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Applying learning styles in an online course.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

The paper aims to apply the literature on learning styles to develop a list of assumptions and guidelines that are further used to identify a learning style model for designing and developing a web-based course. It describes the process of integrating the learning style model into the design and development of an undergraduate online course, and provides information on the effects of the course design specifications on students' learning and their attitude and satisfaction.

Introduction

Experienced educators have long supported the notion that individual differences play an important role in learning and instruction. They agree that learners filter instruction through a set of individual lenses (Jonassen & Grabowski, 1993) and tend to manipulate perceived information in different ways, and achieve understanding at different rates and in various learning contexts (Barbe & Milone, 1981; Como & Snow, 1986; Felder, 1993; Felder & Silverman, 1988; Pask, 1988). Experimental studies have also confirmed educators' beliefs by showing that students' styles of learning and thinking make a difference in their academic achievement (e.g., Kim & Michael, 1995; Saracho, 1993; Zhang, 2002). This research suggests that learners whose learning styles match with the given teaching or instructional style tend to retain information longer, apply it more effectively, and have more positive attitudes toward the subject of the course than those who experienced clashes in teaching/learning styles (e.g., Dunn, 1995; 1999; Felder, 1993; Riding & Grimly, 1999).

The concept of individual differences presents a profound challenge for educators. Learning style research is of enormous significance with respect to establishing the learner's contexts of application and learning, so that these understandings can be brought into account into the instructional design process. When designing instruction for a universal audience and for an environment that can easily be dominated by text-based communication and heavy reliance on independent learning skills (e.g., in online or Web-based courses), the teacher's challenge is to produce a course or instructional material that does not have an obvious tilt toward one learning and thinking style and is diversified enough to meet multiple learning styles.

This paper aims to: (1) use the literature on learning styles to develop a list of assumptions about the learning style, (2) use the list of assumption to identify a learning style model, (2) describe the process of integrating learning style theory into the design, development and implementation of an online course, and finally (3) provide information on the effects of this approach on students' learning and their attitude and satisfaction.

Learning Styles Research

Review of research on learning style theory does not point to a list of conclusive results. For instance, while some studies show that there may be qualitative changes in the learning style of an individual over time (e.g., Cornett, 1983; Pinto, Geiger, & Boyle, 1994; Price, 1980) others suggest that learning style is stable (e.g., Claxton & Ralston, 1978; Cornett, 1983; Kolb, 1976). Moreover, for each research study supporting the principle of matching instructional style and learning style (e.g., Canino & Cicchelli, 1988; Ford & Chen, 2001; Hudak, 1985; Schmeck, 1988; Witkin, 1978), there seems to be a study rejecting the matching hypothesis (Dunn, Beaudry, & Klavas, 1989; Honey & Mumford, 1982; 1986; Kolb, 1985). Hence, it seems that there still remains much discussion about the nature of the construct of learning style and whether it...

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