Shelby Piatt

EDUC 250
Dr. Bilz
2/10/16

Learning Styles

Students can all be taught the same lesson with the same instruction, but not
all students will understand. The reason could be something as simple as unclear
instructions. It could also be that the students do not connect well with that
particular method of learning. Different learning styles mean not all students learn
in the same manner. All students are different. You may encounter students who
learn better with reflectivity over impulsivity and/ or who are field independent over
dependent. Also, students will likely fall into one or a mixture of several mental selfgoverning styles. Knowing about these styles can help students tremendously.
The learning styles reflectivity and impulsivity are two that can be
determined pretty early on in a childs education. A reflective student will be more
apt to take longer on answering questions, because they like to take their time and
really think about the question while forming a response. They like to work out the
problem or question before answering. Students who are more impulsive usually are
the ones who raise their hands immediately after the teacher asks a question.
These students give less thought into finding an answer compared to reflective
students and are more impulsive and abrupt when providing a response. According
to Zhang and Sternberg, impulsive students are said to have a fast conceptual
tempo (Snowman, McCown, 2015 p131). These types of learning styles are
considered to be stable, but can change.
Field independent students and field dependent students are also types of
learning styles students can possess. These learning styles refer to, the extent to
which a persons perception and thinking about a particular piece of information are
influenced by the surrounding context (Snowman, McCown, 2015 pg.132). A
student who is more field dependent is concerned with structure and sequence.
They are also worried about what the teacher is saying and what is in the textbook.

A student who is more field independent takes what they understood from the
teacher and textbook and can more easily find important information on their own.
Students do not have to be either dependent or independent. One can lean more
towards a certain side, but one can also be a little bit of both.
Mental self-government styles is an interesting learning style theory that is
roughly modeled on the different functions and forms of civil government
(Snowman, McCown, 2015 p132). There are 13 different styles in this theory of
mental self-government. These 13 styles fall into one of five categories. The styles
and categories in which they fall are, legislative, executive, and judicial functions;
monarchic, hierarchic, oligarchic, and anarchic forms; global and local levels;
internal and external scopes; and liberal and conservative leanings (Snowman,
McCown, 2015 p132). Function, has to deal with a students form of operations
during the learning process. Form is a category that describes a students methods
of completing assignments. Level pertains to a students process of completing
assignments. Scope is whether a student prefers to work alone or in groups. The
last category, leaning, is a students dependence on procedures.
Learning styles differ from student to student. There are many different
learning styles for students and teachers to learn about that can help them teach
and learn. Students do not always have one learning style, and are likely to have
several.

References
Snowman, J., McCown, R. 2015. Psychology Applied to Teaching 14ed. Stamford,
Connecticut: Cengage Learning.