Enhance Student Achievement through a Kaleidoscope of Learning Styles
Did you know?
People process information in different ways and these differences bear a relationship to how students learn (Roebers & Schneider, 2005; Sousa, 2001).
While everyone is capable of conceptualizing in both forms and organizing information in both ways, most people have a preference for conceptualizing either abstractly or concretely and organizing information either sequentially or globally (Gregorc, 1982; O’Brien, 1991).
Approximately 90 percent of students have a preference for one of the four modes of processing and ordering information (Keefe, 1982).
Students may learn through any combination of conceptualizing and organizing information. A student may be concrete-sequential, concrete-global, abstract-sequential, or abstract-global (Gregorc, 1982; Witte, 2000).
"We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color."
–Maya Angelou
Imagine looking through a Kaleidoscope and experiencing the myriad of beautiful colors and infinite patterns. Our schools and classrooms are similar to a Kaleidoscope comprised of multifacted students of all varieties. In this climate of heightened accountability, educators are searching for the most effective ways to reach this vast Kaleidoscope of students.
One way to enhance student achievement is through the knowledge and use of learning styles. Educators with knowledge of their own learning style as well as the learning styles of their students have the ability to maximize instructional effectiveness. Students learn, retain, and retrieve information more effectively if they organize and perceive the information through their own natural learning preferences. Knowing those preferences helps educators customize and differentiate learning and implement meaningful interventions.
What is your learning style, and what learning styles do your students possess? As we learn, we perceive and organize information in a way that makes sense to us. Our minds organize information either sequentially or globally. Sequential learners prefer order, structured directions, and step-by-step instruction. Global learners prefer discovery learning, open-ended activities, and seeing the big picture. When our minds perceive information, we perceive either abstractly or concretely. Abstract perceptions involve reading, writing, and speaking as well as intangible theories and ideas. Concrete perceptions involve the three-dimensional real world in the form of pictures or tangible items. These preferences combine to create the learning styles of concrete sequential, abstract sequential, concrete global, and abstract global.
Read on for tips for teaching to the various learning styles:
Concrete Sequential Learners prefer:
Structured lessons with specific directions
Task-oriented centers
Following rules and procedures
Classrooms that are organized and move efficiently
Abstract Sequential Learners prefer:
Researching, reading, and writing about topics of interest
Thinking about theories and deductive reasoning
Working independently at the computer
Graphic organizers and step by step directions
Concrete Global Learners prefer:
Trial-and-error discovery learning
Movement and hands-on learning
Change in routine and multitasking
Brainstorming and creating new ideas
Abstract Global Learners prefer:
Cooperative learning
Group discussion of feelings and opinions
People-oriented lessons and projects
Reading for pleasure
Gregorc, A. F. (1982). An adult’s guide to style. Maynard, MA: Gabriel Systems.
Keefe, J. W. (1982). Assessing student learning styles: An overview. In J. W. Keefe (Ed.), Student learning styles and brain behavior (pp. 43-53). Reston, VA: National Association of Secondary School Principals.
O’Brien, T. P. (1991). Relationships among selected characteristics of college students and cognitive style preference. College Student Journal, 26, 492-500.
Roebers, C. M., & Schneider, W. (2005). The strategic regulation of children's memory performance and suggestibility. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 91(1), 24-44.
Sousa, D. A. (2001). How the brain learns: A classroom teacher’s guide. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Witte, M. M. (2000). A validation study of the relationship of learning styles and mindstyles as indicated by the Multi-Modal Paired Associates Learning Test III and the Gregorc Style Delineator. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities & Social Sciences, 60(8A), 2770.
Source: The above tips are based on PLS's graduate course Teaching Through Learning Channels® For more information see "Related Graduate Course" to the right.
Performance Learning PLUS is a monthly e-newsletter by Performance Learning Systems© (PLS), a comprehensive educational services company that has provided a full spectrum of programs, products, and consulting services to educators and business professionals since 1971.