Learning Styles Theory and Instructional Design

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Table of Contents

Instructional Design in General and in Particular
On the Developers of the Institutional Design Theories
Meeting the Needs of College Students: On the Reasonability of Specific Approach
Choosing Between Nature and the Nurture: Is Compromise Possible?
The Importance of Cultural Aspect of the Learning Style
Balancing on the Edge: An Individual and the System
Reference List

Because of the growing importance of the learning styles theory in modern pedagogy, the necessity of applying the learning styles theory and the way to apply it to the instructional design causes quite a concern in the modern world of teaching. The necessity of creating flexible instructional designs has been discussed several times, yet there has not been any agreement reached on the issue. Requiring thorough considerations and even practical testing, learning styles theory might prove another revelation for modern pedagogues.

Instructional Design in General and in Particular

Since institutional design as one of the pillars which the studying process stands on must be designed most efficiently and productively, a lot of new theories on instructional design have appeared over the past few years. Helping teachers to scheme the future lessons, instructional design needs to be designed according to the needs of the students for them to receive the best of the knowledge on the subject.

Even though some theorists are concerned with the probable changes which the new theory will demand once applied to the practice. However, such concern does not have enough grounds to base on. As it has been proved, the new theory of learning styles presupposes mostly the use of the learning methods which have been already discussed in several sources, which means that the theoretical value of this idea is profound enough:

Active and experiential learning theories have not dramatically changed collegiate classroom teaching methods, although they have long been include in the pedagogical literature. (Smith 2004, 66)

However, such a state of affairs does not presuppose that the new theories will not be able to improve the existing situation in the sphere of teaching. This is rather the evidence for the fact that the new learning theories will integrate into the learning process without causing too many changes and without disturbing the students. With the new theories applied, the learning process will float as smooth as it used to.

On the Developers of the Institutional Design Theories

Because of the popularity of the idea of self-learning in higher educational establishments, the new model has become widespread quite soon. Owing to the developers of the new institutional design theory, Silverman and Sacazza (Moran 2005), it has become well-known and recognized by the most prominent scientists of the educational theories.

Noticing that the self-organized learning results in the high quality of the knowledge obtained, the scientists suggested that the new model of the learning theory should ground on the idea of self-controlled learning. Such an approach must be applied only to the college and university studying, for the students at school will hardly be able to take the responsibility of full self-control in their studying; it must be admitted that at such age they still need scholarly guidance and the teacher’s control. Yet the theory of self-guidance has proved to work perfectly well with the college students.

Creating the new pattern for teachers to follow in the instructional design, Silverman and Sacazza followed the principle of the learning theory and suggested that students should acknowledge their learning styles themselves so that they could adjust the classes to their temper and specific traits of character: “they should apply their knowledge of their learning styles whenever they find their study behaviors are insufficient.” (Moran 2005, p.19)

Meeting the Needs of College Students: On the Reasonability of Specific Approach

Despite its obvious that the chief goal of a teacher is to convey the learning material to the students so that they could build their arguments using the theory. However, whether this could be achieved without using the specific approach to each of them is a question that has to be solved. On the one hand, the time-consuming and complicated instructional design which includes thorough calculations of the needs and abilities of every student is rather binding. Yet, on the other hand, the speed of the learning process might increase times as the personal approach is applied. Thus, the reasonability of the specific approach is rather a controversial issue that requires further research.

According to Tucker (2003), the teaching style influences the perception of the subject to a considerable extent. One of the most promising styles, the cognitive one, is supposed to encourage students on independent researches. Still, Tucker emphasizes the necessity to balance between an individual and a group, coordinating both each student’s perception of the material and the group interaction. As Zapalska (2002) mentioned,

The most important conclusion that can be drawn from these studies is that students from different subcultures can have different patterns of preferred learning strategies. Culture defines the values, customs, beliefs, communication patterns and aesthetic standards that are passed from one generation to the next. (138)

Drawing the line between the group training and the individual development of each student, it is obvious that each must be provided and checked by the teacher. Since every element of the whole group is equally important, it is necessary to find the golden mean between them both.

Choosing Between Nature and the Nurture: Is Compromise Possible?

Another important aspect of modern studying which proves the necessity to apply the learning theories to practice is the balance between nature and nurture. According to the researches held in the sphere of studying, the problem is on the agenda of the contemporary college and university studying.

Since people are social animals and have the instincts which can be used in the training process, the idea of teaching through nature has its point. However, it must be admitted that a man must cognize certain things consciously, which leads to a certain conflict between nature and nurture.

Such opposition is bound to find its solution in the famous golden mean. While nature allows students to be competitive and inflames their scientific interest together with excitement, which makes them digest the course material better and makes them strive for leadership, the nurture provides food for their minds and allows them to think productively. In other words, nurture is what students need in terms of spirituality. This, it is desirable that the choice of nature or the nurture approach could depend on the individual needs and wants of the students.

According to what Van Der Sluis (2002) says, the compromise in balancing the spiritual and the material can be achieved. Learning the aptitudes of the students and deciding whether it is more important for them to succeed in the world of business or to pursue the scientific issues in search of the absolute truth, it is necessary to conduct the mixed policy, emphasizing either nature or the nurture. The former will be designed for those students who feel the urge to establish themselves as businessmen, while the latter will suit the students who indulge in science.

The Importance of Cultural Aspect of the Learning Style

Another issue which most of the modern pedagogues find confusing and requires a lot of discussions is the cultural aspect. Whether the cultural peculiarities of the students must be taken into account when designing the instructional design is quite an issue nowadays. With the variety of students of various descents, the problem seems more than topical – it is gradually becoming urgent.

With the help of the cultural issue taken into the pattern of the lesson, it will be possible to reach the understanding with the students on the level of the subconscious. Touching upon the notions which are familiar to the students, it will be easier to help them understand the new notions and theories. As long as the students will be able to associate the terms and notions of the subject with something familiar to them, they can understand the subject completely. Thus, the element of specific cultural issues must be present in implementing the instructional design.

The most important conclusion that can be drawn from these studies is that students from different subcultures can have different patterns of preferred learning strategies. Culture defines the values, customs, beliefs, communication patterns, and aesthetic standards that are passed from one generation to the next. (Zapalska 139)

Because knowing cultural background, a teacher can establish closer contact with student s and achieve better understanding, it is extremely important that learning should involve the focus on the subject in the perception of another culture. With the help of such an approach, students will conceive the material from the position of their own culture and using their background knowledge, which is therefore very important.

Balancing on the Edge: An Individual and the System

Although people tend to flock into groups and follow the group decision, creating the instructional design presupposes that the needs and wants of the individuals must be taken into account as well. Evaluating the importance of an individual in a group, one cannot help admitting that the teacher cannot allow even losing a single student. Thus, it is required that the individual problems must be considered as well when creating the instructional design for the classes. As Illeris (2003) mentions,

Learning is, after all, something that happens within the individual and involves specific biological qualities that the human species has acquired over a thousand years (168).

Thus, learning is rather an individual than the group process, and the teacher has to take account of that. Creating the scheme of a lesson, one must understand that students will have to act on their own during the classes, and choose the corresponding activities for them.

What is the most important for the teacher during the simulation in which students have to act on their own in the situations modeled for them is the training of the students’ leadership skills:

Oral communications improved as the individuals learned to give and understand directions, clarify tasks, and share in problem-solving activities (Zapalska 141).

With the help of the individual training and understanding the problems of the one, a teacher will be able to reach understanding in the group and help people arrange their work. Moreover, focusing on the problems of the individuals, a teacher will be able to make the group operate like clockwork. Thus, the instructional design on college and school level must implement the elements of learning theory so that the students could achieve the highest level of both personal and academic development.

Reference List

Illeris, K. (2003). Workplace Learning and Learning Theory. Journal of Workplace Learning, 15 (4), 167-179.

Moran, J. J. (2005). A Model for Self-Regulated Learning. New Horizons in Adult Education, 19 (1), 15-26.

Smith, L. W., & Van Doren, D. C. (2004). The Reality-Base Learning Method: A Simple Method for Keeping Teaching Activities Relevant and Effective. Journal of Marketing Education, 26 (1), 66-75.

Tucker, S. Y.; Stewart, D.; Schmidt, B. J. (2003). Teaching and Learning Styles of Community College Business Instructors and Their Students: Relationship to Student Performance and Instructor Evaluations. New Horizons in Adult Education, 17 (2).

Van Der Sluis, L. E. C., & Poell, R. F. (2002). Learning Opportunities and Learning Behavior: A Study Among MBAs in Their Early Career Stage. Management Learning, 33 (3), 291-312.

Zapalska, A.M., Brozik, D., Dabb, H., & Keiha, P. (2002). Teaching Maori Students Business Issues: An Experiential Approach. Education & Training, 44 (2/3), 138-144.

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