Theory of learning styles and practical applications

CONTENTS

  ABSTRACT  5

  LEARNING STYLES - PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS  1

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

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  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

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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.

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  LEARNING STYLES - PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS  

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

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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 time ² , 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.

Felder (1996) is providing the example of Charles Yakomoto, an electric engineering professor who is using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator as a diagnostic tool for students having academic difficulties: “Working with an ISTJ (introvert, sensor, thinker, judger) student who was failing the introductory course in electrical circuits, Yokomoto

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.

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