Theory Review by Erika

Learning Styles

Your Name	Commented On
Erika Duplock	Mariana Lane & Jessica Conley

Main theoretical points

Learning style is the way in which individuals differ in regard to what mode of instruction or study is most effective for them. Moreover, it is the way that each learner begins to concentrate on, absorb, process, and retain new information (Pashler, McDaniel, Rohrer, & Bjork, 2008). Learning style can also be defined as the characteristic cognitive, affective, social, and physiological behaviors that serve as indicators of how learners perceive, interact with, and respond to a learning environment. Most adults are capable of using the strategies that support a range of different styles, but prefer to rely on the strategies they know best.

David Kolb’s Model of Learning styles supports the idea that individuals learn in different ways and that educators can better facilitate their students’ learning if they understand the uniqueness that they learn (MacKeracher, D., 2004). Since Kolb’s model is one of the most widely used tools to determine learning styles, I am going to discuss its usefulness for practitioners and identify the type of learner that an individual is categorized as, based on Kolb's Model. There are two levels to Kolb’s learning style theory: a four-stage cycle of learning and four separate learning styles.  This theory determines the learner’s internal cognitive processes.

To begin, the four stage learning cycle includes concrete learning, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. Concrete experience emphasizes the use of information based on personal experience and more closely relies on feelings. Reflective observation involves learning and understanding the meaning of things by observing, watching and describing them. Next, abstract conceptualization is where the learner reflects on their experience based on logic and concepts; they rely heavily on thinking. Lastly, active experimentation involves “doing” and actively influencing change. This stage is where the learner applies new ideas to surroundings (MacKeracher, D., 2004).

Figure 1: Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory 

Source: Leonard, Simon & Roberts, Philip (2015).

Kolb’s process suggests that experience is essential for learning to take place, thus, necessitating students active participation and interaction (Fowler, K., & Thomas, V. L., 2015).  Kolb’s process is useful for practitioners because it also  identifies the learning styles that stem from the experimental process and its four stages. These learning styles include the following learners: divergent, assimilative, convergent and accommodative. Here is a quick summary of each learning style:

➢    Divergent - Learner prefers to watch rather than do and use their imagination to solve problems. Performs best in a situation that requires brainstorming.

➢    Assimilative - Ideas and concepts are more important than people. This learner is more attracted to logic theories.

➢    Convergent - Practical and prefers technical tasks. Likes finding practical uses for ideas and theories.  Enjoys experimenting with new ideas.

➢    Accommodative - Hands-on learner that relies on intuition over logic. Likes new challenges, acts on “gut instinct” and relies on others for information to then carry out their own idea.

Understanding Kolb's learning process and the variance among different learning styles is useful for practitioners because it helps educators develop more appropriate learning opportunities. It helps educators to design activities that give learners the chance to engage in the manner that suits them best. Lastly, understanding the variation of learning styles helps an educator focus on activities that enable learners to go through each of the four stages of Kolb’s Learning cycle thus emphasizing the importance of Kolb’s Model and use thereof. (Mcleod, 2017).

Applications

Now that we have talked about the theoretical points of learning styles and Kolb’s Model, the question becomes this: How can we apply these in practice? To start with, an accommodative learner, who relies on doing and feeling, would prefer activities that begin by doing something. To apply this style in practice, an educator can instruct students to form small groups, like we have done for this project. Each student will complete their own assignment (in our case: theory review) and then come together with their group afterwards to elaborate and give feedback on other classmate’s theories. During feedback, students will have the opportunity to discuss issues and use their problem solving skills to determine appropriate suggestions. Feedback will also give students the chance to share their feelings about the specific topic at hand.

A divergent learner, who relies on feeling and watching, prefers to watch rather than do and use their imagination to solve problems. In practice a divergent learner would thrive off of presentations where the educator guides the lecture and encourages student participation through open-ended questions and discussion.  The educator would invite a variety of different ideas and concepts, and would ask questions that encourage brain-storming. Descriptive questions (what’s working? what’s not? why?) work best over speculative ones (what if? what might be? why not?) for this group of learners. An educator should also make random associations and take on an alternative persona (Gregersen, 2018).

A convergent learner,  who relies on thinking and doing, likes starting class with activities that define the expected tasks, outline the main objectives and allow learners to get on with things themselves (MacKeracher, D., 2004). As the famous philosopher Seneca once said, “If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.”  Understanding what the end result should be will thus help this type of learner. In practice this type of learner prefers that an instructor guides assessment strategies to easily allow for the learner to self-start and guide their own path. They would not enjoy group work. They would prefer experiments and projects that require problem solving.

Finally, an assimilative learner, who relies on watching and thinking, believes that ideas and concepts are more important than people. In practice this type of learner prefers readings and lectures as well as having time to think things through. To maximize learning for this group, educators should implement lessons where students examine, group, and label specific parts of information to find patterns (Silver, Dewing, Perini, & Jacobs, 2012). This learning style seems to be more common in information and science careers.

With all of this information on how to accommodate each individual learning style, the question still remains. How can educators better facilitate students’ learning overall once they do in fact understand the uniqueness of each learning style? The most important way to accomplish this is to diversify teaching strategies. Educators should make it a point to include a variance of activities that offer each learner an opportunity to use their preferred learning styles in some way. In addition, educators should promote engagement by providing a unique and out-of-the-ordinary experience. In exchange, students will reward their educator with uncommon effort and attitude.

Since each adult has their own preferred strategy for processing information and learning, it is important for practitioners to understand the application of diverse learning styles to education, allowing for an optimal learning experience. An educator should not try to match the styles of every individual learner in a learning group, rather, they should develop a variety of activities that offer each learner an opportunity to use their preferred learning styles in some way. One should not assume that a group of adults with similar social, economic, occupational and educational characteristics will share common learning styles or abilities. In addition, educators should be aware of their own learning style and understand how this style affects their preferred facilitating strategies for helping individual learners (MacKeracher, D., 2004). 

Lastly, an educator should allow students plenty of time to complete activities, and take a multisensory approach. According to Chad Boender M.A.Ed.,  “Regardless of their learning style, students learn best when you give them the freedom to work at their own pace and provide a number of hands-on, multisensory activities. This high level of engagement will help hold their attention and keep them focused on the task at hand—even if there are distractions” (Boender, 2017).  In conclusion, if an educator can do all of these things, it will collectively accomplish a better learning experience for all students.

Reflection

Highlights: The highlights and most significant parts of my assignment are the main theoretical points. I believe I did a good job of laying down the foundation of the topic and really explaining what learning style is and the importance behind educators better facilitating their students’ learning experience. I took a more basic approach and dove right down to the center of what we are already learning and brainstormed ways that educators could apply these theories in practice and why it is important to do so.

Process: I started this assignment by using the article database, One Search, in the Ball State library to research articles related to my topic. I devoted an entire day at the library soley working on this assignment and taking advantage of the libraries resources. I also reviewed previous discussions on prior chapter assignments. I had information from before that I wrote and found to be useful for this assignment. I used our textbook by MacKeracher as my primary reference to refer back to things when I didn’t understand concepts from the articles. I really learned to appreciate our textbook and realized how valuable it was during this assignment. It does an excellent job of explaining Kolb’s Model and the different learning styles.

Table 1. Summary of the theoretical ideas behind Learning Styles and Kolb’s Model

The main theoretical ideas	Summary of how to apply the main theoretical ideas in practice
Educators can better facilitate their students’ learning if they understand the uniqueness of each learning style. We can use Kolb’s Model to distinguish the four different types of learning styles: divergent, assimilative, convergent and accommodative.	Divergent - Use descriptive open ended questions and encourage brainstorming. This learner relies on feeling and watching.
	Assimilative - Use readings, lectures and logic theories. This learner relies on watching and thinking.
	Convergent - Define expected tasks and outline main objectives. This learner relies on thinking and doing.
	Accommodative - Use hands-on activities and encourage use of feedback. This learner relies on doing and feeling.
Once educators understand the uniqueness of each learning style, they can use methods to accomplish a better learning experience for all students collectively.	●     Diversify teaching strategies ●     Take a multisensory approach ●     Give students the freedom to work at their own pace ●     Promote active participation and interaction

References:

Boender, C. (2017, February 27). Accommodating Different Learning Styles: 3 Tips to guide you. Retrieved February 9, 2020, from https://www.wgu.edu/heyteach/article/accommodating-different-learning-styles-3-tips-guide-you-01702.html

Fowler, K., & Thomas, V. L. (2015). Creating a professional blog: The impact of student learning styles on perceptions of learning. Journal of Marketing Education, 37(3), 181–189. https://doi.org/10.1177/0273475315585824

Gregersen, H. (2018, March-April). Better Brainstorming. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2018/03/better-brainstorming

Leonard, Simon & Roberts, Philip (2015). No time to think: policy, pedagogy and professional learning. Journal of Education Policy. 31. 1-19. 10.1080/02680939.2015.1047801.

MacKeracher, D. Making sense of adult learning, 2nd ed.; University of Toronto Press: Toronto Ont., 2004.

Mcleod, S. (2017, February 5). Kolb's learning styles and experiential learning cycle. Retrieved February 7, 2020, from https://www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html

Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2008). Learning styles: Concepts and Evidence. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 9(3), 105-119. Retrieved February 7, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/20697325

Silver, H. F., Dewing, R. T., Perini, M. J., & Jacobs, H. H. (2012). The core six: essential strategies for achieving excellence with the common core. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.