Technology student learning preferences and the design of flexible learning programs

The learning preferences of three hundred and thirty eighttechnology students enrolled in sub-degree programs at an Australian institution of Technical andFurther Education were tested using the Canfield Learning Styles Inventory (CLSI). The results have been interpreted in a learning preferences framework and providesupportive evidence for the preferences factors of print-nonprint, collaborative, dependent,and autonomous learning identified by Sadler-Smith & Riding (1999). Although theresearch focussed on learning preferences the analysis also indicated support for theWholist-Analytic cognitive style proposed by Riding & Cheema (1991). Genderdifferences were shown for the Interest subscales of the CLSI. Age-group differenceswere shown for several Conditions of Learning and Modes of Learning subscales.Implications for the design of training programs, and the skillsthat may need to be developed in technology learners to enable effective use offlexible delivery, are also discussed.     

The flexible learning needs and preferences of regional occupational therapy students in Australia

This study aimed to explore the flexible learning needs and preferences of occupational therapy students from a regional Australian university. Participants (n?=?170) were surveyed using a quantitative survey tool. Findings were analysed using SPSS to determine significant differences between variable attributes of the student cohort. The survey found that students have complex and competing lifestyle demands, which impact on study. In particular, paid work was found to negatively influence study and the university experience. Traditional face-to-face learning suited most students, however, flexible learning options were preferable for students where paid work, family commitments and geographic location interfered with study. These results will help inform the design and implementation of flexible delivery courses for occupational therapy. Further research is required to explore the experiences of staff and students who are involved in health courses run by flexible delivery.     

Assessment and instruction preferences and their relationship with test anxiety and learning strategies

The relationship between assessment and instruction preferences of undergraduate students was examined as well as the extent to which the combined set of preferences differentiates among four groups of students defined by their levels of test anxiety and learning strategies (high in both, low in both or high in one and low in the other). The results indicated a perceived alignment between instruction and assessment with respect to preferences and lent support to the integrated model of test anxiety. The discussion highlighted the need for a dialogue between instructors and students in order to structure expectations to fit the goals of higher education in the knowledge age.     

Predicting high school student use of learning strategies: the role of preferred learning styles and classroom climate

This study investigated the predictiveness of preferred learning styles (competitive and cooperative) and classroom climate (teacher support and disciplinary climate) on learning strategy use in mathematics. The student survey part of the Programme for International Student Assessment 2003 comprising of 4633 US observations was used in a weighted ordinary least squares multiple regression framework to predict learning strategy from preferred learning styles and classroom climate while controlling for self-efficacy and demographic variables. The results showed that preferred learning styles were the most important predictors of learning strategies used in mathematics. Educational implications were discussed.     

语言学习中的认知风格与元认知策略的使用

认知风格是学习者持续一贯的带有个性特征的认知方式，其差异主要表现在感知和思维等方面。不同的认知风格各有自己的特点，既有一定的稳定性，又有其独特性。对于学习者来说，了解和分析自身的认知风格，学会使用并制定相应的元认知策略针对自身认知风格的不足采取相应的补救措施是十分必要的。因为，元认知策略是学习者用来整合自身语言学习过程的策略。     

学习策略、学习风格与英语成绩相关性研究

对理工科大学生英语学习状况和学习成绩调查、统计和分析的基础上,研究了英语学习策略运用水平和学习风格倾向与英语成绩的关系。研究表明:(1)学习者都能积极运用学习策略,元认知和补偿策略运用得最多,社会/情感策略运用得较少;(2高分组和低分组在元认知策略上有显著差异;(3)学习风格偏好呈多样性,英语水平与学习风格本身无关。     

Matching/mismatching in web-based learning: a perspective based on cognitive styles and physiological factors

Cognitive styles have been regarded as a crucial factor that affects the effectiveness of web-based learning (WBL). Previous research indicated that educational settings that match with students' cognitive styles can enhance students' learning performance, which is, however, linked to their emotion. Various physiological signals can be applied to measure emotion but the pulse is perhaps the most effective indicator. Thus, we conduct an exploratory research, which looks for a link between emotion and the matching/mismatching instructional approach with the condition of cognitive styles through a continuous pulse rate monitoring. The matching/mismatching instructional approach was delivered via a WBL system, which includes an index version and map version. The pulses of individual learners are collected by using a non-intrusive sensor. Our results indicate that the matching condition enables learners to feel more positive emotions than the mismatching condition, and is also linked to better learning performance.     

Thinking styles: teaching and learning styles in graduate education students

This study investigated the relationship between two intellectual styles approaches: Sternberg’s thinking styles of teachers and Felder and Silverman’s learning styles. Ninety‐five graduate students majoring in special education, reading, educational leadership and curriculum, and elementary education completed the Thinking Styles in Teaching Inventory (TSTI) and the Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire (ILS). Several thinking styles from Sternberg’s theory of self‐government were highly to moderately correlated with Felder’s learning styles. The TSTI did not differentiate between master’s and doctoral students, but the ILS did so. Participants differed in their thinking styles in teaching and in their learning styles, based on their educational major.     

The impact of the university context on European students' learning approaches and learning environment preferences

This article describesexperiences of 610 Dutch students and 241students from other European countries whostudied at least three months abroad within theframework of an international exchange program.The Dutch students went to a university inanother European country and the foreignstudents went to a Dutch university. By meansof a questionnaire students' perceptions ofthree main characteristics of the universitylearning environment were measured concerningthe home university, the host university andthe ideal learning environment. The studentswere also asked about their way of learning atthe home university and at the host university,in particular about the extent of constructivelearning and reproductive learning. Evidencewas found for the influence of aspects of thelearning environment on the two learningapproaches; e.g., a learning environmentcharacterized as student-oriented discouragesreproductive learning and promotes constructivelearning, especially when conceptual andepistemological relations within the learningdomain are stressed. The learning environmentpreferences of the students were partly relatedto their learning orientations at the homeuniversity, but they were strikingly similarfor students from different countries. Therewas a strong preference for those learningenvironment aspects that promote constructivelearning.     

Using learning styles theory in engineering education

Studies have shown that, while learning different concepts, people sometimes take different approaches (learning styles). Accordingly, their performance reflected differently in their academic studies. With the effect of globalisation to the educational environments, the influence of individual learning styles on educational performance is getting more significant. In this study, a learning style assessment tool was used to examine the relationship between students’ learning styles and their performance in engineering education programmes. At the beginning of the programme, 285 students’ learning styles were measured using a learning style assessment tool. Four years after the engineering education, their performance in the programme was compared with their individual learning styles. This study shows that most of the students are assimilators. Divergers and convergers follow the assimilators. The number of accommodators is very limited. The relationship between engineering students’ learning styles and their performance is found: assimilators and convergers performed better than the divergers and accommodators. The performance difference between assimilators and divergers is statistically significant. The results of this study show that the learning style theory is a potential tool for guiding the design and improvement of courses and helping students to improve their individual performance.     

Cognitive learning styles and digital equity: searching for the middle way

This research is driven by a desire to understand the lifelong learner in the context of styles of learning and the emerging implications of technology enhanced learning for digital equity. Recognising cognitive learning styles is the first step educators need to take in order to be most effective in working with students of diversity and bridging across formal and informal settings. Learning environments as a characterising feature of learning styles have undergone unprecedented change over the past decade with learning environments now blending physical and virtual space. To support the increasing diversity of learners pedagogy has to be fair, culturally responsive, equitable and relevant to the ‘virtual generation’. This, in turn, will inform our understanding of the ‘middle way’ in recognising cognitive learning styles, associated cultural context, and the implications to digital pedagogy equity.     

A study of the relationship between learning styles and cognitive abilities in engineering students

Learning preferences have been indirectly linked to student success in engineering programmes, without a significant body of research to connect learning preferences with cognitive abilities. A better understanding of the relationship between learning styles and cognitive abilities will allow educators to optimise the classroom experience for students. The goal of this study was to determine whether relationships exist between student learning styles, as determined by the Felder-Soloman Inventory of Learning Styles (FSILS), and their cognitive performance. Three tests were used to assess student's cognitive abilities: a matrix reasoning task, a Tower of London task, and a mental rotation task. Statistical t-tests and correlation coefficients were used to quantify the results. Results indicated that the global–sequential, active–referential, and visual–verbal FSILS learning styles scales are related to performance on cognitive tasks. Most of these relationships were found in response times, not accuracy. Differences in task performance between gender groups (male and female) were more notable than differences between learning styles groups.     

The algorithm of mathematical modelling for learning styles of pre-school children

This study examines pre-school children's learning styles by utilising a mathematical model. The model uses a Euclidean geometry algorithm to generate a graphical representation of the learning styles. The algorithm of the developed mathematical model was developed as a practical application of the theoretical assumptions. Index of Learning Styles for Children (ILSC), developed by one of the researchers, has been applied to a total of 301 five-year-old children. Results of the study indicate that children utilise the active, cognitive and visual learning styles under the control of the right hemisphere, and the sequential (analytical) learning styles under the control of the left hemisphere. The modelling algorithm reveals that the children's learning style preferences are shifted towards the right hemisphere at the rate of 8%. The results also provide empirical support that the developed model can mathematically explain the theoretical assumptions it is based on.     

Development of a user-friendly instrument for identifying the learning strategy preferences of adults

Learning strategies offer a means of addressing individual differences. A programmatic line of inquiry at two universities in the United States has led to an extensive body of research related to learning strategies and to the development of two instruments. This study reports on the development of one of these instruments that can be used to quickly identify learning strategy preferences. Although this instrument, Assessing The Learning Strategies of AdultS (ATLAS), appears very simple and is easy to use, a series of multivariate statistical procedures were used to develop and validate it. These procedures are reported here in detail so that practitioners can be aware of its strong research base and use it with confidence. ATLAS can be used either for self-assessment or by an instructor in order to quickly identify how an individual learner approaches a learning task.     

Cognitive style and instructional preferences

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between learners' cognitive styles and their instructional preferences. The sample consisted of 240 business studies students at a UK university. Subjects' cognitive styles were assessed using the Cognitive Styles Analysis (which assesses the wholist-analytical and verbaliser-imager dimensions of style) and their instructional preferences assessed using an instructional preferences inventory which consisted of three sub-inventories (instructional method, instructional media and assessment method). Overall subjects favoured dependent methods, print based media and informal assessment methods. There was a significant main effect of wholist-analytical style on collaborative method preference (role play, group discussions and business games) and non-print based media preference (overhead transparencies, slides and videos). There was an interaction of the two dimensions of style and gender in their effect on informal assessment method preferences (individual and group assignments and multiple choice and short answer-type questions). The findings are discussed in terms of: (i) models of the cognitive style construct; (ii) the practical implications of individual differences in style and preference.     

聋生美术学习策略探讨

美术是各聋校中最普遍、最具特色的专业,深受学生喜爱。由于生理缺陷,一些聋生未能掌握有效的美术学习策略,学习事倍功半。如何在学习策略理论的指导下,结合美术学习的特点,研究探讨美术活动中有助于学生提高美术学习质量、美术学习效率的程序、规则、方法、技巧及调控方式,培养、训练学生掌握美术学习的策略,从而减轻学生学习负担,提高美术教学质量,是我们每一位美术老师都面临的、亟需解决的问题。     

Preferences for teaching styles matter in academic achievement: scientific and practical implications

The two primary objectives of this study were: to identify the preferred teaching styles of secondary‐school students and to compare these preferences with those of university students from past research; and to examine the contributions of students’ preferred teaching styles to their academic achievement. A sample of 298 students from a Catholic boys’ school completed the Preferred Thinking Styles in Teaching Inventory and the Self‐rated Ability Scale. Participants’ achievements in 12 school subjects were obtained. Results indicated great similarities between the preferred teaching styles of the present sample and those of university students in previous studies. Achievement scores in all 12 subjects were predicted by students’ preferred teaching styles beyond their self‐rated abilities. Some of these predictive relationships were domain‐specific, while others were not. The findings’ scientific and practical implications are discussed.     

学习方式的变革:“思维导图”教学案例研究

"授人以鱼"已经远远不能适应新高考背景下的学习要求。"授人以渔"及"授人以何渔"成了教师迫在眉睫地需要研究的新课题。本文尝试用思维导图在学习方式中的运用案例分析其"渔"之效果。     

西部人才弹性引进方式探讨

本文分析了西部地区人才方面存在的问题与现状，讨论了人才引进过程中在政策法规、人才市场、管理运作、服务保障及人才观念等方面存在的主要的非经济性障碍，提出了相应的弹性解决措施。     

A preliminary investigation and analysis of student learning style preferences in further and higher education

In the current further education (FE) and higher education (HE) environment, students are under increasing pressure to perform well and achieve good results. As educators we must strive to enable students to make the most of their higher education by providing an education of the highest quality and enhance the learning experience. This study was undertaken as a preliminary investigation of how students learn and how we, as educators, can improve their learning. In this study, a range of students on different (FE and HE) courses completed the VARK (visual, audio, read/write, kinaesthetic) questionnaire on learning style preferences at the beginning of the semester. Responses were analysed and the author adapted various teaching techniques into course materials for the semester to accommodate the results obtained in the initial VARK survey. Students' responses were encouraging, with many being keen to participate with a view to improving their course performance. The author found that using a range of teaching techniques encouraged student participation in the course and, for some, enhanced their performance in assessment. This investigation provides an insight into the awareness of learning style preferences and how such awareness can be positively exploited in teaching and learning processes.