Major ThemesIntroductionVisual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic (VAK) David Kolb's Experiential Learning Carl Jung and Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) |
A learning style is a student's consistent way of responding to and using stimuli in the context of learning. Keefe (1979) defines learning styles as the "composite of characteristic cognitive, affective, and physiological factors that serve as relatively stable indicators of how a learner perceives, interacts with, and responds to the learning environment." Stewart and Felicetti (1992) define learning styles as those "educational conditions under which a student is most likely to learn." Thus, learning styles are not really concerned with "what" learners learn, but rather "how" they prefer to learn.
WARNINGLearning styles are points along a scale that help us to discover the different forms of mental representations; however, they are not good characterizations of what people are or are not like. We should not divide the population into a set of categories (i.e., visual and auditory learners). What these various instruments attempt to do is to allocate a person on some point on a continuum (similar to measuring height or weight). In other words, do not pigeonhole people as we are all capable of learning under almost any style, no matter what our preference is.The literature basically indicates that there is wide acceptance of the concept of learning styles, however, there is disagreement on how to best measure learning styles (Coffield, et. al., 2004). While the learning profession has long recognized the need for innovative instructional activities that relate to the diverse learning styles of learners, there is some question as to just how meaningful they are to the learning environment. That is, most researchers agree that we do have various learning styles and preferences, however, the research tends to agree that it is relative unimportant as it is far more important to match the presentation with the nature of the subject, such as providing correct learning methods, strategies, and context; than matching individual preferences (Coffield, 2004). For example, in a large meta-study, Marzano (1998) found that graphic and tactile representations of the subject matter had noticeable effects on learning outcomes, regardless of any attempt to match them with learners' modalities. Perhaps David Merrill (2000) has the best philosophy for using learning styles -- instructional strategies should first be determined on the basis of the type of content to be taught or the goals of the instruction (the content-by-strategy interactions) and secondarily, learner styles and preferences are then used to adjust or fine-tune these fundamental learning strategies. Finally, content-by-strategy interactions take precedence over learning-style-by-strategy interactions regardless of the instructional style or philosophy of the instructional situation. Merrill continued with the argument that most students are unaware of their learning styles and if left to their own means, they are UNLIKELY to start learning in new ways. Thus, knowledge of one's learning styles can be used to increase self-awareness about their strengths and weaknesses as learners. In other words, all the advantages claimed for metacognition (being aware of one's own thought and learning processes) can be gained by encouraging learners to become knowledgeable about their own learning and that of others (Coffield, 2004).
There is no good understanding of learning styles as it stands. But it certainly does not follow that we all learn the same way - the senses may well work in concert, but (as someone with thick glasses, I can attest) some senses work more or less well, meaning that each individual may combine the senses differently. - Stephen DownesIt seems at this point in time that learning styles are not really "styles," but rather "preferences" in that we do NOT learn best by using our style of learning. That is, we prefer one or more styles over others.ReferencesCoffield, F., Moseley, D., Hall, E., & Ecclestone, K. (2004). Learning styles and pedagogy in post-16 learning: A systematic and critical review. www.LSRC.ac.uk: Learning and Skills Research Centre. Retrieved January 15, 2008: http://www.lsda.org.uk/files/PDF/1543.pdfKeefe, J. W. (1979) Learning style: An overview. In NASSP's Student learning styles: Diagnosing and proscribing programs (pp. 1-17). Reston, VA. National Association of Secondary School Principles. Marzano, R. J. (1998). A theory-based meta-analysis of research on instruction. Mid-continent Regional Educational Laboratory, Aurora, CO. Merrill, D. (2000). Instructional Strategies and Learning Styles: Which takes Precedence? In Robert Reiser and Jack Dempsey (Eds.) Trends and Issues in Instructional Technology. Prentice Hall. Hayman-Abello S.E. & Warriner E.M. (2002). Child clinical/pediatric neuropsychology: some recent advances. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 309ñ339. Stewart, K. L., & Felicetti, L. A. (1992). Learning styles of marketing majors. Educational Research Quarterly, 15(2), 15-23. |
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