Learning Styles

Four approaches to examining learning styles of college students are reviewed, and the use of information about learning style in the classroom, student affairs, and in the overall college work setting is addressed. Areas where additional research is needed are identified, along with steps that colleges can take to enhance the learning process. Approaches to learning style found in the literature are examined at the following four levels: (1) personality, (2) information processing, (3) social interaction, and (4) instructional methods. It is noted that the research on instructional-preference models supports the idea that matching instructional methods to students' learning style can lead to improved learning. Additional research needs include: determining more about the learning styles of minority students; clarifying the effects of teaching methods that are incongruent with a student's style; and identifying the connections and interaction between style, developmental stage, disciplinary perspectives, and epistemology. Steps that colleges can take to enhance the learning process include publicizing classroom research findings, offering workshops, and sharing information about learning styles with students. (SW)