CHAPTER II RELATED LITERATURE Learning is the process by which a relatively lasting change in potential behavior occurs as a result of practice

or experience. Learning is distinguished from behavioral changes arising from such processes as maturation and illness, but does apply to motor skills, such as driving a car, to intellectual skills, such as reading, and to attitudes and values, such as prejudice. There is evidence that neurotic symptoms and patterns of mental illness are also learned behavior. Learning occurs throughout life in animals, and learned behavior accounts for a large proportion of all behavior in the higher animals, especially in humans (http://www.questia.com/library/education/educational-psychology/learning-styles-andtheories/learning-styles.jsp). Many people recognize that each person prefers different learning styles and techniques. Learning styles group common ways that people learn. Everyone has a mix of learning styles. Some people may find that they have a dominant style of learning, with far less use of the other styles. Others may find that they use different styles in different circumstances (http/:learningstyles.net/index/php). Using multiple learning styles and multiple intelligences for learning is a relatively new approach. This approach is one that educators have only recently started to recognize. Traditional schooling used (and continues to use) mainly linguistic and logical teaching methods. It also uses a limited range of learning and teaching techniques. Many schools still rely on classroom and book-based teaching, much repetition, and pressured exams for reinforcement and review. A result is that we often label those who use these learning styles and techniques as bright. Those who use less favored learning styles often find themselves in lower classes, with various not-socomplimentary labels and sometimes lower quality teaching (http://www.learning-stylesonline.com/overview/). Learning style is the way in which each learner begins to concentrate on, process, absorb, and retain new and difficult information. The interaction of these elements occurs differently in everyone. Therefore, it is necessary to determine what is most likely to trigger each student's concentration, how to maintain it, and how to respond to his or her natural processing style to produce long term memory and retention. To reveal these natural tendencies and styles, it is important to use a comprehensive model of learning style that identifies each individual's strengths and preferences across the full spectrum of physiological, sociological, psychological, emotional, and environmental elements (http://www.learningstyles.net/index.php? option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=70&lang=en). Each student's learning style is based on a complex set of reactions to varied stimuli, feelings, and previously established behavioral patterns. Those patterns tend to be repeated when the student concentrates on new or difficult material. The Learning Styles assessments are designed to respond to selected characteristics of global learners by including the use of stories, fantasy, holistic writing, imagery, humor and pictures (http//www.learning_styles/char_asses.gfjk).

Everyone has their own "style" for collecting and organizing information into useful knowledge, and the online environment can be particularly well suited to some learning styles and personality needs. For example, introverted students often find it easier to communicate via computer-mediated communication than in face-to-face situations. Also, the online environment lends itself to a less hierarchical approach to instruction which meets the leaning needs of people who do not approach new information in a systematic or linear fashion. Online learning environments are used to their highest potential for collaborative learning which complements many students' learning styles, and independent learners have also found online courses to be well suited to their needs (http://www.ion.uillinois.edu/resources/tutorials/id/learningStyles.asp). A learning style is a student's consistent way of responding to and using stimuli in the context of learning. Keefe (1979) defines learning styles as the "composite of characteristic cognitive, affective, and physiological factors that serve as relatively stable indicators of how a learner perceives, interacts with, and responds to the learning environment." Stewart and Felicetti (1992) define learning styles as those "educational conditions under which a student is most likely to learn." Thus, learning styles are not really concerned with "what" learners learn, but rather "how" they prefer to learn (http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/styles.html). Learning styles is a popular issue in education these days. In previous generations, learning styles were not even acknowledged, much less accommodated. From one perspective, one could even say that the very concept of "learning disabilities" arose from an inability of some teachers and administrators to recognize and deal effectively with the different learning styles of children. In the midst of this, however, there exist a growing number of educators who recognize that children learn in different ways, but there is considerable disagreement over the exact nature of these differences (http://www.oakmeadow.com/resources/articles/Styles.htm). The way children are reared teaches them how to respond to certain stimuli in their environment. They watch and model themselves after influences in their life-especially parents and teachers. Four main parenting styles have been distinguished: authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and neglectful. However, these parenting styles are also used in the classroom as teaching styles. Certain styles of teaching have a huge impact on their students. Research shows the authoritative parenting style has been most effective while trying to raise responsible, caring, and competent adults (http://www.auburn.edu/~clarkkr/teachingstyle.html). Neil Fleming, an educator in New Zealand, has popularized a learning styles inventory known by the acronym VARK (Visual Auditory Reading Kinesthetic). The separation of reading from other visual forms of processing information emphasizes the sequential (as opposed to global) and linear (as opposed to spatial) nature of reading in distinction from other ways of processing information visually (http://www.vanderbilt.edu/cft/resources/teaching_resources/theory/styles.htm). Learning style appears to be distinct from intelligence, ability and personality. Learning style (which is a special style having to do with the ingrained habits to organizing and representing information) comprises both cognitive styles and learning/ teaching strategies. Learning styles usually tend to integrate three basic components: cognitive organization, mental representation and the integration of both (http://polaris.umuc.edu/~rouellet/learnstyle/learnstyle.htm)

Felder (1998) makes the cases for a matching between student learning styles and the teaching styles of professors or at least the striking of a balance of instructional methods to meet all the different learning styles available in a classroom. He also proposes dire consequences associated with mismatching between learning styles of most students in a class and the teaching style (http://www.csupomona.edu/~jis/1998/hulme.pdf). Kolbs (1999) Experiential Learning Model was featured in a number of studies in the accounting education literature. One of these studies examined the diversity of introductory accounting students' learning styles and the impact of such diversity on learning, one of which is to use a broader range of learning strategies. The instrument used to measure learning style in that study was the Kolbs Learning Style Inventory (http://www.style.edu.lkjflk-jshd.ph). Carbo and Hodges (1988) stated that matching students' learning styles with appropriate instructional strategies improves their ability to concentrate and learn. If mismatching occurs, students feel anxious and even physically ill when trying to learn. Most teachers are best at teaching children who match their own styles of thinking and learning. Sternberg reports that students tend to receive higher grades when their styles are the same as those of their teachers. If this is true, teachers must learn to be flexible and exhibit different styles in their classroom (http://www.vccaedu.org/inquiry/inquiry-spring97/i11tayl.html). Learning-styles are the idea that people, in this case children, learn differently. There are three classes of learning-styles: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. A learning-style test is administered to determine an individual learning-style. The most widely used test was developed by the Oklahoma Institute of Learning Styles by Dr. Sue Ellen Read and Dr. Rita Dunn (http://www.socyberty.com/Education/Learning-Styles-and-Teaching-Methods.125284). There are extreme differences in how people process information and learn. Constructivist, student-centered teaching focuses on teaching for understanding rather than covering the curriculum. Student-centered teachers create learning environments which encourage learners to examine their current beliefs, enable them to explore and be exposed to new ways of thinking, and include experiences which require them to re-formulate their understanding (http://vudat.msu.edu/learning_styles/). Students have different learning styles; they preferentially focus on different types of information, tend to operate on perceived information in different ways, and achieve understanding at different rates. The match or mismatch between the way that professors teach and the way that students learn has important ramifications for levels of student satisfaction in college ( http://www.wnc.edu/studentservices/counseling/styles_types/3). Everyone has different learning styles-characteristics, strengths and preferences in ways they perceive and process information. Knowledge of learning styles can not only provide us with useful information about teaching practices, it can also bring to surface issues that help faculty and administrators think more seriously about their roles and the organizational culture in which they carry out their responsibilities. Information about learning styles is important for everyone-students, instructors, and educational leaders-in higher education to know as much as possible about the learning processes, particularly how individuals learn. This will help them

immensely in both the design and implementation of teaching that enhances learning (http://faculty.valencia.cc.fl.us/ffarquharson/learning_styles/). Learning style is the way a person processes, internalizes, and studies new and challenging material. The cornerstone of the Dunn and Dunn Learning Styles Model is that most people can learn, and individuals each have their own unique ways of mastering new and difficult subject matter (http://www.teresadybvig.com/learnsty.htm). Anthony Grasha and Sheryl Riechmann (2004) proposed six student learning styles. Competitive students are motivated to do better than other students and want to win at learning. Collaborative students prefer working with others as they learn and view the classroom as a social environment. Avoidant students are not interested in learning and would prefer to be elsewhere. Participant students enjoy class and take responsibility for learning what is required. Dependent students view the teacher as an authority and learn only what is required. Independent students prefer to think for themselves and are confident of their ability to learn (http://www.dushkin.com/connectext/psy/ch06/learn). Gregorc's (1986) model of learning style illustrates how style of teaching and learning can be matched, even in today's educational system. Gregorc proposed that students tend to vary on two dimensions, concrete-abstract and sequential-random. Students with a concrete-sequential style of learning tend to be organized, task-oriented individuals who focus on factual details. They need an instructional program that is structured and provides practical, hands-on experiences. Students with a concrete-random learning style tend to be independent risk-takers who focus on experiential components of learning. They need an instructional program that provides open-ended activities for them to explore and experiment with different options. Students who have an abstract-sequential learning style tend to be analytical and focus on theoretical aspects of learning. Students with an abstract-random style of learning tend to be imaginative, flexible, and global. They need a program of instruction that involves interpretation of concepts and examples of applications (http://www.students.com/connectext/psy/ch06/learnsty.mhtml). Teaching and learning styles are the behaviors or actions that teachers and learners exhibit in the learning exchange. Teaching behaviors reflect the beliefs and values that teachers hold about the learner's role in the exchange (Heimlich and Norland 2002). Learners' behaviors provide insight into the ways learners perceive, interact with, and respond to the environment in which learning occurs (http://www.calpro-online.com/eric/textonly/docgen.asp? tbl=mr&ID=117). Teaching style is a term describing the way a learning experience is conducted. It is difficult to pinpoint but is usually associated with a particular approach such as focusing on principles or applications, emphasizing memory or understanding. Research shows that students who enjoy a given discipline are more likely to have particular learning style characteristics common to teachers in that field. In contrast, when mismatches exist between students' learning styles and an instructor's teaching styles, students are likely to get bored, perform poorly, get discouraged, and even change their major. To overcome these pitfalls, professors should strive

for a balance which leads to an increased comfort level and willingness to learn (http://www.sc.edu/cte/guide/learnteachstyles.shtml). In education, a teacher is a person who teaches; a person who guides, instructs, trains or helps another in the process of learning knowledge, understanding, behavior or skills, including thinking skills. A teacher who teaches an individual student may also be described as a personal tutor. The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out by way of occupation or profession at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person wishing to become a teacher at state-funded schools must first obtain professional qualifications or credentials from a university or college. These professional qualifications may include the study of pedagogy, the science of teaching. Teachers may use a lesson plan to facilitate student learning, providing a course of study which covers a standardized curriculum. A teacher's role may vary between cultures. In most countries, some professional teachers teach literacy and numeracy, or some of the other school subjects. Other teachers may provide instruction in craftsmanship or vocational training, the Arts, religion or spirituality, civics, community roles, or life skills. In some countries, formal education can take place through home schooling (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tutor). Teachers who believe that students learn best through activities will most likely use the facilitator style of teaching. Unlike the formal authority and demonstrator teaching style, the facilitator teaching style focuses on activities which mainly involve group work. In a facilitator style lesson, students are responsible for learning independently and must take the initiative to meet the demands of various. Facilitator style lessons are usually student centered and students are encouraged to collaborate with one another which increase student to student relationships (http://www.tesolonline.com/articles/complete_articles.php?index=319&category=81). Student-centered teaching focuses on the student. Decision-making, organization, and content are largely determined by the students needs and perceptions. Even assessment may be influenced or determined by the student. The instructor acts as coach and facilitator. In many respects, the goal of this type of teaching is the development of the students cognitive ability (http://www.texascollaborative.org/stdtcenteredteach.htm). Instructors develop a teaching style based on their beliefs about what constitutes good teaching, personal preferences, their abilities, and the norms of their particular discipline. Some believe classes should be teacher-centered, where the teacher is expert and authority in presenting information. Others take a learner-centered approach, viewing their role as more of a facilitor of student learning (http://vudat.msu.edu/teach_styles/).

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Multiple Learning Style, http://www.learning styles-online.com/overview/ Learning Style,http://www.learning_styles/char_assea.gfjk Learning Style, http://www.ion.uillinois.edu/resources/tutorials/id/learningStyles.asp Keefe, J. W. (1979): Learning style: An overview http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/styles.html Williams, L. (1988):Learning Disabilities http://www.oakmeadow.com/resources/articles/Styles.html Teaching Style, http://auburn.edu/~clarkkr/teaching style.html Riding, R. & Rayner, S. (1999):Cognitive styles and learning strategies: Understanding style differences in learning and behavior
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Learning Style,http://www.socyberty.com/Education/Learning-Styles-and-TeachingMethods.125284 Dunn, R. (2000):Learning styles: Theory, research, and practice http://www.teresadybvig.com/learnsty.html