Learning Styles

Learning styles
 The different ways in which individuals
learn

 Preferred and consistent sets of

behaviors and approaches to learning
Processes of learning
1. Cognition
Acquire knowledge
2. Conceptualization
Process information
make connections
3. Affective
Motivation
Decision-making style
Values, emotional preferences
Students have…
 Different levels of motivation
 Different attitudes about teachng and
learning
 Different responses to learning
environments and instructional methods
Diversity reflected in teaching
and learning
1. Learning styles
Taking in and processing information
2. Approaches to learning
Surface, deep, strategic
3. Intellectual development levels
Attitudes about knowledge
How it is acquired, evaluated
 Instruction is most effective
if it is designed to address a
broad spectrum of learning styles.
Some theories of learning styles….
 Kolb’s Theory of Learning
Styles

Concrete experience Abstract

conceptualization

Reflective observation Active experimentation

Kolb’s Theory of Learning Styles
 Concrete experience  Abstract
Labs conceptualization
Field work Lectures
Observations
Papers
Films, tapes
Analogies
 Reflective observation
 Active experimentation
Logs
Journals Simulations
Brainstorm Case studies
Independent work
Approach to task
Feeling

Perception continuum
Doing Processing continuum Watching

Kolb

Thinking
Learning style types
Feeling

Activist Reflector

Perception continuum
Doing Processing continuum Watching

Pragmatist Theorist
Kolb

Thinking
Activist (Description)

 Hands-on
 Intuition (rather than logic)
 Practical
 Experiential approach
Reflector

 Looks from different perspectives

 Sensitive
 Watcher
 Gathers information
Uses it to solve problems
Theorist

 Concise
 Logical approach
 Ideas and concepts important
 Requires clear explanation
Pragmatist

 Solve problems
 Use learning to apply to solutions
 Practical issues
 Technical tasks
 Less concerned with people and
interpersonal aspects
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
 Extraverts
 Sensors
 Thinkers
 Judgers
Extraverts
Try things out, focus on the outer world

Introverts
Think things through, focus on the inner
world of ideas
Sensors
Practical, detail-oriented,
focus on facts and procedures

Intuitors
Imaginative, concept-oriented,
focus on meanings and possibilities
Thinkers
Sceptical,
make decisions based on logic and rules

Feelers
Appreciative,
decisions based on personal and humanistic considerations
Judgers
Set and follow agendas, seek closure
even with incomplete data

Perceivers
Adapt to changing circumstances,
postpone reaching closure to obtain more
data
Felder and Silverman Model
1. Sensory/intuitive 3. How does the student prefer to
What type of information does the process information?
student preferentially Actively: reflectively
perceive?
Concrete,practical: abstractions
4. How does the student progress
2. What type of sensory toward understanding
information is most Sequentially: globally
effectively perceived?
Visual: verbal
How Medical Students learn
R Hilliard 1995

Learning approaches correlated with…

motives to “do well”
study methods
academic performance

Study methods were determined by the

assessment methods
Sum Up
 Everyone has an individual learning style
 It would be impossible to design instruction for
all learning styles
 Designing learning experiences to appeal to
several learning styles is helpful
 Students can accommodate their learning to the
teaching styles they experience
 Felder & Silverman look at how students work
with information.
Learning Style Indicator
What kind of learner
are you?