Major Project Report

LEARNING STYLES PROJECT REPORT
JEANINE PARISI
EDPSY 387

DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT:
The idea for this project developed from my experience as an instructor. I would often hear students describe how they prefer a class to be structured. Some students enjoyed classses that were mainly lecture, while other preferred discussion and activities. However, when asked about their learning style they were often confused as to what this meant. Additionally, students who had a good understanding of their own learning style, often felt that they did not know how to maximize learning experiences or incorporate other learning styles.

Educators often teach in a style that is most comfortable to them, with the focus catering only to one learning style. However, by teaching in this manner we do not take into consideration the individual learning styles of our students. In order for students to know how they best learn, they need to be aware of their own learning style and know how to adapt to a wide variety of teaching styles and different learning environments. I created a website where individuals can take a learning strategies inventory to figure out their learning style and receive information and tips related to maximizing learning outcomes.

Specifically, this website focuses on visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles. Additionally, a technology and classroom learning survey was included in order to explore how learning style impacts the types of technologies and learning environment students prefer. A website evaluation form was used to assess the overall design of the learning styles website.

Click HERE to explore the learning styles project website.

PROJECT GOALS:
Several goals were incorporated into the design of this project:

Provide an inventory in which learners can identify visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learning styles

Provide descriptive, individual pages explaining the three different learning styles

See if a relationship exists between technology and classroom preferences and learning style

LEARNERS:
The individuals used in this project were undergraduate students enrolled in Psychology 333: Research Methods in Social Psychology at the University of Illinois. For this project responses from 31 (8 male and 23 female) participants were collected and used in analysis. Twenty-six participants were Caucasian (83.9%). One African-American (3.2%), one Asian-American (3.2%), and two Other (6.5%) composed the rest of the sample. Ages ranged from 20-27, with a mean age of 21.4. Seventy-seven percent of participants were Psychology majors. Seventy-seven percent of participants were visual learners, 29% auditory learners, 26% kinesthetic learners.

DATA GATHERING:
Participants were brought to a PC lab consisting of 20 computers. As part of their course requirement, I asked them to view the consent form. They were told that participation beyond this point was voluntary and would have no effect on their grade.

As participants navigated through the website they first viewed a page containing general information about learning styles.

Next, they were asked to take a learning styles inventory to find out their individual learning style.

Once completed, scores were automatically calculated; individuals could explore individual pages describing their learning style, visual, auditory, or kinesthetic.

After exploring learning styles, participants completed a Technology and Classroom Learning survey and a website evaluation page. I received the results of both these surveys via an automatic e-mail response.

RESULTS:
WEBSITE EVALUATION:

Participants were very pleased with the learning style inventory. One participant commented, "I thought I knew what my learning style was. The survey suggested something different. This is a great way to reevaluate how you really learn." The most frequent responses to using this learning style inventory was "short questions, easy to answer," "it was quick," and "enjoyed immediate calculation of learning styles score." The majority of participants strongly agreed that the the website was helpful in identifying their learning style and that it provided useful information for describing learning styles.
I received many positive comments about the structure of the website in general. Comments included "straightfoward, easy to use," "user friendly," "easily formatted," "surveys well explained and easy to understand," and "great information!" All participants agreed or strongly agreed that the website was easy to navigate and provided useful links to other information.
The negative comments I received, such as "Confusing as where to go after I got the results," or "After you fill out the technology survey, need to link back to website," were immmediately addressed and corrected. Formative evaluation by class members suggested that these concerns were adequately dealt with.

Other negative comments that were not addressed was that the rating scale for the classroom environment questions were too broad. The Questions were "Please rate the type of class structure that you feel helps you LEARN the most" and "Please rate the the type of class structure that you feel the most COMFORTABLE in." On a similar questionnaire used in a different study, I had the rating scale from 1 to 6. From the feedback I recieved, many participants said this was too narrow. I expanded the scale for the survey used in this project from 1 to 10. I am currently working towards an optimal scale to answer these questions.

TECHNOLOGY AND CLASSROOM LEARNING SURVEY:
The analysis of the responses from the Technology and Classroom Learning Survey were less promising. There were three purposes to using this survey. First, "Does learning style impact the types of technology you prefer your instructor to use?" Second, "Does learning style affect how you percieve the type of classroom structure that helps you learn the best?" Lastly, "Does learning style affect how you percieve the type of classroom structure that you feel most comfortable in?"

Results are as follows:

Visual learners were significantly more likely to prefer that their instructors use PowerPoint (F=5.28, p<.05)
In regards to personal use of technology, auditory learners were more likely to use e-mail (F=5.73, p<.05)
Visual learners were more likely to rate a seminar room as more helpful to their learning (F=4.77, p<.05) However, no differences between learning style and where participants felt most comfortable in were found.

Even though not central to the pupose of this website, some interesting results were found when looking at difference between what participants preferred their instructors to use and what technologies they personal use. Additionally, differences were found between what type of learning environment helps them learn the best and what environment they are the most comfortable in.

Significance was found between instructors using live chat and using live chat for personal use (r=.653, p<.01). Participants preferred their instructors to use it (26%), but only 13% used it themselves.
The technologies participants most preferred their instructors to use and also used themselves were course website (r=.390, p<.05) and e-mail/listserv (r=.449, p<.05).
Significance was also obtained when looking at environment. Learning and comfort were correlated in small classroom with desks in circles (r=.664, p<.01) and in small classrooms with desks in rows (r=.404, p<.05). Big lecture halls were often viewed as better for learning, but participants did not feel comfortable in this setting (t=4.402, p<.01).

DISCUSSION:
As expected I found that visual learners were more likely to prefer instructors to use PowerPoint. Often visual learners preform better when instructors use outlines, pictures, tables, or graphics. However, I did not find any significance when looking at visual learners and answers to specific questions, such as "I find that I pay more attention when the instructor shows a video during class" or "I understand concepts better when pictures, tables, diagrams, or other graphics are included with written and spoken information in class". Visual learners also did not prefer an overhead projector to be used in class. This can be due to the fact that PowerPoint is beginning to replace overheads in classrooms. Students may respond better to the presentation style, rather then the information being conveyed.

I expected to see differences in other learning styles and technologies that they preferred their instructor to use. For example, I thought kinesthetic learners would enjoy computer labs or wireless laptops, so that they could have "hands-on" experiences. Unfortunately no differences were found. This may be due to the type of activities that instructors use these technologies for. Kinesthetic learners may want more freedom in using these technologies, where instructors give them a set of directions to follow.

Auditory learners were more likely to say that they use e-mail for personal course use. This result should be interpreted with caution. There was a very small sample of auditory learners and a small correlation. Overall, most participants said that they use e-mail (80.6%). Once again, no differences were found between other learning styles and technologies used by participants for puposes of a course.

Even though I did not receive the results that I expected with the different learning styles, it was very interesting to see other significant results. Most participants liked when their instructor used a course website and stated that they used it for their own purposes. However, no significance was found when looking at the specific question "I find it helpful when an instructor has an updated website for a course." Most students felt that the big lecture hall helped them learn the best, but they were the least comfortable in. From my experiences, I have found that often undergraduates expect to be "lectured" to by an instructor. By adapting this style after exposure to numerous courses, they feel that that is how they learn the best. They feel uncomfortable challenging ideas, asking questions, and classroom discussion, which hinders learning and decreases comfort level within a smaller, more personal learning environment.

LIMITATIONS:
Limitations in this study were due to many factors.

A small sample size (N=31) was obtained. This could account for few findings, in which small correlations and significance achieved.
Gender and Ethnic differences in using technology were explored. Most of the participants were female (74%). No gender differences were found. Also, most were Caucasian (84%); ethnic differnces were not found.
Mostly all participants were psychology majors. They may have been exposed to many of the same courses or technologies. This may also account for the large number of visual learners. Psychology majors may be more visual due to their training. Often they have to pay close attention and make many observations in their fieldwork. They may rely more on sight to be able to observe the world around them.
Most participants were visual learners. An analysis using more auditory and kinesthetic learners may provide different results.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS:

The short term goals for my website include adding more information about learning styles and technology use. Additionally, I would like to redesign some of the pages, by using frames or anchors, so that the information is readily avaiable without needing to view the entire page. Long term goals for my website include putting more information about other types of learning style inventories. Additionally, I would like to add information and an inventory that may be useful to instructors to identify their teaching style and learn how to incorporate activities that reach the wide variety of learning styles in their classroom.

Though little significance was obtained, I would like to continue looking at the relationship between technology and learning style. More questions are needed to address familiarity with these technologies or classroom structures, to know if students do not like them or if they just have not encountered them. As previously mentioned most undergraduate courses are taught in lecture halls or classrooms with desks. More discussion and activities are often presented in a smaller, more personal learning space like seminar rooms. If students do not have experience with this type of learning they are unlikely to rate rate them highly or be aware of how much they help them learn.

In a broad context, this project is not only useful for students but can be used as an assessment tool to assist instructors in making better decisions about curriculum development and instruction as well as counseling individual learners about problems, strengths, and opportunities. The participants in this study were also my students. I found that it would have been beneficial to both my students and myself to assess their learning style early in the semester. I was unaware that a majority of my students were visual learners. There were some things I could have added to teaching the course that may have maximized learning benefits (i.e. handouts, use of PowerPoint). Additionally, by knowing what technologies and classroom environments students prefer we can create effective learning environments. Even though relatively little was significant, trends were observed by comparing means. With regard to wireless activities 0% preferred their instructors to use them for a course and only one participant (3.2%) stated that they used this activity for course purposes. Additionally, only 36% preferred to instructors to use the blackboard or a whiteboard for instructional purposes, but 77.4% said that they have personally used it. Furthermore, a great disparity was found in use of an overhead projector. Only 48% preferred instructors to use this technology, but 81% have used it themselves for course purposes. This overwhelming disparity can also be found in Internet use, with 19% preferring instructors to use it in a course and 74% using it themselves for puposes of a course. Further exploration is needed to effectively use technologies to maximize learning benefits.

From the present study, three main lines of further exploration is needed to gain a deeper understanding into the role of learning styles. First, we need to learn more about the needs of minority students, as numbers are growing in the the amount of minority and international students that higher education serves. Second, more research is needed to clarify how much difference it makes if teaching methods are incongruent with students' learning style. Third, research is needed to describe the interaction of learning style and classroom structure. Additionally, what activities are presented in these different learning environmnets may play a large role in interpretation of the findings presented here.

In conclusion, learning style is a concept that can play an important role in improving teaching and learning practices in higher education. Having information on style can help faculty become more sensitive to differences students bring to the classroom. It can also serve as a guide to the design of learning experiences. From the students perspective, learning about their own learning style increases their chances of succeeding in courses. At the same time, activities that help them develop strategies for learning in ways other than their predominant style are important. This experience of learning how to learn is an empowering one that can help students become successful lifelong learners.

REFERENCES:
Celli-Sarasin, L. (1999). Learning style perspectives: Impact in the classroom. Madison,WI: Atwood.

Claxton, C.S., & Murrell, P.H. (1987). Learning styles: Implications for improving educational practices. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 4. Washington, D.C.: Association for the Study of Higher Education.

Gardner, J.N., & Jewler, A.J. (2000). Your college experience: Strategies for success (4th ed.). New York:Wadsworth.