Identify Learning Styles

Identifying learning styles has been claimed to be essential for creating learning environments that allow an increasingly greater amount of students to succeed. (Moody, 1988). Various types have been identified in this research field (Reid, 1995). Moreover, abundant amounts of models, taxonomies, and theories have become established such as Kolb’s Experiential Learning Model or The Myers-Briggs Temperament Styles (Reid, 1995). However, this overwhelming variety of descriptions of learning styles can become quite confusing and difficult to process. Therefore, concentrating on one aspect or type of learning styles might prove to be useful and enlightening. The purpose of the following paper is to investigate a certain pair of learning styles,

The first is ‘cognitive learning styles’ which include the pairings of ‘field-independent’ vs. ‘field-dependent’, ‘analytic’ vs. ‘global’, ‘reflective’ vs. ‘impulsive’, and also ‘Kolb’s Experiential Learning Model’. The second category is ‘sensory learning styles’. The learning styles of ‘perception’, such as ‘auditory’, ‘visual’, ‘tactile’, ‘kinaesthetic’, and ‘haptic’; and of ‘environment’ – the social and psychological aspect – belongs here. The third group is the ‘personality learning styles’. This is the division in which the subject types of the present study – ‘judging, i.e closure-oriented and ‘perceiving’, i.e. open – can be found within the ‘Myers-Briggs Temperament styles’ along with the pairings of ‘extroversion’ vs. ‘introversion’, ‘sensing’ vs. ‘perception’, ‘thinking’ vs. ‘feeling’. Furthermore, within the classification of personality types two further categories can be encountered: ‘tolerance of ambiguity’ and the differentiation between ‘right- and left-hemisphere

Therefore, the research should be repeated with a larger pool of participants and with a more extensive questionnaire to verify the findings of the present study. In addition, future research should focus on what kind of strategies correspond best to both open and closure-oriented styles and whether these styles can be “stretched”, i.e. whether it is possible for a student positioned radically on the openness end of the scale to become more balanced and adaptive to situations requiring a closure-oriented style and vice