Cory Sweet

Mrs. Thomas

UWRT 1104

7 April 2019

Learning Styles: The Importance of Instructional Diversity in Higher Education

Have you ever felt like you learn better with different instructors? This is something

many people realize as they progress through their education. Some wonder if they are just bad

learners, or if their teachers are just not good at teaching. Many believe that each person has a

specific learning style based on their life experiences, character traits, and physiological aspects.

This acknowledgement leads people to realize that they learn better with different instructional

techniques and settings. With this concept in mind, students begin to realize that they may not be

bad at learning and their teachers might not be bad at teaching. A student might just learn

differently than another.

As I progressed through my own educational experience, I easily noticed the difference in

the teaching strategies of my instructors. Some teachers focused on group work and hands-on

activities, while others used PowerPoints, graphics, and diagrams to teach and present their

subject. This realization led me to begin my inquiry process on the implementation of learning

styles into teaching through adaptive methods. I have found sources that discuss positive effects,

negative effects, and varying implementation strategies. My thesis will include explanations of

sources that support my position, as well as the opposition. The first source I will include is

“Learning Styles” from the English Language Teaching journal (ELT). This article has been

published by the ELT journal, a publication that has been running for 70 years, and has also
passed through the Peer Reviewing process. The main purpose of this article is to highlight the

disagreement and diversity of the topics revolving around learning styles and their

implementation. The article explains the position that claims that matching a teaching curriculum

to a student’s learning style greatly enhances learning. But the opposition is also represented; this

position claims that matching the learning styles showed no additional benefit for the student’s

learning (Hatami). My analysis is that learning styles and the components that relate to them are

very broad and still require plenty of research. The controversy over the topic is also a factor that

expresses the need for more research. As I was beginning my research, finding this article proved

to be very informative. The article emphasizes the level of controversy over the topic in the

following quote: “While there is ample evidence that individuals differ in how they prefer to take

in, process, and acquire new information, the educational implications of such preferences have

been a source of great controversy among researchers and educators over the years” (Hatami). In

contrast, the second source expressly includes a voice that is in support of learning style

implementation into instruction.

The second source I will include is also called Learning styles from the InnovAiT journal.

The InnovAiT journal is an official journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners. The

InnovAiT journal, a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics, claims to promote

excellence in primary care through quality education. The article is centered around the

application of three main learning style theories. The first theory is focused on the assumption

that learners each have traits that are tied to sensory modalities. These modalities refer to a

person’s specific way of sensing/experiencing things. Each one is said to be linked to learning

strategies which will allow students to learn most effectively. This theory has identified

individuals to have four different learning styles related to their sensory modalities. The four
learning styles are as follows: visual/nonverbal, visual/verbal, tactile/kinesthetic, and

auditory/verbal. The second theory describes how learner’s styles are flexible and based upon the

connection between experiences and personal characteristics. The last section explains how

instructional styles can be manipulated to improve learning for their students (Rolfe 176). This

article allowed me to realize that one student’s learning style and preferences can vastly differ

from another’s. The following quote urges that instructors present information in multiple ways

so that learners with varied modalities can still learn efficiently: “However, it is important to

remember that presenting information to learners in a variety of modalities helps all learners, no

matter what their learning style preference” (Rolfe 176). I believe that the table for suggested

learning approaches for modality learning styles that was included in the article is an excellent

resource for instructors to use as they modify their instruction. Similarly, the third source I found

in my research also includes a voice agreeing that instructional strategies tailored towards

students can affect and improve a student’s learning achievement.

The third source is Learning styles, teaching strategies and academic achievement in

higher education: A cross-sectional investigation from Procedia - Social and Behavioral

Sciences, 2012, Vol. 33. The author, Cristina Tulbure, has written several articles on the subject

including: “Do different learning styles require differentiated teaching strategies?” and

“Differentiated Instruction for Pre-Service Teachers: An Experimental Investigation”.

ScienceDirect, an intuitive and comprehensive platform that includes this source, allows

researchers to access reliable interdisciplinary research and fundamental information easily. The

main purpose of this article is focused around a study that compares two groups of pre-service

teachers with Educational Sciences and Economic Science majors. They were being analyzed in

order to identify their learning style preferences, the most effective teaching strategies, as well as
the difference between their academic achievements. Data was collected through a survey

method. The study showed that significant differences were shown between the two categories of

students. After the research study was complete, the information was analyzed. There were

trends that showed that students from 3 categories of learning styles had varying achievement

scores based on the instructional strategy that was received (Tulbure 398). My own

comprehension of the connection between learning styles and teaching strategies was further

developed as I analyzed the information in this source. Tulbure endorses the continued education

and imagination of instructors in teaching when she says: “Effective teaching requires flexibility,

creativity and responsibility in order to provide an instructional environment able to respond to

the learner’s individual needs” (398). Cultivating this ongoing instructional adaptation will allow

instructors to teach diverse student groups much more effectively. This study allowed me to

realize the depth and care that is taken to prove or disprove research theories. Based on the

source’s own analysis of the study, I would also agree that further research with a larger and

more diverse group is necessary. Likewise, the inclusion of my fourth source is directly related

to the position that developing teacher’s instructional methods and talents can improve academic

achievement for students. Furthermore, the source agrees that teacher’s adaptation should also be

highly focused on the student’s characteristics and learning styles.

Classroom Instruction that Works Research-based Strategies for Increasing Student

Achievement was published for print on January 15th, 2012. This source includes new evidence-

based insights and a new Instructional Planning Guide for using teaching strategies. The source

includes references from over 50 different studies and sources. The source is written by several

people from McREL, which is a nationally recognized, nonprofit education research and

development organization, that promotes research and professional wisdom in education. The
main claim of this piece is that teachers should add to and polish the tools in their instructional

toolkits so that they can improve the academic success of students. In order to accomplish this

goal nine categories of instructional strategy as well as relevant classroom practices that use

them are introduced. The strategies featured in the book were identified through an analysis of

instruction conducted by McREL (Dean 13). This book includes some strategies and methods

that I believe will be very useful for improving instruction in educational facilities. The nine

categories included are very broad and imaginative in nature. This will provide instructors with

guidelines to adapt to the varying characteristics of their students. The positive benefits of

aligning strategies with the environment and characteristics of students is emphasized: “The

instructional strategies presented in the previous chapters are like instruments in an orchestra.

Each has its own characteristics, contributes to the orchestra in particular ways, and must be

masterfully played both alone and in combination with other instruments to obtain the desired

effect” (Dean 173). The fifth and last source I will include, in fact, also supports the position that

coincides with the approval of the implementation of adaptive instruction in education systems.

It claims that this adaptation to instruction will improve learning and success for students from

all cultural backgrounds.

The last source to be included is Educating Everybody's Children: Diverse Teaching

Strategies for Diverse Learners, Revised and Expanded 2nd Edition. It is a book that was

published for print on June 15th, 2008. Educating Everybody’s Children, a comprehensive and

revised source for instructional techniques, contains research-proven strategies for instructors.

The authors of this book include members from several prestigious organizations such as: The

National Reading Styles Institute, The Educational Press Association of America, and the

National Center on Education and Economy. The main claim of the book is that students from
various backgrounds, ethnicities, and life experiences will need altered instructional sessions to

promote academic success. A research panel composed of 18 researchers began to study the

topic at hand, how to educate everybody’s children. The completed research has been used to

support the linkage between demographics/learning styles of students to specific instructional

methods that promote success (Cole viii). This book has informed me about the benefits and

possibilities that can come from a diverse student population in an educational environment.

Cole claims that the diversity of students in an educational environment can increase learning for

all individuals: “The broad range of experiences and perspectives brought to school by culturally,

linguistically, and ethnically diverse students offer a powerful resource for everyone to learn

more” (44). I would also agree with Cole that creating instructional methods for every kind of

student while promoting a diverse student group can greatly improve the success of students.

The compilation of my sources was focused on finding sources that are supporting the

implementation of learning-style-adaptive teaching methods, believing that they will improve

student development and success. The topic is still very controversial; therefore, I have included

sources from several sides of the argument. The representation of several voices is meant to

improve the credibility and overall quality of my research. The extreme diversity of our country

requires instruction that is fluid and adaptable. The positive benefits of adaptive instruction

identified throughout my research should be enough to, at the very least, encourage people to

conduct more research on the subject. If the faculty and instructors at educational institutions

could recognize how advantageous the application of this concept could be, the possible gains

would be bountiful. Finally, I will leave you with a question: what can you do to help a diverse

student group learn better?

 Works Cited

Cole, Robert W. Educating Everybody’s Children Diverse Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learners.

2nd ed., Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2008.

Dean, Ceri B., and Marzano, Robert J. Classroom Instruction That Works Research-Based Strategies for

Increasing Student Achievement . 2nd ed., ASCD, 2012.

Hatami, Sarvenaz, and Hatami, Sarvenaz. “Learning Styles.” ELT Journal, vol. 67, no. 4, Oct.

2013, pp. 488–90, doi:10.1093/elt/ccs083.

Rolfe, Alexandra, and Cheek, Brad. “Learning Styles.” Innovait, vol. 5, no. 3, Oxford University Press,

2012, pp. 176–81, doi:10.1093/innovait/inr239.

Tulbure, Cristina. “Learning Styles, Teaching Strategies and Academic Achievement in Higher

Education: A Cross-Sectional Investigation.” Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 33,

Elsevier Ltd, 2012, pp. 398–402, doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.01.151.