Theory of Learning Styles and Practical Applications

by: Monika E. König

ABSTRACT 5

Introduction 1

Learning Styles  1

1. People tend to develop learning styles at all 2
2. Developed learning styles are pretty constant over time.  2
3. Optimising own learning style is possible.  2
4. Several learning style theories and affiliated instruments are compatible i.e. the results for a certain student are corresponding.  3

Learning Styles – selection of theories  3

1. Felder & Silverman (1988, 1993)  3
2. Kolb (1984)  4
3. The Jungian ps ychological/learning dimensions  5
4. Gardner’s seven (or even more) intelligences (1983)  6

Determining student’s personal learning style preference 6

1. The VAK (Visual Auditory Kinesthetic) chart 7
2. The MBTI (Myers Briggs Type Indicator)  8
3. The Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire (ILS)  9
4. More Interactive tests (self-assessment) on the internet  10

From theory to practice  12

1. Finding your peace as an instructor/educator  12
2. Differentiating instruction 12
3. More appropriate student counselling 13
4. More meaningful support of student’s learning process and personal development 13

Discussion 14

1. Role of environment  14
2. Types of Learning Styles  14
3. Validity, reliability and sound theoretical basis 14

CONCLUSION 16

1. To make use of personal learning style some background knowledge is essential  16
2. There is no good or bad learning style  16
3. Learning styles are (just) points on a scale  16

REFERENCES  18

ABSTRACT

This essay is dealing with practical implications the knowledge of students’ learning styles has got for the educator. To do so, some information about learning styles in general is provided, a selection of theories is introduced as are tests to determine a particular student’s learning style. On the basis of this implications are finally discussed.

Introduction

“A large amount of responsibility for analyzing content and selecting learning strategies falls upon the students and their skills in this area are in short supply.” (Moore 2004). Though the student him- or herself being responsible for his or her own learning and personal development there are possibilities for the educator to support the process of finding out which way/which ways are working best, introducing unknown and uncommon ways of gaining knowledge which may suit especially for this very student and helping the student to become more effective in learning. To do so a framework about student’s possible learning styles, how to assess them and how to use gained information from this best is possibly a very helpful tool. Such framework shall be proposed via a selection of different learning style theories which are the ones introduced by Felder & Silverman, Jung, Kolb and Gardner. A lot more (besides also very good ones are existing though some of the more popular ones were selected to be introduced into them for this essay.

Learning Styles

“Think about what you do when you have to learn something new. You probably approach the task in a similar fashion each time. That is, over time you have developed a pattern of behaviour that you use for new learning. This pattern is called a learning style.”¹ Or by using some more academic terms: “characteristic cognitive, affective, and psychological behaviours that serve as relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive, interact with, and respond to the learning environment.” (Keefe 1979). There is no single theory of learning styles but various ones (some of which are listed in the following chapter) almost all of them are compatible and having several criteria in common. Those criteria are at least four:

1. People tend to develop learning styles at all.

According to Kolb (1981) as “a result of our hereditary equipment, our particular past life experience, and the demands of our present environment, most of us develop learning styles that emphasize some learning capabilities over others.” (237) Why this is so, O’Connor (1997) explains: “people rely on personally constructed filters to orient their relationships toward the world. These filters are responsive to a variety of factors: age, experience, internal psychodynamics, maturity, cognition, physiology, biochemistry, and so on. Since no one is capable of switching endlessly between all of these filters, it seems obvious that each individual has a unique approach he or she uses to perceive, understand, and plan his or her interactions.” As having developed a certain style was a process having taken part over a long time and is occurring all the time, learning styles are pretty constant over time:

2. Developed learning styles are pretty constant over time.

As the learning style of a particular student is likely to stay relatively constant over time², the question is arising if the teaching process shall be optimised in a way that all groups of students may benefit from or if students not being this compatible to the teaching style as others shall be trained in strategies not coming naturally to them. The point of view is taken by the author as well as the vast majority of university staff working with learning style theories and instruments do not only try to help students to capitalize on the way they are learning naturally best but also giving advice to them how to use their weaker parts when doing so is the more appropriate way to learn for a certain task/problem. Thus optimising own learning style is possible.

3. Optimising own learning style is possible.

[...]

1 Retrieved from: http://www.algonquincollege.com/edtech/gened/styles.html; date of access: 6 May 2005.

2 The author of this paper took the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator recently as well as three years ago and (not?) surprisingly the category falling in is still the same though a lot meanwhile had happened academically.