Learning Styles and Climate Change Writing Assignments
This paper examines how a writing-to-learn assignment centered on climate change can be designed to accommodate multiple student learning styles. Drawing on data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Gallup polling, the instructor delivers a lecture on climate science and public opinion, then asks students to complete a timed free-write exercise. The paper explains how the assignment aligns with three major learning style frameworks: Kolb's Learning Styles, Fleming and Mills's Sensory-Based Learning Style, and Felder and Silverman's Index of Learning Styles. The discussion concludes that instructors should embrace a variety of strategies throughout a course to engage all learners effectively.
- Introduction: Rationale for addressing diverse student learning styles
- The Lecture: Climate Change and Public Opinion: IPCC findings and Gallup polling on climate skepticism
- The Writing-to-Learn Assignment: Timed free-write activity design and instructions
- Compatibility with Kolb's Learning Styles: Assignment supports concrete experience and reflective observation
- Compatibility with Fleming and Mills's Style: Auditory and logical learning supported by lecture format
- Compatibility with Felder and Silverman's Index: Sequential and verbal-visual learning dimensions addressed
- Discussion: Instructors should vary strategies to reach all learners
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper grounds an abstract pedagogical discussion in a concrete, timely topic — climate change — making the argument immediately relatable to both instructors and students.
- It systematically maps a single assignment to three distinct learning style frameworks, demonstrating that one well-designed activity can serve diverse learners without requiring separate lesson plans.
- The inclusion of Gallup and IPCC data adds empirical credibility to the lecture content described, showing how real-world evidence can motivate critical thinking exercises.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper uses parallel structure as its central analytical technique: each learning style framework receives its own dedicated section with a consistent format — name the framework, explain its relevant principle, then show how the assignment satisfies it. This parallel organization makes complex theoretical comparisons easy to follow and demonstrates clear academic argumentation at the undergraduate level.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a rationale for addressing diverse learning styles, then presents the lecture content (climate science and polling data) that serves as the assignment stimulus. It next describes the free-write activity in procedural detail, followed by three analytical sections — one per framework — explaining compatibility. A brief discussion section synthesizes the argument and urges instructors to vary strategies across sessions. References follow in MLA/APA hybrid style.
Introduction
A university instructor who seeks to interest and motivate students through a lecture is sometimes on thin ice when it comes to keeping students' attention. It is therefore incumbent on the alert contemporary instructor to present highly relevant material in a way that engages students, while at the same time recognizing that there are vastly different learning styles in any given classroom.
The job of the instructor is to present information that helps students develop critical thinking skills and learn to solve problems. There are many aspects to the vitally important environmental issue of climate change, and all of them cry out for clarity. An instructor can create a worthy activity — one that informs while it stimulates — from the various approaches to this topic. This paper examines how a writing-to-learn assignment built around climate change is relevant to Kolb's Learning Styles, Fleming and Mills's Sensory-Based Learning Style, and Felder and Silverman's Index of Learning Styles.
References
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (2013). Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis / The Fifth Assessment Report. Retrieved October 18, 2014, from
Nilson, L. B. (2010). Teaching at Its Best: A Research-Based Resource for College Instructors. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Saad, L. (2014). One in four in U.S. are solidly skeptical of global warming. Gallup. Retrieved October 18, 2014, from http://www.gallup.com.
Schuldt, J. P., Konrath, S. H., & Schwarz, N. (2011). "Global warming" or "climate change"? Whether the planet is warming depends on question wording. Public Opinion Quarterly, 75(1), 115–124.
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