Sunday, March 17, 2013

           The first thing that came to mind when I began reading about surveys was the sound of a game show host exclaiming, “Survey says?” The reality is that in order for an instructor to understand the uniqueness of the interests, intelligences, and learning styles of a student, there is a need to gather definitive data to better prepare instruction for student learning.  Determining and meeting the needs of the diversity within the classroom begins with pre-assessment of student characteristics student records and conducting surveys. Four formats reviewed this week included, interest, learning style, multiple intelligences, and Learning profile surveys.
            Growth in information technology has brought opportunities for the instructor to establish an effective course for instruction and use of supportive technologies (Bray, Brown, & Green, 2004, p. 46) that enhance and advance student learning.  With the access and growth of technology comes the necessity for review of appropriate and available means of evaluation to determine its validity.
Research conducted by my collaborative group and myself was an eye opening experience. The results provide a wide range of opportunity for information gathering, some free, some with fees, some with easy access, others tied to scams, or malware.  Examples of sites reviewed and posted on the groups Wiki site include, an Interest Survey entitled “Road to Success Inventory”, (http://teacher.scholastic.com/LessonPlans/unit_roadtosuccess_invent.pdf.). I chose to review this site because of the basic wording used to collect data of student interests.
            The Learning Style Survey entitled “What is Your Learning Style”, (http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-learning-styles-quiz) was chosen for what it provided beyond the survey itself. Though the survey was adequate in providing feedback on learning styles at the secondary and College level, the focus for a site like this seems more on drawing the viewer into the resources of this commercial education site.
            The Multiple Intelligence Survey:  “Assessment: Find Your Strengths”,
( http://www.literacyworks.org/mi/assessment/findyourstrengths.html) provides the viewer with a survey, feedback, extensive resources related to Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences. This site is user-friendly targeting Secondary or College level instruction.
            The last site reviewed was a Learning Profile Survey, “Responsive Teaching, Best Practices in Differentiation Instruction:  Learner Profile Cards”
(http://schools.webster.k12.mo.us/education/components/docmgr/default.php?sectiondetailid=40488&catfilter=1923#showDoc). This site presents survey types focusing on, expression style, modality preference, multiple intelligence, Triarchic Theory of intelligence, and Array interaction. Though somewhat extensive, the site provides data and resources in visual arts content area that would assist in developing a more accurate view of a student’s overall profile.  
            From collaboration and study of the resources, I developed a student survey at http://freeonlinesurveys.com. The survey consists of 40 prompts with three possible responses. Each set of five focuses on a multiple intelligence with wording identifying interests and learning styles. I chose this emphasis because of its importance on understanding student cognitive and learning strengths, and the profile that it presents. These strengths provide for development of effective differentiation of digital tools, and learning strategies within visual arts content, and for “Success” in the classroom (Bray, Brown, & Green, 2004, p. 2)


References