Learning styles

Learning styles belong to a concept that has been developed in the seventies by the psychology of learning and assumes that most people prefer a small number of individual methods to deal with stimuli and information. All things being equal learning conditions obtain according to this concept learners often accorded different levels of success because their preferred learning method is not offered. Building on this, in recent years increasingly noted that teachers should assess the learning styles of their students and adapt their teaching methods accordingly. Focus the learning styles limits on the types of learning used in the teaching, this approach is not considered scientifically sound.

Models and concepts

There are over 80 learning style models have been proposed, all of which have at least two different learning styles.

Visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning

A group of models emphasizes the sense impressions that come into play during the transmission of information. These models can use different names for the same or similar learning styles. Often four basic types are distinguished to:

• Visual learning ( learning by sight )
• Auditory learning ( learning by hearing)
• Reading and writing ( learning by processing texts)
• Kinesthetic learning ( learning by doing, by motion )

Here are different approaches to knowledge, people may prefer situational. Whether it is time enduring personality characteristics and "types" in the proper sense, is controversial in learning research.

Model by Kolb

The model was created in 1985 and is the most widely used in German-speaking (see cognitivism ):

• Diver Gierer (about: the discoverer ) prefer concrete experience and reflected observations. Its strengths are in the imagination ability. They tend to view concrete situations from many perspectives and are interested in people. They have broad cultural interests and often specialize in artistic activities.
• Assimilator (eg: the philosophers ) prefer reflected observation and abstract conceptualization. Its strengths lie in the production of theoretical models. They tend to inductive conclusions and deal with things rather than with people or theories. They integrate individual facts of terms and concepts.
• Konvergierer (such as: the decision maker ) prefer abstract conceptualization and active experimentation. Its strengths are in the execution of ideas. They tend to hypothetical- deductive conclusions and deal better with things or theories ( like they check ) than with people.
• Akkomodierer (about: the practitioner ) prefer active experimentation and concrete experience. Its strengths are in the design of activities. They tend to be intuitive problem solving through trial and error and deal with people rather than with things or theories. They rely more on individual facts than theories.

Honey and Mumford model after

This resulting model 1992 also has four learning styles:

• Activists ( Activists )
• Thinker ( Reflectors )
• Theorists ( Theorists )
• Pragmatists ( Pragmatists )

Model according to fields

This model is the oldest (1978) and differentiated wider:

• Active and reflective learners
• Inductive and deductive learners
• Sensory and intuitive learners
• Visual and auditory learners
• Sequential and global learners.