The Learning Styles

__________
Remedios H. Fernando, RN MAN
St. Luke’s College of Nursing
 Learning Styles
 Ways in which and conditions under which
learner’s most efficiently most effectively
perceive, process, store and recall what
they are attempting to learn and how they
prefer to approach different learning tasks
 Six Learning Style Principles
• Learners should have the opportunity to
learn their preferred style.
• Learners should be encourage to diversify
their style preferences
• Educators can develop specific learning
activities that reinforce each modality or
style.
Right Brain, Left Brain and Whole Brain

• Dr. Roger Sperry and his research team

established that the brain operates in
many ways as two brains (Hermann
1988,Sperry 1977)
• With each hemisphere having separate
and complimentary functions.
 The left Hemisphere of the Brain

 The vocal - verbalization

 analytical side – logical thinking
 reality
 The Right Hemisphere of the Brain

 Emotional
 Visual –spatial
 Non-verbal side
 Thinking process that are intuitive,
subjective, relational, holistic and time free
 learners are able to use both sides of the
brain because of connector between the
two hemispheres: corpus callosum
 There is no correct or wrong side of the
brain
 each hemisphere gathers in the same
sensory information but handles the
information in different ways.
Left Hemisphere Function Right Hemisphere Function
Thinking –critical,logical,focal Thinking –creative, intuitive,
divergent,diffused

Analytical Synthesizing
Prefers talking and writing Prefers drawing and manipulating
objects
Responds to verbal instructions and Responds to writtten instructions
explanations and explanations

Recognizes /remembers names Recognizes ,remembers faces

Left Hemisphere Function
Relies on language in thinking and
remembering
Solves problem by breaking them
into parts, then approaches the
problem sequentially using logic
Good organizational skills , near
Likes stability , willing to adhere to
rules
Right Hemisphere Function
Relies on images in thinking and
remembering
Solves problems by looking at the
whole , the configuration , then
approaches the problem through
patterns , using hunches
Loose organizational skills, sloppy
Likes change and uncertainty
Left Hemisphere Function Right Hemisphere Function

Conscious of time and schedules Frequently loses contact with time

and schedules

Algebra is the preferred math Geometry is the preferred math

Not as good at interpreting body Good at interpreting body language

language

Controls emotions Free with emotions

• Gondringer (1989) reported that most of
the learners have left brain dominance and
that only 30% have brain dominance
• Left brain skills rewarded
• Right brain skills underdeveloped
• Educators need to employ teaching
methods that enable learner to use both
 Left brain thinking
• To stimulate the development of left brain
thinking the nurse educator should provide a
more structured environment by relying on
specific objectives and a course outline
 Right brain thinking
• To stimulate the development of right brain
thinking the nurse educator should provide a
more unstructured , free flowing environment
that allows for creative opportunities.
• By employing teaching strategies aimed at
helping the learner use both hemisphere.
• Use storyboarding, uses humor
• Brain is connected to the whole body
• In order for the brain to be more than an
organ , consideration must be given to mental
processes , feelings, desires and cultural
influences – that are important in the
development and expression of person’s
learning style (Gardner 1999)
 Instrument to Measure RB,LB,WH
• BPI (brain preference indicator ) – consists
of set of questions used to determine
hemispheric functioning
• Reveals a general style of thoughts that
results in a consistent pattern of behavior
in all areas of the individual’s life.
 Instrument to Measure RB,LB,WH
• HBDI (Hermann Brain Dominance
Instrument) – incorporate theories on
growth development
• Uses four quadrants
• Incorporates theories of growth and
development and considers learning styles
as learned patterns of behavior
• The model was developed by Ned Herrmann , while
head of Management Development at General
Electric.
• Herrmann is a physicist by training . Using brain
research developed by others and his own studies,
Herrmann discovered that there were four patterns
that emerged in terms of how the brain perceives and
process information he called Whole brain Model
 4 Quadrants
• QA (left brain cerebral)
- Logical, analytical,quantitative, factual,
critical
• QB (left brain limbic)
-sequential, organized, planned, detailed,
structured
 4 Quadrants
• QC (right brain, limbic)
-emotional, interpersonal, sensory,
kinesthetic, symbolic
• QD (right brain cerebral)
- visual, holistic, innovative
 Field Independent/Field Dependent
Perception
 Extensive series of studies by Witkin,
Oltman,Raskin and Karp (1971)
 Identified two styles of learning in cognitive
domain based on the bipolar distribution of
characteristics of how learners process
and structure information in the
environment.
 Field independent individual
 Perceives items as separate or
differentiated from surrounding field
 Internalized frames of reference such as
that they experience themselves as
separate or differentiated from others and
environment.
 Field independent individual
• They are less sensitive to social cues, are not
affected by criticism, favors an active
participant role, and eager to test out their
ideas or opinions in a group.
 Field Dependent
 Perception is influenced by or immersed in
the surrounding field
 Are more externally focused and such are
socially oriented, more aware of social
cues, able to reveal their feelings, and
more dependent on others for
reinforcement.
 Field Dependent
• They have a need for extrinsic motivation and
externally defined objectives and learn better
if the material has a social context
• Easily affected by criticism, take a passive.
Spectator role and change their opinions in
the face of peer pressure.
 Right hemispheres in male tends to be
more dominant than their left hemisphere
 Vice versa for female
 Male tend to have better visual-spatial
abilities and female tend to have a better
linguistic skills.
 Instrument to measure FI/FD
 Group Embedded Figure Test (GEFT) to
measure field independence /dependence
– how’s a person’s perception of an item is
influenced by the context in which appears
 OTSES
Dunn and Dunn Learning Styles
 Rita and Kenneth Dunn set out to develop
a user –friendly model that would assist
educators in identifying those
characteristics that allow individuals to
learn in different ways
Dunn and Dunn Learning Styles
 The model includes motivational factors ,
social interaction, and physiological
environmental elements.
 Environmental Elements
 Sound
 Light
 Temperature
 Design
 Emotional Elements
 Motivation
 Persistence
 Responsibility
 Structure
 Sociological Elements
• Desire to work alone or in groups or a
combination of these two approaches
• Presence of an authority vs. no authority
• Variety of ways – some learners are flexible
 Physical Elements
• Perceptual strengths
- auditory,visual,tactile,kinesthetic
• Intake
-eat, drink,chew,bite or none
• Time of the day
- early am,late am,pm,evening
• Mobility -movement
 Psychological elements
 Global vs. analytic
 Hemispheric
 Impulsivity
 The Environmental Elements
• Sounds – react to sound in different ways
- some needs complete silence
- others able to block out sounds
- others require sounds
• Light –works best under bright light, or
dim or low lighting
 Temperature
• Some learners have difficulty thinking or
concentrating if a room is too hot or too
cold
• Orient learner regarding the temperature
of the environment
 Design
• Seated on wooden,steel or plastic chair
• 75% of total body weight is on a chair
• Results in discomfort and need for
frequent body position changes
• Others are relaxed and can learn better in
an informal environment, like in a lounge
chair
Emotional elements: Motivation
• Motivation or the desire to achieve,
increases when learning success
increases
• Unmotivated learners need short learning
assignments
• Motivated learners, by comparison are
eager to learn and should be told exacly
what to do
 Persistence
• Learners differ in their preference to
complete tasks in one sitting or take
periodic breaks and return tasks at later
time.
• Give learners in advance the objectives
and time interval for completion of a task
• Give consideration on learner’s attention
span
 Responsibility
• The desire to do what the learner thinks is
expected
• Related to concept of conformity or following
through on what an educator asks /tells to do
• Depends on the learner
• Should allow learner to select different ways
to complete the assignment
 Structure:
• Refers either the preference for specific
directions , guidance or rules prior to carrying
out assignments
• Preferences in doing the assignment
 The Physical Elements:
Perceptual Strengths
• 4 types of learners:
1. Auditory preferences
2. Visual preferences
3. tactile preferences
4. Kinesthetic
 Perceptual Strength:
Auditory preferences
• Those who learn best with verbal instruction
• Learn best in lecture and group discussions
 Perceptual strength:
Visual preferences
• Those who learn best from reading or
observation
• Learn best by viewing,watching and observing
• Simulation and demonstration best for them
 Perceptual Strength:
tactile preferences
• Learn best when they can underline as they
read, take notes while listening
• Learn through touching, manipulating and
handling objects
• They remember when they doodle,draw or
move their fingers
• use of models and CAI suited for this learners
 Perceptual Strength:
kinesthetic preferences
• Learner absorb and retain information when
allowed to perform whole body movement
• Learn more easily by doing and experiencing
• Profit more from field trips, role
play,interviewing and return demonstrations
 Jung-Myerr Briggs Typology
 Carl G. Jung a Swiss Psychiatrist
 Developed a theory that explains
personality similarities and differences
 Introverts and extroverts
 Kolb’s Experiential Learning
• Knowledge is acquired is acquired through
transformational process which is continously
created and recreated.
• Kolb’s model, known as the cycle of learning
• 4 modes of learning
• Accommodation
• Diverger
• Converger
• Assimilator
 CONCRETE EXPERIENCE (CE)
“FEELING

ACCOMODATOR DIVERGER
REFLECTIVE
ACTIVE OBSERVATION (RO)
EXPERIMENTATION (AE) “WATCHING
“DOING”
CONVERGER ASSIMILATOR

ABSTRACT
CONCEPTUALIZATION (AC)
“THINKING
 4MAT System
• Mc Carthy (1981)
• Type 1 Imaginative – Learners who demand to
know why
• Type 2 Analytical – Learners who want to
know what to learn
• Type 3 Common Sense – Learners who want
to know how to apply the new learning
• Type 4 Dynamic – Learners who ask
 Diagram
TYPE FOURTYPE ONE

IF? WHY?

RI

HT
GH

G
RI
T
LEFT LEFT

RI
TYPE THREE TYPE TWO

GH
HT

T
GLEFT
RI

LEFT
HOW? WHAT?
 Gardener’s Eight Types of Intelligence

• Linguistic
• Logical Mathematical
• Spatial Intelligence
• Musical
• Bodily-Kinesthetic
• Interpersonal
• Intrapersonal
• Naturalistic
 VARK
 Fleming and Mills (1992)
 Visual
 Aural
 Read/write
 Kinesthetic
Thank You!