Learning Styles Methods To Learn In Classrooms

Learning Styles refer to the various ways or methods with the help of which one can learn. The individual presumes to learn the best according to his or her particular style of learning. There is always a particular method of taking in or interacting with that is favored by the people as commonly believed. They also believe there to be a particular method for processing stimuli or information.

In the 1970s the idea of individualized learning styles originated based on this concept and in recent years has gained a lot of popularity. It has also been put forward that the styles of learning of the students should be assessed by their teachers and to best fit the learning style of each student their classroom methods should be adapted. There has been presented almost more than 80 learning style models each consisting at least two different styles.

The sensory modalities of informing stimuli are emphasized by one family of models. To describe similar or same learning styles different terms may be used by the models in this family. Four basic styles of learning are often described by these models. The first occurs through drawing diagrams and writing notes known as Tactile Learning.

The second occurs through hearing the spoken word which is known as Auditory Learning. The next in the line is Visual Learning that occurs through looking at demonstrations, images, mind maps and body language and the fourth one occurs through interacting and doing known as Kinesthetic Learning. The term multi modal is used in such models of Learning Styles.

Robert J Stenberg in his book Thinking Styles also listed various cognitive dimensions which were published in the year 1997. The book aimed to explain why school grades, classroom performance and aptitude tests often fail to identify real ability of a student. While researching learning styles several other models are also used very often. These models include DISC assessment, Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and Howard Gardeners Multiple Intelligence Model.

Fleming's VARK Learning Style Test, Kolb's Learning Styles Inventory and the NLP Meta programs based on IWAM questionnaire are some of the instruments that are used to identify the Learning Styles. Many theorists have even criticized the styles of learning and its theories. The scientific basis for these models has also been questioned by many neuroscientists and psychologists. Dubious theoretical grounds are said to be the basis of some models.

Demos, a UK think tank along with Usha Goswami from Cambridge University, David Wood from the University of Nottingham and Exeter Universitys David Hargreaves prepared a group and published a report on the learning styles. They called the basis of these styles as highly variable. There is even little efficacy of most models of styles of learning as believed by many educational psychologists. Learning styles