Learning styles and preferences

Do learning styles exist?

"Thus, learning styles are not really concerned with what learners learn, but rather how they prefer to learn."

I think the above statement tells us that, yes learning styles do in fact exist, but that we may have the incorrect perception of what they are.

 

 

 

Are they useful for classroom instruction?

"..it is far more important to match the presentation with the nature of the subject, such as providing correct learning methods, strategies, and context; rather than matching individual preferences" (Coffield, et. al., 2004).

 

Coffield believes that it si less important to cater to a student's learning style than to effectivly teach the subject at hand. I think this means that instead of teaching a lesson, such as volcanos, three different ways, the educator should provide the information to the best of her abilities to get the information out to all students instead of just one group at a time.

 

What is the best philosophy for using learning styles?

"Perhaps David Merrill (2000) has the best philosophy for using learning styles—instructional strategies should first be determined on the basis of the type of content to be taught or the goals of the instruction (the content-by-strategy interactions) and secondarily, learner styles and preferences are then used to adjust or fine-tune these fundamental learning strategies. Finally, content-by-strategy interactions take precedence over learning-style-by-strategy interactions regardless of the instructional style or philosophy of the instructional situation."

I think that Merrill is just telling us that people can learn in just about any method of teaching. The reason learning styles exist is because people may learn better one way than another. Learning styles are not exactly requirements, but preferences instead.