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The challenge of academic writing for Chinese students within ...

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Learning styles<br />

and preferences<br />

are largely<br />

constitutionally<br />

based including<br />

the four<br />

modalities:<br />

VAKT (Visual,<br />

auditory,<br />

kinaesthetic,<br />

tactile)<br />

Learning styles<br />

reflect deepseated<br />

features <strong>of</strong><br />

the cognitive<br />

structure,<br />

including<br />

‗patterns <strong>of</strong><br />

ability‘<br />

Learning styles<br />

are one<br />

component <strong>of</strong> a<br />

relatively<br />

stable<br />

personality<br />

type<br />

Learning styles<br />

are flexibly stable<br />

learning<br />

preferences<br />

Move on from learning<br />

styles to learning<br />

approaches, strategies,<br />

orientations and<br />

conceptions <strong>of</strong><br />

learning<br />

Dunn and Dunn<br />

Gregorc<br />

Bartlett<br />

Betts<br />

Gordon<br />

Marks<br />

Paivio<br />

Richardson<br />

Shehan<br />

Torrance<br />

Riding<br />

Broverman<br />

Cooper<br />

Gardner et al.<br />

Guil<strong>for</strong>d<br />

Holzman and<br />

Klein Hudson<br />

Hunt<br />

Kagan<br />

Kogan<br />

Messick<br />

Pettigrew<br />

Witkin<br />

Apter<br />

Jackson<br />

Myers-Briggs<br />

Epstein and<br />

Meier<br />

Harrison-<br />

Branson<br />

Miller<br />

Allinson and<br />

Hayes<br />

Herrmann<br />

Honey and<br />

Mum<strong>for</strong>d<br />

Kolb<br />

Felder and<br />

Silverman<br />

Hermanussen<br />

Wierstra<br />

de Jong and<br />

Thijssen<br />

Kaufmann<br />

Kirton<br />

McCarthy<br />

Entwistle<br />

Sternberg<br />

Vermunt<br />

Biggs<br />

Conti and Kolody<br />

Grasha-Riechmann<br />

Hill<br />

Marton and Saljo<br />

McKenney and Keen<br />

Pask<br />

Pintrich, Smith,<br />

Garcia and McCeachie<br />

Schmeck<br />

Weinstein<br />

Zimmerman and<br />

Palmer<br />

Whetton and Cameron<br />

Figure 3.1: Continuum <strong>of</strong> Learning Styles (C<strong>of</strong>field et al., 2004)<br />

According to Kolb (1984, p.41), ‗learning is the process whereby knowledge is<br />

created through the trans<strong>for</strong>mation <strong>of</strong> experience‘; learning is a continuous and<br />

integrated process <strong>of</strong> ‗grasping experience and trans<strong>for</strong>ming it‘; and learning involves<br />

resolving conflicts at four stages <strong>of</strong> the learning cycle – concrete experiences (CE;<br />

experiencing), reflective observation (RO; reflecting), abstract conceptualisation (AC;<br />

thinking and <strong>for</strong>ming abstract concepts based on experiences and reflections), and<br />

active experimentation (AE; active testing <strong>of</strong> new implications <strong>of</strong> the concepts in new<br />

situations). It is an integrated and incessant cycle <strong>of</strong> learning from CE, RO, AC, to<br />

AE. According to Kolb (1984) learners will show preferences <strong>for</strong> a certain stage and<br />

develop learning styles emphasizing some learning abilities over others. As shown in<br />

Figure xx, the four abilities <strong>for</strong>m two independent bipolar dimensions – CE v.s. AC;<br />

AE v.s. RO. <strong>The</strong> dimension <strong>of</strong> CE – AC represents the tension between relying on<br />

immediate experience (apprehension) or on conceptual interpretation<br />

74

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