Accommodating learner styles and characteristics
in TAFE
TAFE NSW VET Pedagogy Project managed by Lynne Stallard, ICVET
In practice, TAFE teachers seem to operate from a fairly holistic notion comprising not only students' learning styles, but also their culture-based and developmental characteristics.
Dr Laurie Field
The concept of learning styles is a very attractive one. If everyone has a unique learning style, and if educators could design learning activities to match each person's preferred style (something which shouldn't be too difficult, especially with the power of computers and elearning), imagine how easily and quickly students could learn! POW! Fast and efficient learning!
The logic of putting time and money into measuring student learning styles
Unfortunately, the challenges of accommodating learning styles are far more complex, as a recent ICVET project has demonstrated. The project, completed in mid-2005, involved an extensive literature review and series of in-depth interviews with teachers, in an effort to examine the concept of 'learning style' and its applications in TAFE.
The results of this examination weren't what we expected. While the literature
is huge (as an indication, search engine Google lists over 600,000 sites
referring to 'learning styles'), we found little agreement about terminology.
There are also real doubts about the validity of the various schema or scales which purport to measure learning styles. Indeed, the most extensive review of the learning styles literature to date, Learning Styles and Pedagogy in post-16 learning, 2004 is scathing about the mix of theoretical incoherence, conceptual confusion, overblown claims and unwarranted faith in simple inventories which characterise the scholarly learning styles literature.
The results of the teacher interviews also took us by surprise. While every interviewee paid lip-service the value of learning styles, in almost all cases what they were referring to was broader and more commonsense than one finds in the academic learning styles literature, for example:
- whether students prefer to learn by doing or through bookwork
- how students like to learn (eg, online, by being mentored or from hard-copy resources)
- whether or not students approach learning with confidence or need to be spoon-fed
What this and other data from the interviews suggest is that TAFE teachers
tend to operate from a fairly holistic notion comprising not only students'
learning styles, but also (see diagram below):
- culture-based characteristics—the learner preferences shared by students who have a common ethnic background (eg, 'middle-eastern Muslims' or 'Aboriginals') or a common gender or personal history (eg, young females with a history of negative educational experiences and menial work)
- developmental characteristics—the extent to which someone is self-directed or needs nurturing and pastoral care
The interrelationship between learning styles, and students' cultural and developmental characteristics, is shown schematically below.
A framework for thinking about learner-specific characteristics
The status of the learning styles described in academic literature, and TAFE teachers' understanding of learning styles, are only two of many interesting issues considered in this ICVET project.
For example, do educators need to worry about learning styles at all, or is it better to concentrate on meeting the needs of broad classroom segments (eg, mature working women)? And, even if we could gauge learning styles accurately, is there any value in accommodating learning styles, or should TAFE teachers try instead to help students develop multiple styles?
Also see
Are learning styles all they’re cracked up to be? REVIEW | eZine August 2005
Catering to a range of student needs INTERVIEW | eZine August 2005
The challenge of remaining flexible INTERVIEW | eZine August 2005
2005 Flexibility and pastoral care for Office Administration learners INTERVIEW | eZine August 2005