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What is the significance of learning styles?
At one staff development session at Monash, staff were asked how they would solve a particular essay writing question. It was very interesting to notice the many different ways the question was interpreted and the approaches used to tackle the question.
This activity demonstrated that we do not process incoming information in the same way. Neither do we store it, organise it or retrieve it in the same way. Students and teachers have varying learning styles, and no single teaching style can fulfil all students' needs.
- A person's learning style has to do with the way he or she processes information in order to learn it and then apply it.
- No one approach or style is more or less effective than any other. What does matter is whether it is suited to a particular everyday task or academic situation.
- By understanding different 'learning styles' staff may gain insights into ways of making academic information more accessible to our diverse groups of learners.
- Most students learn best when the style of presentation is in agreement with their preferred learning style.
- Learning style is the application of a particular cognitive style to a learning activity. It is seen as relatively fixed.
- A learning strategy is one of many different ways of dealing with learning tasks that a student develops to facilitate performance.
If students become aware of their preferred learning styles they will then be more able to recognise their strengths and weaknesses. By doing this they can then develop strategies when or if there is a mismatch between their preferred style and their academic situation.
Dr Richard Felder 
has described some of these varied learning preferences in the following way.
- Visual ― prefer to study graphs, look at models and pictures, illustrations. Verbal ― sounds, written and spoken words and formulas, prefer to listen and discuss.
- Sensory ― sights, sounds physical sensations, tactile, prefer to work with their hands, like to apply their knowledge, (kinaesthetic learners).
- Intuitive ― memories, ideas, insights, theoretical approaches.
- Inductive ― prefer to begin with experience or hard data; facts and observations are given. They infer the principles behind them.
- Deductive - prefer to start with abstractions or principles, and deduce the consequences and applications. They may also be reflective, preferring to think about the topic by themselves or in pairs.
- Active - engage in physical activity or discussion.
- Reflection ― through introspection.
- Sequential ― logical progression of small linear, incremental steps. Analysis of concepts and prefer to follow information in a certain order.
- Global ― prefer to understand the whole and have trouble breaking it down into its component parts. Grasp information in large chunks and have difficulty analysing a topic from incomplete information. Excellent at synthesis.
It cannot be expected that one teacher can accommodate all students all the time because of the diversity of learning styles in any class and students using a mix of learning styles.
It has been found that dyslexic students prefer a global or imaging style and a multi-sensory approach. (Mortimore, T (2003) Dyslexia and learning style Whurr publishers England) Whereas a lot of lecture-style teaching favours a sequential, verbal approach.
By varying teaching techniques and strategies in the classroom, teachers can reach as many students as possible.
For some other models, see also:
- Dr Howard Gardners' Multiple Intelligence Theory on the Businessballs site.
- Myers' Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) information on personality types on the Team Technology site.
- Visual Auditory Kinesthetic (VAK) learning styles model on the Learning and Teaching site.
- Kolb Experiential Learning Theory (Learning Styles) model and Honey and Mumford's variation on the Kolb system on the Learning and Teaching site.
- Getting to Grips with Learning Styles by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) offers a comprehensive assessment of learning styles.
A model to optimise learning and teaching and understand many aspects of human intelligence, learning style, personality and behaviour.
Four distinct learning styles or preferences, which are based on a four-stage learning cycle.
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