Evaluating Learning Styles

  • research: evaluating learning styles
    • hypothesis: presentation of material should match learner’s style
    • rejected - no evidence to prove this
    • learners have style preferences, but outcomes are the same regardless of style
  • why are learning styles so popular?
    • people like to fit a type - identity
    • people want to be seen as individuals
    • not like everyone else, just like a set of people
    • ‘i’d learn better if this was tailored to me’
  • individual differences and assessment
    • people have study preferences
    • predict the choices students make when choices are given
    • desirable differences
    • need to distinguish preferences from aptitudes (academic ability to learn)
    • we have differences in prior knowledge that can make using different methods more / less effective
  • related research
    • aptitude-by-treatment interactions
    • hypothesis: high aptitude students do better in loosely structured activities than low aptitude students (not conclusive results)
    • personality-by-treatment interactions
    • hypothesis: students w an internal locus of control benefit more from less structured lessons than those w external loc
      • not clear why / which aspects of the lesson
  • alternatives to iq
    • multiple intelligences - howard gardner
    • studied savants
    • instead of general intelligence, we have different strengths and weaknesses
    • robert sternburg - triarchic theory
    • analytical: academic, problem solving
    • practical: everyday tasks
    • creative: generating new ideas