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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_styles
Learning styles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Learning style is an individual's natural or habitual pattern of acquiring and processing information in learning situations. A core concept is that individuals differ in how they learn.[1] The idea of individualized learning styles originated in the 1970s, and has greatly influenced education.[2] Proponents of the use of learning styles in education recommend that teachers assess the learning styles of their students and adapt their classroom methods to best fit each student's learning style. Although there is ample evidence for differences in individual thinking and ways of processing various types of information, few studies have reliably tested the validity of using learning styles in education.[2] Critics say there is no evidence that identifying an individual student's learning style produces better outcomes. There is evidence of empirical and pedagogical problems related to the use of learning tasks to "correspond to differences in a one-to-one fashion".[3] Well-designed studies contradict the widespread "meshing hypothesis", that a student will learn best if taught in a method deemed appropriate for the student's learning style.[2]
Contents
1 Models 1.1 David Kolb's model 1.2 Peter Honey and Alan Mumford's model 1.3 Anthony Gregorc's model 1.4 Sudbury model of democratic education 1.5 Neil Fleming's VAK/VARK model 1.6 Other models 1.7 Cognitive approach to learning styles 1.8 A more recent evidence-based model of learning 1.9 NASSP Learning Style Model 2 Assessment methods 2.1 Learning Style Inventory 2.2 NASSP Learning Style Profile 2.3 Other methods 3 Criticism 3.1 Critique made by Coffield, et al. 3.2 The critique regarding Kolb's model 3.3 Other critiques 3.4 2009 APS critique 4 Learning styles in the classroom 5 See also 6 References
Models
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Convergers are characterized by abstract conceptualization and active experimentation. They are good at making practical applications of ideas and using deductive reasoning to solve problems.[5] Divergers tend toward concrete experience and reflective observation. They are imaginative and are good at coming up with ideas and seeing things from different perspectives.[5] Assimilators are characterized by abstract conceptualization and reflective observation. They are capable of creating theoretical models by means of inductive reasoning.[5] Accommodators use concrete experience and active experimentation. They are good at actively engaging with the world and actually doing things instead of merely reading about and studying them.[5] Kolb's model gave rise to the Learning Style Inventory, an assessment method used to determine an individual's learning style. An individual may exhibit a preference for one of the four stylesAccommodating, Converging, Diverging and Assimilatingdepending on their approach to learning via the experiential learning theory model.[4] Although Kolb's model is the most widely accepted with substantial empirical support, recent studies suggest the Learning Style Inventory (LSI) is seriously flawed [6]
Secondly, the styles were directly aligned to the stages in the cycle and named Activist, Reflector, Theorist and Pragmatist. These are assumed to be acquired preferences that are adaptable, either at will or through
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changed circumstances, rather than being fixed personality characteristics. The Honey & Mumford Learning Styles Questionnaire (LSQ)[7] is a self-development tool and differs from Kolb's Learning Style inventory by inviting managers to complete a checklist of work-related behaviours without directly asking managers how they learn. Having completed the self-assessment, managers are encouraged to focus on strengthening underutilised styles in order to become better equipped to learn from a wide range of everyday experiences. A MORI survey commissioned by The Campaign for Learning[8] in 1999 found the Honey & Mumford LSQ to be the most widely used system for assessing preferred learning styles in the local government sector in the UK.
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approaches are proposed, such as the Sudbury Model of Democratic Education schools, an alternative approach in which children, by enjoying personal freedom thus encouraged to exercise personal responsibility for their actions, learn at their own pace and style rather than following a compulsory and chronologically-based curriculum.[12][13][14][15] Proponents of unschooling have also claimed that children raised in this method learn at their own pace and style, and do not suffer from learning disabilities. Gerald Coles asserts that there are partisan agendas behind the educational policy-makers and that the scientific research that they use to support their arguments regarding the teaching of literacy is flawed. These include the idea that there are neurological explanations for learning disabilities.[16]
Fleming claimed that visual learners have a preference for seeing (think in pictures; visual aids such as overhead slides, diagrams, handouts, etc.). Auditory learners best learn through listening (lectures, discussions, tapes, etc.). Tactile/kinesthetic learners prefer to learn via experiencemoving, touching, and doing (active exploration of the world; science projects; experiments, etc.). Its use in pedagogy allows teachers to prepare classes that address each of these areas. Students can also use the model to identify their preferred learning style and maximize their educational experience by focusing on what benefits them the most.
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Assessment methods
Learning Style Inventory
The Learning Style Inventory (LSI) is connected with Kolb's model and is used to determine a student's learning style.[29] The LSI assesses an individual's preferences and needs regarding the learning process. It does the following: (1) allows students to designate how they like to learn and indicates how consistent their responses are, (2) provides computerized results which show the student's preferred learning style, (3) provides a foundation upon which teachers can build in interacting with students, (4) provides possible strategies for accommodating learning styles, (5) provides for student involvement in the learning process; 6) provides a class summary so students with similar learning styles can be grouped together.[29]
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A completely different Learning Styles Inventory is associated with a binary division of learning styles, developed by Felder and Silverman.[30] In this model, learning styles are a balance between four pairs of extremes: Active/Reflective, Sensing/Intuitive, Verbal/Visual and Sequential/Global. Students receive four scores describing these balances.[31] Like the LSI mentioned above, this inventory provides overviews and synopses for teachers.
Other methods
Other methods (usually questionnaires) used to identify learning styles include Fleming's VARK Learning Style Test, Jackson's Learning Styles Profiler (LSP), and the NLP meta programs based iWAM questionnaire. Many other tests have gathered popularity and various levels of credibility among students and teachers. Ilene Thiel introduced LLL as a preferred method of learning style otherwise known as Lifelong Love of Learning.
Criticism
Learning style theories have been criticized by many. Some psychologists and neuroscientists have questioned the scientific basis for and the theories on which they are based. According to Susan Greenfield the practice is "nonsense" from a neuroscientific point of view: "Humans have evolved to build a picture of the world through our senses working in unison, exploiting the
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immense interconnectivity that exists in the brain."[32] Many educational psychologists believe that there is little evidence for the efficacy of most learning style models, and furthermore, that the models often rest on dubious theoretical grounds.[33] According to Stahl,[34] there has been an "utter failure to find that assessing children's learning styles and matching to instructional methods has any effect on their learning." Guy Claxton has questioned the extent that learning styles such as VARK are helpful, particularly as they can have a tendency to label children and therefore restrict learning.[35]
Other critiques
Coffield and his colleagues and Mark Smith are not alone in their judgements. Demos, a UK think tank, published a report on learning styles prepared by a group chaired by David Hargreaves that included Usha Goswami from Cambridge University and David Wood from the University of Nottingham. The Demos report said that the evidence for learning styles was "highly variable", and that practitioners were "not by any means
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frank about the evidence for their work." [38] Cautioning against interpreting neuropsychological research as supporting the applicability of learning style theory, John Geake, Professor of Education at the UK's Oxford Brookes University, and a research collaborator with Oxford University's Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain, commented that We need to take extreme care when moving from the lab to the classroom. We do remember things visually and aurally, but information isn't defined by how it was received.[39]
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Various researchers have attempted to hypothesize ways in which learning style theory can be used in the classroom. Two such scholars are Dr. Rita Dunn and Dr. Kenneth Dunn, who follow a VARK approach. Although learning styles will inevitably differ among students in the classroom, Dunn and Dunn say that teachers should try to make changes in their classroom that will be beneficial to every learning style. Some of these changes include room redesign, the development of small-group techniques, and the development of Contract Activity Packages.[29] Redesigning the classroom involves locating dividers that can be used to arrange the room creatively (such as having different learning stations and instructional areas), clearing the floor area, and incorporating student thoughts and ideas into the design of the classroom.[29] Their so-called "Contract Activity Packages" are educational plans that use: 1) a clear statement of the learning need; 2) multisensory resources (auditory, visual, tactile, kinesthetic); 3) activities through which the newlymastered information can be used creatively; 4) the sharing of creative projects within small groups; 5) at least three small-group techniques; 6) a pre-test, a self-test, and a post-test.[29] Another scholar who believes that learning styles should have an effect on the classroom is Marilee Sprenger in Differentiation through Learning Styles and Memory. Sprenger bases her work on three premises: 1) Teachers can be learners, and learners teachers. We are all both. 2) Everyone can learn under the right circumstances. 3) Learning is fun! Make it appealing.[43] She details various ways of teaching, visual, auditory, or tactile/kinesthetic. Methods for visual learners include ensuring that students can see words written, using pictures, and drawing time lines for events.[43] Methods for auditory learners include repeating words aloud, small-group discussion, debates, listening to books on tape, oral reports, and oral interpretation.[43] Methods for tactile/kinesthetic learners include hands-on activities (experiments, etc.), projects, frequent breaks to allow movement, visual aids, role play, and field trips.[43] By using a variety of teaching methods from each of these categories, teachers cater to different learning styles at once, and improve learning by challenging students to learn in different ways.[44] James W. Keefe and John M. Jenkins (2000; 2008) have incorporated learning style assessment as a basic component in their "Personalized Instruction" model of schooling. Six basic elements constitute the culture and context of personalized instruction. The cultural components - - teacher role, student learning characteristics, and collegial relationships - -establish the foundation of personalization and ensure that the school prizes a caring and collaborative environment. The contextual factorsinteractivity, flexible scheduling, and authentic assessmentestablish the structure of personalization. These six elements constitute the state of the art in personalized instruction. Cognitive and learning style aanlysis have a special role in the process of personalizing instruction. Style elements are relatively persistent qualities in the behavior of individual learners. They reflect genetic coding, personality, development, motivation, and environmental adaptation. Second only to the more flexible teacher role, the assessment of student learning style, more than any other element, establishes the foundation for a personalized approach to schooling: for student advisement and placement, for appropriate retraining of student cognitive skills, for adaptive instructional strategy, and for the authentic evaluation of learning. Some learners respond best in instructional environments based on an analysis of their perceptual and environmental style preferences. Most individualized and personalized teaching methods reflect this point of view. Other learners, however, need help to function successfully in any learning environment. If a youngster cannot cope under conventional instruction, enhancing his cognitive skills may make successful achievement possible. Many of the student learning problems that learning style diagnosis attempts to solve relate directly to elements of the human information processing system. Processes such as attention, perception and memory, and operations such as integration and retrieval of information are internal to the system. Any hope for improving student learning necessarily involves an understanding and application of information processing theory. Learning style assessment is an important window to understanding and managing this process.
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Some research evaluating teaching styles and learning styles, however, has found that congruent groups have no significant differences in achievement from incongruent groups (Spoon & Schell, 1998). Furthermore, learning style in this study varied by demography, specifically by age, suggesting a change in learning style as one gets older and acquires more experience. While significant age differences did occur, as well as no experimental manipulation of classroom assignment, the findings do call into question the aim of congruent teaching-learning styles in the classroom.
See also
Theory of multiple intelligences Big Five personality traits Cognitive styles Constructivism (learning theory) Forer effect Metacognition Montessori method
References
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43. ^ a b c d Sprenger, M. (2003). Differentiation through learning styles and memory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press 44. ^ "TEACHING STRATEGIES/METHODOLOGIES: Advantages, Disadvantages/Cautions, Keys to Success" (http://som.unm.edu/ume/ted/pdf/ed_dev/gen_teach_strategies.pdf). Retrieved 14 December 2012.
Spoon J.C., & Schell, J.W. (1998). Aligning student learning styles with instructor teaching styles. Journal of Industrial Teacher Education, 35, 41-56. Keefe, J. W. (1979). Learning style: An overview. In Student learning styles Diagnosing and prescribing programs. Reston, VA: National Association of Secondary School Principals. Keefe, J. W., & Jenkins, J. M. (1997). Instruction and the learning environment. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education. Keefe J. W., & Jenkins, J. M. (2000). Personalized instruction: Changing classroom practice. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education. Keefe, J. W. & Jenkins, J. M. (2008). Personalized instruction: The key to student achievement. 2nd edition. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education. Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Learning_styles&oldid=563799862" Categories: Learning theory (education) Educational psychology Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder Alternative therapies for developmental and learning disabilities This page was last modified on 15 August 2013 at 05:32. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
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