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"Don't be afraid
"Letting go of I Ching 40
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Learning styles
The term 'learning styles' is used as a description of the attitudes and behaviours that determine our preferred way of learning.
Most people are unaware of their learning style preferences. They just know vaguely that they feel more comfortable with - and learn more from - some activities than others.
Knowing about different learning style preferences is the key to becoming more effective at learning from experience. There are many ideas about learning styles. We have concentrated on:
• Kolb
Kolb learning styles model
David Kolb developed this learning styles model in 1984. Kolb's learning styles model is based on two lines of axis (continuums):
• our approach to a task - (preferring to do or watch), and
• our emotional response (preferring to think or feel).
The theory sets out these four preferences, which are also possible different learning methods:
• doing (active experimentation) - 'I like to have a go and see what happens'
• watching (reflective observation) - 'I like to gather information and mull things over'
• feeling (concrete experience) - 'I like tried and tested techniques that are relevant to my problems'
• thinking (abstract conceptualisation) - 'I like to tidy up and reach some conclusions'
These learning styles characteristics are normally shown as two lines of axis. The east-west axis is called the Processing Continuum (how we approach a task), and the north-south axis is called the Perception Continuum (our emotional response, or how we think or feel). This also describes four different learning styles (and also methods):
The combination of where our preference lies on each axis produces four possible learning style types:
- activist (having the experience)
- reflector (reviewing the experience)
- theorist (concluding from the experience - watching and thinking)
- pragmatist (planning the next steps - thinking and doing)
Learning cycle
Each style connects on a continuous learning cycle:
|
ACTIVIST Having an experience |
|
PRAGMATIST Planning the next steps |
|
REFLECTOR Reviewing the experience |
|
THEORIST concluding the experience |
|
Honey and Mumford Learning Styles
| Learning Style | Behaviours |
| Activist | Enjoy the here and now Immerse themselves fully in new experiences Open-minded and enthusiastic about the new May act first and consider consequences later Very active - look for new challenges, but may be bored with implementation and long term consolidation Gregarious/centre activities around themselves |
| Reflectors | May ponder over things. Collect data, experiences and events which means they may delay reaching conclusions as long as possible. Enjoy observing others in action, may take a back seat in meetings Act as part of the wider picture. Tolerant, unruffled, take others views into account |
| Theorists | Logical, take a step by step approach. Assimilate disparate facts into theories. Perfectionist, rationalist, analyst, synthesist. Detached Maximise certainty. Feel uncomfortable with subjective judgements, lateral thinking and flippancy. |
| Detached | See if theories or ideas work in practice. Search out new ideas and experiment with them. Practical and down to earth people like getting on with things. Will return from courses and put ideas into practice. See problem and opportunities as a challenge |
Back to top
Multiple intelligences: preference impact on learning
It has been claimed by some researchers that our intelligence or ability to understand the world around us is complex. Some people are better at understanding some things than others.
For some of us it is relatively easy to understand how a flower grows but it is immensely difficult for us to understand and use a musical instrument. For others music might be easy but playing football is difficult.
Instead of having one intelligence it is claimed that we have several different intelligences.
These are listed below:
Kinaesthetic - body smart
Linguistic - word smart
Logical - number smart
Interpersonal - people smart
Intrapersonal - myself smart
Musical - music smart
Visual / spatial - picture smart
Naturalistic - nature smart
The following chart helps you determine your data input learning style in relation to visual, linguistic and kinaesthetic intelligences.
Read the word in the left column and then answer the questions in the successive three columns to see how you respond to each situation. Your answers may fall into all three columns, but one column will likely contain the most answers. The dominant column indicates your primary learning style.
When you .. |
Visual |
Auditory |
Kinesthetic & Tactile |
Spell |
Do you try to see the word? |
Do you sound out the word or use a phonetic approach? |
Do you write the word down to find if it feels right? |
Talk |
Do you sparingly but dislike listening for too long? Do you favor words such as see, picture , and imagine ? |
Do you enjoy listening but are impatient to talk? Do you use words such as hear, tune , and think ? |
Do you gesture and use expressive movements? Do you use words such as feel, touch , and hold ? |
Concentrate |
Do you become distracted by untidiness or movement? |
Do you become distracted by sounds or noises? |
Do you become distracted by activity around you? |
Meet someone again |
Do you forget names but remember faces or remember where you met? |
Do you forget faces but remember names or remember what you talked about? |
Do you remember best what you did together? |
Contact people on business |
Do you prefer direct, face-to-face, personal meetings? |
Do you prefer the telephone? |
Do you talk with them while walking or participating in an activity? |
Read |
Do you like descriptive scenes or pause to imagine the actions? |
Do you enjoy dialog and conversation or hear the characters talk? |
Do you prefer action stories or are not a keen reader? |
Do something new at work |
Do you like to see demonstrations, diagrams, slides, or posters? |
Do you prefer verbal instructions or talking about it with someone else? |
Do you prefer to jump right in and try it? |
Put something together |
Do you look at the directions and the picture? |
Do you ignore the directions and figure it out as you go along? |
|
Need help with a computer application |
Do you seek out pictures or diagrams? |
Do you call the help desk, ask a neighbor, or growl at the computer? |
Do you keep trying to do it or try it on another computer? |
Adapted from Colin Rose(1987). Accelerated Learning.
Copied from http://www.chaminade.org/inspire/learnstl.htm
Conditions for learning
Six conditions are important if learning is to take place. These are:
• The acceptance that all people can learn and are motivated to learn;
• The attitude that learning is an active not a passive process;
• That guidance is needed for the learner and can be provided by the use of learning methods that are both appropriate and varied;
• That the learner should gains satisfaction from the learning process and positive reinforcement of the appropriate behaviour should be given;
• Any short and long term goals should specify attainable standards of performance ; and
• The recognition that there are different levels of learning which have different timescales and which need different methods.
Awareness of one's own preferred learning style can help identify the preferred learning styles of others.
"In order to learn, one must change one's mind."
~ Orson Scott Card
(American author, especially science fiction,
born 1951 in Richland, Washington)