Learning Styles
Reviewed: January 2008
This page has been kept for reference.
It will no longer be updated by ICVET.
Know your learner's style!
Learning styles refers to the belief that each adult has a preferred way of learning and that adults engage more productively with the learning activity when their style is taken into account.
Various authors have proposed different categories of learning styles. Examples are Kolb, Honey and Mumford, McCarthy, and Myers-Briggs. What they all have in common is that they attempt to classify learners into categories that can be used as the basis for instructional design.
Learning style inventories (sets of questions used to classify a learner) serve two useful purposes. First, they help identify how students prefer to learn so that the teacher/trainer can adapt the learning activities to suit the individual learner. Second, they help teachers/trainers identify their own preferred training style. With this information they can take steps to diversify their approach to cater for a wider range of learners and learning styles.
Websites
Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences
Here you will find a very basic introduction to learning styles and multiple intelligences. Take the free learning styles test to discover your own learning style!
Learning Styles on the Web
Karen J Ristuccia has listed various web resources that could help in formulating training in individualised learning. There are a number of references to learning styles inventories.
Support4Learning – Learning Styles
WOW! - a treasure chest of links! Supported by HERO (Higher Education and Research Opportunities, UK) this site links to over 40 selected websites all suggesting ways of recognising a variety of learning styles and making best use of them. Also explore their education resources.
Teaching and Learning Styles that Facilitate Online Learning
The project behind the site was funded by ANTA to research teaching and learning styles that facilitate online learning. As well as detailed project information and findings, the lists of contributors and contacts will also be helpful for your networking, and don’t miss the excellent Online Teaching and Learning Links.
Felder-Silverman Model of Learning Styles
This site contains links and resources for a model of learning styles referred to as the Felder-Silverman model. This model was designed for use by college instructors and students in engineering and the sciences, but has subsequently been applied in a broad range of disciplines.
Look for the link Index of Learning Styles, which leads to a self-scoring questionnaire for assessing your preferences on the four dimensions of the model (active/reflective, sensing/intuitive, visual/verbal, and sequential/global).
Lead Balloons, Stone Canoes, and Learning Styles
Frank Greenagel writes that 'the concept of learning styles has gained considerable attention in recent years, but it hasn't been a generative concept in e-learning. Most of the learning styles research has been in formal (classroom-based) education, which reinforces the idea that learning is basically an information transmission process.'
Learning Styles and the 4MAT System: A Cycle of Learning
If you are you looking for a brief summary of the four learning styles identified by Bernice McCarthy, then look no further! Essential to quality learning is an awareness in the learner of his/her own preferred mode, becoming comfortable with his/her own best ways of learning, and being helped to develop a learning repertoire through experience with alternative modes.
Learning Styles and Personality
In addition to learning styles, a learner’s personality can also affect how they learn. Explore some of the different learning styles and personality traits and discover their possible implications for learning.
Georgia State University: Learning Styles
Here you will find a discussion on teaching 'extroverted' versus 'introverted' and other Myers-Briggs Type Indicator classification of learners. While brief, it is quite helpful if you can classify your learners into these groups.
Publications
DUNN, R & Griggs, S 2003, Practical approaches to using learning styles in higher education, Bergin Garvey/Greenwood Publishing Group, USA.
Dunn and Griggs challenge the traditional instructional process of lecture/discussion in college teaching. They describe theory, practice and research which support a wide variety of approaches to different learning-styles.
LAL, Vjendra 2003, Cultural Difference and its Influence on Learning, TAFE NSW.
This paper focuses on how learners' cultural backgrounds influence learning with computer-based technologies. After a review of current debates, research and thinking in the literature relating to cultural differences and learning with computer based technologies, it draws out implications for designing effective learning experiences which use computer-based learning technologies.
SPRENGER, M 2003, Differentiation through learning styles and memory, Sage Publications Ltd, USA.
Here is an overview of how the brain processes, stores, and retains information, and how teachers can guide students in accessing this information by utilising their individual learning styles and strengths. Sprenger includes suggestions and examples for creating a learning environment that addresses students' physical, social/emotional and cognitive needs.
SIMS, R & SIMS, S 1995, The importance of learning styles, Greenwood Press, USA.
By examining approaches that purport to promote effective learning, this book establishes the need for trainers to recognise the importance of individual learning differences and to use methods that creates a conducive learning climate regardless of the learning style.
HODGES, J 1992, Learn faster now - 28 days to superior learning and study skills for students and teachers, Down Under Publications, Australia.
Called a Mental Processes Questionnaire, this learning style quiz is printed in a format that allows for photocopying and comes with a copyright clearance for ‘school teachers and higher education lecturers’.
McCARTHY, B 1987, The 4MAT System. Excel Inc, IL, US.
This reference explains the differences of people’s learning styles, how people learn, and research on right/left brain processing. It is a practical manual for teaching people with different learning styles.