Koh's Learning Style

Summary

The study was conducted to investigate if greater self-awareness in learning styles affects ones’ performance. To measure learning styles, the author conducted various studies and developed Koh’s Learning Styles Profiler (KLSP). Based on the study conducted, it was seen that there was a positive relationship between learning styles and performance and awareness in learning styles affects academic performance. This is based on the rationale that by understanding one’s learning style; learners would then gain a deeper understanding on their effective learning behaviors to develop strategies to enhance learning performance.

Theoretical Perspective(s)

The adaptation by Claxton & Murrell (1987) on Curry’s onion model was adopted as a

This was well taken into consideration, as a 5-point scale provides sufficient contrast among agreement levels (Goodwin, 2010). It is notable that the author used a control group in his study as it provides a standard of comparison and reduces variability (McBurney & White, 2010).

Assumptions

The author redefined the outer layer of Curry’s onion model (1983,1987) as learning environment instead of including instructional preferences as he assumed that it could be measured under information processing style. However, these two items are not the same. Information processing style is a cognitive personality style that is stable, whereas instructional preferences can be easily modified and influenced.

The proposed KLSP used to conduct the study is grounded on Kolb’s experiential learning model based on the assumption that it is an appropriate model. However, it provides a limited number of factors that influence learning. As it focuses on experiential learning, it pays inadequate attention to the reflection process (Boyd & Fales, 1983). Also, the model is not sensitive to the different cultural experiences and conditions (Dewey,

By knowing one’s learning styles, leaners will be able to develop effective strategies to achieve a desired outcome. However, this cannot be held true for all individuals as several other factors such as personal goals and motivation can influence the relationship.

Every individual is unique. It is important to bear in mind that people would differ in their learning styles over different situations or a period of time. Different approaches may have to be applied for the same individual. Comparison of learning styles should be performed on a wider variety of participants from different environments and age groups. Qualitative studies should examine the diversity of certain cognitions or behavior within a population (Jansen, 2010).

Instead of using Pearson’s r correlation model, the analysis of variance (ANOVA) can be used. One-way ANOVA and two-way ANOVA analysis can be conducted, as it is able to identify significance between the means of three or more independent groups. This is extremely useful in this study as it deals with statistical data from individuals, who are different participants to measure the same dependent