Learning Styles

Learning Styles

You are asked to assist in our research by completing the LSI questionnaire. It can be found here:

Kolb Learning Style Inventory

This research is undertaken with ethics approval from Murdoch University

(permit number 2003/220)

This questionnaire is is targeted specifically to those who spend some proportion of their time on Software Engineering tasks. The results of the survey will be used to help improve the way Software Engineering is taught.

All the information you provide will be kept confidential.

With his permission, the demographic component of this survey is based on

Lethbridge, Timothy Computer Science/Software Engineering Education Relevance Survey Version1998d - May 14 1998

BACKGROUND

Learners bring a complex assortment of beliefs, past experiences and expectations to a learning situation, which influence the approach to learning they take. In turn, this approach to learning affects the quality of their learning outcomes. Their future learning intentions and behaviours will also reflect this. In addition, while the achievement of high quality learning is important, it has an extra relevance where the context of practice is continually changing and professions are continuously developing. There is a need, therefore to identify aspects of the learners' conceptions of learning and approaches to it so that appropriate support can be provided.

A variety of self-reporting questionnaires have resulted from this interest in different aspects of learning behaviour. In general these apply similar formats and psychometric principles (usually based on Likert scales).

Personality-centred Models

These learning styles serve as an (relatively stable) indicator of how an individual interacts with and responds to the learning environment. The study of learning style involves the investigation of individual differences: people perceive and gain knowledge differently, they form ideas and think differently, and they act differently.

From an educational perspective, the value of investigating personality-centred learning models is two-fold: to help teachers design a balanced approach that addresses the learning needs of all of their students by attempting to provide variation in teaching style; and to provide individual students with both an understanding of the learning implications of their style and strategies to address their strengths and weaknesses.

From a practitioner perspective, the value of this investigation is a greater understanding of what skills are required/dominant in specific practitioner domains and disciplines.

Learning Styles Inventory (LSI)

The Learning Style Inventory (Kolb, 1984) is a simple test to measure an individual's intrinsic learning style or predisposition in any given learning situation: a preference for one of four stages of the learning process. These are group by how learners take information in (concrete experience (CE) / abstract conceptualisation (AC)) and how they process information(active experimentation (AE) / reflective observation (RO)). Based on experiential learning theory, the LSI identifies four basic learning styles. These are defined as:

Accomodator: (concrete, active) What if?; efficient in carrying out plans and like getting involved in new experiences; often start with what they see and feel then plunge in and seek hidden possibilities; learn by trial an error and self discovery; like applying course material in new situations to solve real problems; the instructor should pose open-ended questions and then get out of the way, maximising opportunities for the students to discover things for themselves. Problem-based learning is considered an ideal pedagogical strategy for these students

Converger: (abstract, active) How?; good at problem solving, decision making, and the practical application of ideas; start with an idea and try it out, they like to find out how things work; learn by testing theories; respond to having opportunities to work actively on well-defined tasks and to learn by trial-and-error in an environment that allows them to fail safely; the instructor should function as a coach, providing guided practice and feedback in the methods being taught

Diverger: (concrete, reflective) Why or why not?; good imaginative ability and awareness of meaning and values; study life as it is and reflect on it to seek meaning; learn by being involved and need to listen and share with others, respond well to explanations of how course material relates to their experience, interests, and future careers; the instructor should function as a motivator

Assimilator: (abstract, reflective) What?; good at inductive reasoning and creating theoretical models; come up with ideas and then reflect on them; like to know what the experts think; respond to information presented in an organised, logical fashion and benefit if they are given time for reflection; the instructor should function as an expert.

This instrument has been shown to be both reliable (ie consistent results are obtained in repeated assessments) and valid (ie the instrument measures what it is intended to measure).

Background Documents

Kolb D A (1984) Experiential Learning: experience as the source of learning and development, Englewood Cliffs (NJ): Prentice Hall

A slightly longer exposition on the four basic learning styles is available here.


	BACKGROUND


	Learners bring a complex assortment of beliefs, past experiences and expectations to a learning situation, which influence the approach to learning they take. In turn, this approach to learning affects the quality of their learning outcomes. Their future learning intentions and behaviours will also reflect this. In addition, while the achievement of high quality learning is important, it has an extra relevance where the context of practice is continually changing and professions are continuously developing. There is a need, therefore to identify aspects of the learners' conceptions of learning and approaches to it so that appropriate support can be provided.

	A variety of self-reporting questionnaires have resulted from this interest in different aspects of learning behaviour. In general these apply similar formats and psychometric principles (usually based on Likert scales).

	Personality-centred Models
	These learning styles serve as an (relatively stable) indicator of how an individual interacts with and responds to the learning environment. The study of learning style involves the investigation of individual differences: people perceive and gain knowledge differently, they form ideas and think differently, and they act differently. From an educational perspective, the value of investigating personality-centred learning models is two-fold: to help teachers design a balanced approach that addresses the learning needs of all of their students by attempting to provide variation in teaching style; and to provide individual students with both an understanding of the learning implications of their style and strategies to address their strengths and weaknesses. From a practitioner perspective, the value of this investigation is a greater understanding of what skills are required/dominant in specific practitioner domains and disciplines.

	Learning Styles Inventory (LSI)
	The Learning Style Inventory (Kolb, 1984) is a simple test to measure an individual's intrinsic learning style or predisposition in any given learning situation: a preference for one of four stages of the learning process. These are group by how learners take information in (concrete experience (CE) / abstract conceptualisation (AC)) and how they process information(active experimentation (AE) / reflective observation (RO)). Based on experiential learning theory, the LSI identifies four basic learning styles. These are defined as:
	Accomodator: (concrete, active) What if?; efficient in carrying out plans and like getting involved in new experiences; often start with what they see and feel then plunge in and seek hidden possibilities; learn by trial an error and self discovery; like applying course material in new situations to solve real problems; the instructor should pose open-ended questions and then get out of the way, maximising opportunities for the students to discover things for themselves. Problem-based learning is considered an ideal pedagogical strategy for these students
	Converger: (abstract, active) How?; good at problem solving, decision making, and the practical application of ideas; start with an idea and try it out, they like to find out how things work; learn by testing theories; respond to having opportunities to work actively on well-defined tasks and to learn by trial-and-error in an environment that allows them to fail safely; the instructor should function as a coach, providing guided practice and feedback in the methods being taught
	Diverger: (concrete, reflective) Why or why not?; good imaginative ability and awareness of meaning and values; study life as it is and reflect on it to seek meaning; learn by being involved and need to listen and share with others, respond well to explanations of how course material relates to their experience, interests, and future careers; the instructor should function as a motivator
	Assimilator: (abstract, reflective) What?; good at inductive reasoning and creating theoretical models; come up with ideas and then reflect on them; like to know what the experts think; respond to information presented in an organised, logical fashion and benefit if they are given time for reflection; the instructor should function as an expert.

	This instrument has been shown to be both reliable (ie consistent results are obtained in repeated assessments) and valid (ie the instrument measures what it is intended to measure).


	Background Documents
	Kolb D A (1984) Experiential Learning: experience as the source of learning and development, Englewood Cliffs (NJ): Prentice Hall
	A slightly longer exposition on the four basic learning styles is available here.