learning-styles

Table 38
Vermunt’s Inventory of
Learning Styles (ILS)
General
Strengths
It applies to the thinking and learning of
university students.
New versions in preparation for 16–18
age group and for learning at work.
Used for studying the learning styles of
teachers and student teachers.
Weaknesses
It has little to say about how personality
interacts with learning style.
Design of the model
It is experientially grounded in
interviews with students.
It seeks to integrate cognitive, affective,
metacognitive and conative processes.
It includes learning strategies,
motivation for learning and preferences
for organising information.
It excludes preferences for representing
information.
It is not comprehensive: there are no
items on the control of motivation,
emotions or attention.
The interpersonal context of learning is
underemphasised.
Not applicable to all types and stages of
learning.
Notions of ‘constructive’ and
‘destructive’ friction are largely
untested.
Reliability and validity
It can be used to assess approaches to
learning reliably and validly.
Implications
for pedagogy
It is dependent on context, ie a learning
style is the interplay between personal
and contextual influences.
It provides a common language for
teachers and learners to discuss and
promote changes in learning and
teaching.
Emphasis not on individual differences,
but on the whole teaching–learning
environment.
Evidence of
pedagogical impact
Little evidence so far of impact on
pedagogy.
It is not a strong predictor of learning
outcomes.
Overall assessment
Key source
A rich model, validated for use in UK HE contexts, with potential for more general use
in post-16 education where text-based learning is important. Reflective use of the
ILS may help learners and teachers develop more productive approaches to
learning.
Vermunt 1998