Learning styles

Major research findings about student learning styles and implications for improving college and university teaching and the impact that instructional change has on college administration of instructional programs are addressed. The term "learning style" refers to a student's consistent way of responding and using stimuli in the context of learning. In the section on learning styles, Charles S. Claxton examines three dimensions of cognitive styles (field dependence-independence, reflection-impulsivity and preceptive-receptive/intuitive), three models of student response styles (described by Mann and others, Grasha and Riechmann, and Stern), and three integrated models (use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the Kolb model, and cognitive style mapping). In the second section on the use of information on student learning styles, Yvonne Ralston explores the following possible implementation approaches: sharing knowledge about learning styles with students, the teachers' efforts to provide a variety of instructional modes that are consistent with the styles of students, and the use of learning style information at the institutional level. Suggestions for establishing a plan, program coordination, and assumptions regarding the appropriate implementation system for the institution as a totality are presented.