learning-styles

LSRC reference Section 9
page 138/139
The variable quality of learning style models
This review (this report and Coffield et al. 2004)
examined in considerable detail 13 models of learning
style and one of the most obvious conclusions is the
marked variability in quality among them; they are not
all alike nor of equal worth and it matters fundamentally
which instrument is chosen. The evaluation, which
is reported in Sections 3–7, showed that some of the
best known and widely used instruments have such
serious weaknesses (eg low reliability, poor validity
and negligible impact on pedagogy) that we recommend
that their use in research and in practice should
be discontinued. On the other hand, other approaches
emerged from our rigorous evaluation with fewer
defects and, with certain reservations detailed below,
we suggest that they deserve to be researched further.
A brief summarising comment is added about each
of the models that we appraised as promising.
Allinson and Hayes: of all the instruments we have
evaluated, the Cognitive Style Index (CSI) of Allinson
and Hayes has the best psychometric credentials,
despite the debate about whether it should be scored
to yield one or two measures of intuition and analysis.
It was designed to be used in organisational and
business contexts, and is less relevant for use with
students than by teachers and managers. It was
designed as a simple instrument and its items are
focused very transparently on decision making and
other procedures at work. Although there is already
some evidence of predictive validity, the authors
acknowledge that relatively little is known about how
the interplay of cognitive styles in different situations
relates to work outcomes such as performance,
absenteeism, professional development and attitudes.
It is a suitable research instrument for studying
educational management as well as for more specific
applications – for example, seeking to identify the
characteristics of successful entrepreneurs.
Apter: reversal theory is a theory of personality, not
of learning style. It was included because the concepts
of motivation and reversal (eg change from work to
play) are important for understanding learning styles.
Reversal theory is relevant to groups and organisations
as well as to individuals, who are not pigeon-holed
as having fixed characteristics. Apter’s Motivational
Style Profile (MSP) is a useful addition to learning
style instruments.
Entwistle: his Approaches and Study Skills
Inventory for Students (ASSIST) is useful as a sound
basis for discussing effective and ineffective strategies
for learning and for diagnosing students’ existing
approaches, orientations and strategies. It is an
important aid for course, curriculum and assessment
design, including study skills support. It is widely used
in universities for staff development and discussion
about learning and course design. It could perhaps
be used for higher education taught in FE colleges,
but would need to be redesigned and revalidated for
use in other post-16 contexts such as adult education,
work-based training and 14–19 provision. It is
crucial, however, that the model is not divorced from
the inventory, that its complexity and limitations
are understood by users, and that students are not
labelled as ‘deep’ or ‘surface’ learners.
Herrmann: his ‘whole brain’ model is suitable for use
with learners as well as with teachers and managers,
since it is intended to throw light on group dynamics
as well as to encourage awareness and understanding
of self and others. Herrmann and others have devised
well-tried procedures for facilitating personal and
organisational change. In completing Herrmann’s
Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI), respondents draw
on their experience of life outside working contexts
as well as within them. Herrmann’s model may prove
especially valuable in education and training, since its
raison d’être is to foster creative thinking and problem
solving. It is unlikely that productive change will occur
nationally in the area of lifelong learning until it is widely
recognised that only a certain percentage of people
function best when given a precise set of rules to follow.
Although the Herrmann ‘whole brain’ approach to
teaching and learning needs further research,
development and independent evaluation within
education, it is grounded in values which are inclusive,
open, optimistic and systematic. More than any
other model we have reviewed, it encourages flexibility,
adaptation and change, rather than an avoidance
of less preferred activities.
Jackson: the Learning Styles Profiler (LSP) is a relatively
new, but sophisticated, instrument which has yet
to be tested by independent researchers. Jackson
acknowledges that learning styles are influenced by
biology, experience and conscious control. It deserves
to be widely studied.
Vermunt: his Inventory of Learning Styles (ILS) can
be safely used in higher education, both to assess
approaches to learning reliably and validly, and
to discuss with students changes in learning and
teaching. It is already being used widely in northern
Europe to research the learning of undergraduates and
so may be relevant for those settings in post-16 learning
which are closest to higher education. It will need,
however, to be completely revalidated for the wide
range of learning contexts in post-16 learning
which have little in common with higher education.