learning-styles

LSRC reference Section 7
page 114/115
Sternberg’s theory and the TSI were part of the battery
of tests used by Demetriou and Kazi (2001) in their
attempt to build and test a theory of the mind and its
development from childhood to adolescence. The scale
of the project is impressive, with a sample of 840
participants from 10 to 15 years of age in Thessaloniki,
Greece and a follow-up study of 322 students from
the University of Cyprus. It is, however, important
to realise that only the first two of the five dimensions
of Sternberg’s theory were tested (ie function and
form were tested, but not level, scope and learning).
Moreover, the test of thinking styles constituted only
a very small part of the data collection which involved
three testing periods of 2 hours; the battery consisted
of six tests of cognitive ability (quantitative, causal,
spatial, social understanding, drawing and creativity)
and self-evaluation questionnaires on cognitive ability,
personality, cognitive and problem-solving strategies
and occupational preferences, as well as thinking
styles. It is, nevertheless, important to note that the
alphas for the three styles: executive (0.56), legislative
(0.51), and evaluative (0.59) were considerably lower
than those which Sternberg claimed for them.
Demetriou and Kazi (2001, 196) conclude that
Sternberg’s thinking styles
are derivatives of the more fundamental dimensions
involved in the realms of personality and cognition.
In a sense, this finding is in line with Sternberg’s
conception of thinking styles as the interface between
personality, intelligence and actual performance.
One can live without them
No conclusions were drawn by these authors in relation
to thinking styles and pedagogy.
General
Each of the 13 styles is based on a short
self-assessment inventory of no more than eight
questions, some of which may strike some respondents
as unanswerable; for example, Question 1 in the
External Style Inventory reads: ‘When starting a task,
I like to brainstorm ideas with friends or peers’.
This statement is likely to raise the following questions
in the minds of respondents: does this refer to every
task? Is brainstorming appropriate for all tasks?
Without a detailed description of the kind of task the
psychologist has in mind, some respondents may
find themselves unable and unwilling to answer this
question. It does not matter how sophisticated the
statistical analysis of responses to such questions is,
if the responses do not accurately reflect the behaviour
of the respondents. Each of the 13 inventories has
a similar vague statement; for example, the Monarchic
Style Inventory contains the following statement:
‘When trying to finish a task, I tend to ignore problems
that come up.’ We argue that it depends on the task
and on the type of problem that comes up.
The statements in the 13 inventories are rather
obvious, so it is relatively easy to guess the intentions
of the psychologist who wrote the item. It would
therefore be simple to fake a response, for instance,
to a Conservative Style statement such as ‘When faced
with a problem, I like to solve it in a traditional way’.
Respondents could decide whether they wish to appear
as left- or right-wing or somewhere in between.
Implications for pedagogy
The significance for pedagogy of Sternberg’s research
on thinking styles can be summarised in five brief
propositions which are of a very general nature.
Teachers should use a variety of teaching methods
(eg lectures, group discussions).
Teachers should use a variety of assessment methods
(eg multiple-choice questions, essays, projects).
Teachers should provide students with an
understanding of different thinking styles and should
themselves be aware of the styles they either
encourage or punish.
Teachers should know about gender and cross-cultural
differences in thinking styles.
Teachers should use extracurricular activities
to enhance the quality of teaching and learning
(see Zhang and Sternberg 2001).
The fifth recommendation does not appear to stem from
Sternberg’s own research, but from the work of others
on creative thinking.
Sternberg is convinced that his theory is important
for pedagogy and has carried out a series of studies
of thinking/learning styles in both secondary and
higher education, and cross-cultural studies in China,
Hong Kong and the US. In his own words (1999, 115):
‘The key principle [of the theory] is that in order
for students to benefit maximally from instruction
and assessment, at least some of each should match
their styles of thinking’. He is convinced that different
methods of instruction work best for different styles
of thought and produces a table (reproduced here
as Table 40) to show the various types of compatibility.
His argument is that teachers need the flexibility to
vary their teaching style to suit students’ different styles
of thought and that few methods of instruction are
likely to be optimal for everyone.
Again, Sternberg argues, without any supporting
evidence, that different methods of assessment tend
to benefit different thinking styles and produces
a table to exemplify the connections (see Table 41).