LEARNING STYLES

LEARNING STYLES
Learning stylesrefer to a range of competing and contestedtheories
that aim to account for differences in individuals'learning.These
theories propose that all people can be classified according to their '
style' of learning, although the various theories present differing
views on how the styles should be defined and categorised.A common
concept is that individuals differ in how they learn.
The idea of individualized learning styles originated in the 1970s, and
has greatly influencededucationdespite the criticism that the idea
has received from some researchers.Proponents 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 that individuals express preferences for how
they prefer to receive information,few studies have found any validity
in using learning styles in education.[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 forcing learning tasks to "correspond to differences in a
one-to-one fashion".[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.
There are substantial criticisms of learning-styles approaches from
scientists who have reviewed extensive bodies of research. [A 2015
peer reviewedarticle concluded: "Learning styles theories have not
panned out, and it is our responsibility to ensure that students know
that.

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 forcing learning tasks
to "correspond to differences in a one-to-one fashion".
[
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.
There are substantial criticisms of learning-styles
approaches from scientists who have reviewed
extensive bodies of research.[A 2015peer reviewed
article concluded: "Learning styles theories have not
panned out, and it is our responsibility to ensure that
students know that.

DAVID A.KOLB

David A. Kolb(born 1939) is anAmericaneducational theorist whose interests

and publications focus onexperiential learning, the individual and social change,
career development, and executive and professional education. He is the founder
and chairman ofExperience Based Learning Systems, Inc. (EBLS) , and a Professor
of Organizational Behavior in theWeatherhead School of Management,
Case Western Reserve University ,Cleveland, Ohio.
Kolb earned his BA fromKnox Collegein 1961 and his MA and Ph.D. from
Harvard Universityin 1964 and 1967 respectively, in social psychology.

 David Kolb's learning styles model and experiential learning theory (ELT)
Having developed the model over many years prior, David Kolb published his learning styles
model in 1984. The model gave rise to related terms such as Kolb's experiential learning
theory (ELT), and Kolb's learning styles inventory (LSI). In his publications - notably his 1984
book 'Experiential Learning: Experience As The Source Of Learning And Development' Kolb
acknowledges the early work on experiential learning by others in the 1900's, including
Rogers, Jung, and Piaget. In turn, Kolb's learning styles model and experiential learning
theory are today acknowledged by academics, teachers, managers and trainers as truly
seminal works; fundamental concepts towards our understanding and explaining human
learning
behaviour,
and
towards
helping
others
to
learn.
See
also
Gardner's Multiple Intelligences and VAK learnings styles models,
which
assist
in
understanding and using Kolb's learning styles concepts.
In addition to personal business interests (Kolb is founder and chairman of
Experience Based Learning Systems), David Kolb is still (at the time I write this, 2005)
Professor of Organizational Development at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland,
Ohio, where he teaches and researches in the fields of learning and development, adult
development, experiential learning, learning style, and notably 'learning focused
institutional development in higher education'.
A note about Learning Styles in young people's education:Towards the end of the
first decade of the 2000s a lobby seems to have grown among certain educationalists and
educational researchers, which I summarize very briefly as follows: that in terms of
substantial large-scale scientific research into young people's education, 'Learning Styles'
theories, models, instruments, etc., remain largely unproven methodologies. Moreover
Learning Styles objectors and opponents assert that heavy reliance upon Learning Styles
theory in developing and conducting young people's education, is of questionable benefit,
and may in some cases be counter-productive.

 Despite this, many teachers and educators continue to find value

and benefit by using Learning Styles theory in one way or another,
and as often applies in such situations, there is likely to be usage
which is appropriate, and other usage which is not.
Accordingly - especially if you are working with young people - use
systems and methods with care. It is wrong to apply any
methodology blindly and unquestioningly, and wrong not to review
and assess effectiveness of methods used.
That said, Learning Styles theories such as Kolb's model and VAK are
included on this website for very broad purposes; these materials
form a part of a much bigger range of concepts and other content
concerning personality, self-awareness, self-development, and the
development of mutual understanding and teams, etc., especially
for the use in adult careers, work, business, management, human
resources,
and
commercial
training.

That said, Learning Styles theories such as Kolb's model and VAK
are included on this website for very broad purposes; these
materials form a part of a much bigger range of concepts and
other content concerning personality, self-awareness, selfdevelopment, and the development of mutual understanding and
teams, etc., especially for the use in adult careers, work, business,
management, human resources, and commercial training.

kolb's experiential learning theory (learning styles) model

Kolb's learning theory sets outfour distinct learning styles(or preferences), which are based ona four-stage
learning cycle. (which might also be interpreted as a 'training cycle'). In this respect Kolb's model is particularly
elegant, since it offers both a way to understandindividual people's different learning styles, and also an
explanation ofa cycle of experiential learning that applies to us all.
Kolb includes this 'cycle of learning' as a central principle his experiential learning theory, typically expressed
asfour-stage cycle of learning, in which'immediate or concrete experiences'provide a basis
for'observations and reflections'. These 'observations and reflections' are assimilated and distilled
into'abstract concepts'producing new implications for action which can be'actively tested'in turn creating new
experiences.
Kolb says that ideally (and by inference not always) this process represents a learning cycle or spiral where the
learner 'touches all the bases', ie., a cycle of experiencing, reflecting, thinking, and acting. Immediate or concrete
experiences lead to observations and reflections. These reflections are then assimilated (absorbed and translated)
into abstract concepts with implications for action, which the person can actively test and experiment with, which in
turn enable the creation of new experiences.
Kolb's model therefore works on two levels -a four-stage cycle:
Concrete Experience - (CE)
Reflective Observation - (RO)
Abstract Conceptualization - (AC)
Active Experimentation - (AE)
and afour-type definition of learning styles, (each representing the combination of two preferred styles, rather
like a two-by-two matrix of the four-stage cycle styles, as illustrated below), for which Kolb used the terms:
Diverging (CE/RO)
Assimilating (AC/RO)
Converging (AC/AE)
Accommodating (CE/AE) ..use blackboard

diagrams of kolb's learning styles

Here is a new improved (May 2006)
free diagram illustrating Kolb's
learning cycle and learning types (
MSWord).
Kolb diagrams also in colour (like the
image below):Kolb learning styles
colour diagram MSWord, andKolb
colour diagram PDF.
(Kolb diagrams updated May
2006)

Peter Honey and Alan Mumford's model

Peter Honey and Alan Mumford adapted Kolb's experiential learning model. First, they
renamed the stages in thelearning cycleto accord withmanagerial
experiences:havingan experience,reviewingthe experience,concludingfrom the
experience, andplanningthe next steps.Second, they aligned these stages to four
learning styles named:
Activist
Reflector
Theorist
Pragmatist
These four learning styles are assumed to be acquired preferences that are adaptable,
either at will or through changed circumstances, rather than being fixed personality
characteristics. Honey and Mumford's Learning Styles Questionnaire (LSQ)is a selfdevelopment 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.
AMORIsurvey commissioned by The Campaign for Learning in 1999 found the Honey and
Mumford LSQ to be the most widely used system for assessing preferred learning styles
in the local government sector in the UK.

Learning modalities
Walter Burke Barbe and colleagues proposed three learning modalities (often
identified by theacronymVAK:
Visualising modality
Auditory modality
Kinesthetic modality
Descriptions of learning
modalitiesVisualKinestheticAuditoryPictureGesturesListeningShapeBody
movementsRhythmsSculptureObject
manipulationTonePaintingsPositioningChantsBarbe and colleagues reported that
learning modality strengths can occur independently or in combination (although
the most frequent modality strengths, according to their research, are visual or
mixed), they can change over time, and they become integrated with age. [13]They
also pointed out that learning modalitystrengthsare different frompreferences; a
person's self-reported modality preference may not correspond to their empirically
measured modality strength.This disconnect between strengths and preferences
was confirmed by a subsequent study.Nevertheless, some scholars have criticized
the VAK model.PsychologistScott Lilienfeldand colleagues have argued that much
use of the VAK model is nothing more thanpseudoscienceor a psychological
urban legend.

 Fleming's VAK/VARK model

Neil Fleming's VARK modelexpanded upon earlier notions of sensory modalities such as the VAK model of
Barbe and colleagues and therepresentational systems (VAKOG) inneuro-linguistic programming .[19]The four
sensory modalities in Fleming's model are:
Visual learning
Auditory learning
Read/write learning
Kinesthetic learning
Fleming claimed thatvisual learners have a preference for seeing (visual aids that represent ideas using
methods other than words, such as graphs, charts, diagrams, symbols, etc.).Auditory learners best learn
through listening (lectures, discussions, tapes, etc.).Tactile/kinesthetic learners prefer to learn via experience
moving, touching, and doing (active exploration of the world, science projects, experiments, etc.). Students
can use the model to identify their preferred learning style and, it is claimed, maximize their learning by
focusing on the mode that benefits them the most. Fleming's model also posits two types of multimodality.

Anthony Gregorc's model

Anthony Gregorcand Kathleen Butler organized a model describing different
learning styles rooted in the way individuals acquire and process information
differently.This model posits that an individual's perceptual abilities are the
foundation of his or her specific learning strengths, or learning styles.
In this model, there are two perceptual qualities:concreteandabstract, and two
ordering abilities:randomandsequential.[Concrete perceptions involve registering
information through the five senses, while abstract perceptions involve the
understanding of ideas, qualities, and concepts which cannot be seen. In regard to
the two ordering abilities, sequential ordering involves the organization of
information in a linear, logical way, and random ordering involves the organization
of information in chunks and in no specific order.The model posits that both of the
perceptual qualities and both of the ordering abilities are present in each
individual, but some qualities and ordering abilities are more dominant within
certain individuals.
There are four combinations of perceptual qualities and ordering abilities based on
dominance:concrete sequential,abstract random,abstract sequential,
andconcrete random. The model posits that individuals with different
combinations learn in different waysthey have different strengths, different
things make sense to them, different things are difficult for them, and they ask
different questions throughout the learning process.
Thevalidityof Gregorc's model has been questioned by Thomas Reio and Albert
Wiswell following experimental trials.[Gregorc argues that his critics have
"scientifically-limited views" and that they wrongly repudiate the "mystical
elements" of "the spirit" that can only be discerned by a "subtle human
instrument".

 Cognitive approaches to learning styles

Anthony Grasha and Sheryl Riechmann, in 1974, formulated
the Grasha-Reichmann Learning Style Scale.It was developed
to analyze the attitudes of students and how they approach
learning. The test was originally designed to provide teachers
with insight on how to approach instructional plans for college
students.Grasha's background was in cognitive processesand
copingtechniques. Unlike some models of cognitive styles
which are relatively nonjudgmental, Grasha and Riechmann
distinguish between adaptive and maladaptive styles. The
names of Grasha and Riechmann's learning styles are:
avoidant
participative
competitive
collaborative
dependent
independent

 Aiming to explain why aptitude tests, school grades, and classroom performance often fail to
identify real ability,Robert Sternberglisted various cognitive dimensions in his book Thinking
Styles.Several other models are also often used when researchingcognitive styles; some of these
models are described in books that Sternberg co-edited, such as Perspectives on Thinking,
Learning, and Cognitive Styles.
NASSP learning style model[edit]
In the 1980s, theNational Association of Secondary School Principals(NASSP) formed a task force
to study learning styles.The task force defined three broad categories of stylecognitive, affective,
and physiologicaland 31 variables, including the perceptual strengths and preferences from the
VAK model of Barbe and colleagues,but also many other variables such as need for structure,
types of motivation, time of day preferences, and so on.They defined a learning style as "agestalt
not an amalgam of related characteristics but greater than any of its parts. It is a composite of
internal and external operations based in neurobiology, personality, and human development and
reflected in learner behavior."
Cognitive styles are preferred ways of perception, organization and retention.
Affective styles represent the motivational dimensions of the learning personality; each learner
has a personal motivational approach.
Physiological styles are bodily states or predispositions, including sex-related differences, health
and nutrition, and reaction to physical surroundings, such as preferences for levels of light, sound,
and temperature.[According to the NASSP task force, styles are hypothetical constructs that help to
explain the learning (and teaching) process. They posited that one can recognize the learning style
of an individual student by observing his or her behavior.Learning has taken place only when one
observes a relatively stable change in learner behavior resulting from what has been experienced.

KOHLS MODEL

VARK MODEL

What if