Course 1- Module 7 ASSESSING FOR LEARNING STYLES: Pros and Cons

My apprehension in assessing learning styles is that by assessing students, it may bias the teacher toward certain students. For the same reason, I don't like looking at students' past grades or IQ results. Assessing a student style gives a student a label. Once a label is in the mind of the teacher, it is hard to change. I would rather see how a student is doing and then if there are difficulties, I would assess learning styles to see if the style is a variable in the problem. I would prefer to see how students progress for myself than rely on inconclusive evidence re: learning styles. I think it is good to do assessments to confirm what the student already thinks is their learning style, which is what happened to me, but I think using what someone's learning style is in choosing a career could be dangerous.

Pros:
-you can see where the majority of the class is so you can incorporate different learning styles to "please" everyone and expand their exposure to other styles.
-learning about learning styles also help educate teachers so they can use different ways of teaching and to reveal their own styles
-it can be used to analyze problems students have in learning re: teacher style vs. student style
-gives student meta cognitive strategies in how they learn
-provides students with a "toolbox" of strategies for their particular style

Cons:
-evidence on learning styles is inconclusive re: reliability and validity
-labeling students
-students may feel inferior to others with "better"labels
-focuses on catering to all leaning styles at the expense of content