best processes the information you present. Educational theorist David Kolb first published his learning styles in 1984 and although they have since been
enhanced, the basics remain. Kolb breaks learning into four basic categories. ■ Doing: Tis refers to processing information through active experimentation. Tese are the students who won’t wait for you to finish your explanation, but will just go try to ride. Active exploration is best for them, so you should guide them with hints, ideas, and challenges.
■ Watching: Tese learners assimilate information through careful observation. Often found at the back of a line in a drill scenario, they watch other riders and learn from them. Feedback for these learners is best received through visual aids, such as tablets, cameras, smartphones, or demonstrations showing what they look like when performing a given task and how they might make adjustments to enhance their strengths and diminish their weaknesses.
■ Tinking: Tese students usually need a full explanation of all the components and their outcomes. Tey use this information to create a process patchwork in their minds.
■ Feeling: Tese students relate information to feelings from their senses. Constant attention to muscle groups, movement sequences, and sensations from equipment, snow, or weather conditions are useful.
As Kolb’s model has evolved, he admits that many learners operate on a continuum between concrete and concept – experimentation and reflection. Tis, he believes, leads most people to develop paired learning strengths, usually pairing feeling and watching (diverging), watching and thinking (assimilating), thinking and doing (converging), and feeling and doing (accommodating). Again, experienced instructors will take note of how riders use information once it has been delivered and constantly tweak their lesson plans to suit.
Tis is only one among many models that attempt to explain how people process information for learning. When you’re mindful of how students learn, you’ll be much better equipped to teach lessons that fire on all the right cylinders.
Developmental Considerations
Understanding and teaching to a person’s cognitive, affective, and physical strengths – as related to their personal stage of development – helps you tailor lessons to students and better develop their riding skills. Te previously mentioned CAP Model identifies age-specific trends used by instructors to manage knowledge, attitude and skills. General age categories for observing developmental differences are 3 to 6, 7 to 12, teens, and adults. Still, students develop at different rates in different areas. Let individual development dictate your behaviors and lesson content. More information on the CAP Model is found in the Snowboard Teaching Handbook and the Children’s Instruction Manual. Whether students are young, old, or somewhere in between, their development factors into your ability to be effective.
92 AASI SNOWBOARD TECHNICAL MANUAL
TheSnowPros.org
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