EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLO ...

The way a person approaches learning and studying is known as their learning style. Although many different learning styles have been described, one theme that unites most of the styles is the differences between deep and surface approaches to processing information in learning situations.

·       Individuals who have a deep-processing approach see the learning activities as a means for understanding some underlying concepts or meanings. For example, those of you reading this lecture who take a deep-processing approach may be thinking, as you read, about situations and examples from your own experience which relate to what you are reading in order to understand them properly. Deep-processing learners tend to learn for the sake of learning and are less concerned about how their performance is evaluated, so motivation plays a role as well.

·       Learners who take a surface-processing approach focus on memorising the learning materials, not understanding them. So, surface-processors may be trying to remember certain aspects of this lecture as you know you are having a test about learning styles. Surface-processing learners tend to be motivated by rewards, grades, external standards and the desire to be evaluated positively by others. Of course, the situation you are in can encourage deep or surface processing depending upon how interested you are in the material, how tired you are, how much time is available, and so on, but there is some evidence that individuals have tendencies to approach learning situations in characteristic ways.

1.1.     Cautions about learning preferences

Learning preferences are often called learning styles in these writings, but preferences is a more accurate label because the ‘styles’ are determined by your preferences for particular learning environments – for example, where, when, with whom or with what lighting, food or music you like to study.

You may like to study and write in fairly short chunks with clear deadlines in place. You usually have some kind of a plan in your head about how long each piece of work will take and you try to stick to that, adjusting it accordingly if some things take more or less time. Then you may take a day off. When you plan or think, you often make a note of the main points so that you remember them clearly. A close friend of this co-author carries his plans in his head and is able to reactivate them when he is ready to use them. She also has a colleague who draws diagrams or ‘mind maps’ at meetings or when listening to a speaker or planning a paper. You may be very different to this profile, but we all may work effectively. The question is, are these preferences important for learning?

There are a number of instruments for assessing people’s learning preferences: the Learning Style Inventory, Learning Style Inventory and the Learning Style Profile: Examiner’s Manual. However, tests of learning style have been strongly criticised for lacking evidence of reliability and validity. Thus, they should not be used in education or business.

However, learners, especially younger ones, may not be the best judges of how they should learn. Sometimes, learners, particularly those who have difficulty, prefer what is easy and comfortable; real learning can be hard and uncomfortable. Sometimes, individuals prefer to learn in a certain way because they have no alternatives (e.g. they may prefer pictures because they are unable to read) and it is the only way they know how to approach the task. These learners may benefit from developing new – and perhaps more effective – ways to learn. One final consideration: many of the learning styles advocates imply that the differences in the learner are what matter, but recent research points to the person in the context of the entire teaching–learning system as a better way to understand people’s learning.