Learning style

Draft

Definition

According to Wikipedia: “Learning styles are different ways that a person can learn. It's commonly believed that most people favor some particular method of interacting with, taking in, and processing stimuli or information. Psychologists have proposed several complementary taxonomies of learning styles. But other psychologists and neuroscientists have questioned the scientific basis for some learning style theories. A major report published in 2004 cast doubt on most of the main tests used to identify an individual's learning style.”

Here are a few definitions found in Internet glossaries:

• The manner in which a learner perceives, interacts with, and responds to the learning environment. Components of learning style are the cognitive, affective and physiological elements, all of which may be strongly influenced by a person's cultural background. [1]

• A preferential mode, through which a subject likes to master learning, solve problems, thinks or simply react in a pedagogical situation. [2]

• A consistent pattern of behavior and performance by which an individual approaches educational experiences; learning style is derived from cultural socialization and individual personality as well as from the broader influence of human development. [3]

Kolb's learning styles

David Kolb's taxonomy is grounded in his experiental learning theory and it is based on the idea that a given learning style is shaped by the transaction between people and their environment (e.g. education, career, job role):

Four Learning Styles [4]

• Diverging: combines preferences for experiencing and reflecting
• Assimilating: combines preferences for reflecting and thinking
• Converging: combines preferences for thinking and doing
• Accommodating: combines preferences for doing and experiencing

Honey and Mumford's Typology of Learners

Based on Kolb's (1982) experiential learning model Honey and Mumford proposed a similar categorization of individual learning styles:

• Activist
• Reflector
• Theorist
• Pragmatist

Links

Randomly found links - no gurantee

• http://www.geocities.com/jeniskanen/4mat.htm
• http://www.algonquincollege.com/edtech/gened/styles.html

Tests & practical stuff

• http://www.aboutlearning.com/what_is_4mat.htm
• http://www.learning-styles-online.com/
• http://www.chaminade.org/inspire/learnstl.htm
• http://www.homeschoolviews.com/quiz/quiz-adult.html
• http://www.oklahomahomeschool.com/learnS.html

References

• Atherton, J.S. (2005) Learning and Teaching: Experiential Learning On-line UK: Accessed: 12 July 200

• Kolb, Alice Y. & David A. Kolb (2005), The Kolb Learning Style Inventory- Version 3.1 2005 Technical Specifications, Experience Based Learning Systems, Inc., Case Western Reserve University, PDF

• Jonassen, David H. & Grabowski, Barbara L. (1993). Handbook of Individual Difference, Learning, and Instruction. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.

• Merrill, M. D. (2002). Instructional strategies and learning styles: which takes precedence? In R. A. Reiser & J. V. Dempsey (Eds.), Trends and Issues in Instructional Technology. (pp. 99-106). Columbus, OH: Prentice Hall. PDF Preprint