An Interview with Rita Dunn about Learning Styles Author(s): Michael F. Shaughnessy Source: The Clearing House, Vol.

71, No. 3 (Jan. - Feb., 1998), pp. 141-145 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30189335 . Accessed: 26/02/2014 21:12
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An

Interview with

Rita

Dunn

about

Styles Learning
MICHAEL F. SHAUGHNESSY

on learning Note:RitaDunn,anauthority Editor's styles,is a proLeaderandInstructional fessorin theDivisionof Administrative and of theCenter for the Studyof Learning shipandthedirector NewYork.She Jamaica, University, Teaching Stylesat St. John's monomorethanthreehundred has published articles, chapters, of andresearch on learning stylesandon theresults graphs, papers to one'spreferred learning style.She was beingtaught according for thisarticle. interviewed by mailby Michael Shaughnessy

What

are the main components of a person's learning

style? A person'slearningstyle is the way thathe or she concentrateson, processes, internalizes,and remembers new and difficult academic information or skills. Styles often vary with age, achievement level, culture, global versus analyticprocessingpreference,and gender. Dunn and Dunn (1992, 1993) describe learning style in terms of individual reactions to twenty-threeelements in five basic strandsthat include each person's environmental, emotional, sociological, physiological, and psychological processing preferences. Do we learn differently or do we process information differently?Human beings process informationdifferently from each other,but informationprocessing is only one of twenty-three elements in the Dunn and Dunn Learning Style Model. How do we know that students achieve more when their teachers teach to the students' learning styles? A metaanalysis of forty-two experimentalstudies conducted with the Dunn and Dunn model between 1980 and 1990 by thirteen different institutionsof higher education revealed were accommodatedby that studentswhose characteristics educationalinterventionsresponsiveto their learningstyles could be expected to achieve 75 percent of a standard deviation higher than students whose styles were not accommodated(Dunn et al. 1995).

Michael F. Shaughnessy is a professor at Eastern New Mexico University,Pontales, New Mexico. 141

In addition, practitionersthroughoutthe United States have reported statistically higher test scores and/or grade point averages for students whose teachers changed from traditional teaching to learning-style teaching at all levels-elementary, secondary, and college. Improved achievement was often apparentafter only six weeks of learning-styleinstruction.After one year, teachersreported achievementand aptitude significantly higher standardized test scores for students who had not scored well previously. For example, priorto using learning styles, only 25 percent of the Frontier, New York, school district's special education high school students passed the required local examinations and state competency tests to receive diplomas. In the district's first year of its learning styles program (1987-88) that numberincreasedto 66 percent. During the second year (1988-89) 91 percent of the district's special education population were successful; in the third year (1989-1990) the results remainedconstant at 90 percent-with a greater ratio of "handicapped" students passing state competency exams than regular education students (Brunnerand Majewski 1990). Two NorthCarolinaelementaryprincipalspublishedsimilarly startlinggains with the same learning-stylesprogram. One principalbroughta K-6 school, whose students were from poor, minority-group families, that had scored in the 30th percentile on the California AchievementTests up to the 83rd percentilein a three-yearperiod by respondingto students'learningstyles (Andrews 1990). The otherprincipal taughthighly tactuallearningdisabled (LD) elementary school studentswith hands-onresourcesand allowed them to sit informallyin subduedlighting. Based on their learning-style analyses, the childrenstudied alone, with a classmate or two, or with theirteacher.Withinfour months,those LD youngstersshowed four months'gain on a standardized achievementtest-better than they had previouslydone and as well as normallyachieving children(Stone 1992). Finally, a U.S. Departmentof Educationfour-yearinvestigationthatincludedon-site visits, interviews,observations, and examinationsof nationaltest dataconcludedthatattending to learningstyles was one of the few strategiesthat had

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The Clearing House

January/February 1998

had a positive impact on the achievementof special education studentsthroughout the nation (Alberget al. 1992). The gains describedhere were made by using the Dunn and Dunn model, which has been researchedat St. John's University and more than 110 other colleges and universities since 1972. Whyshould we testfor children'slearning styles? Teachers cannot identify students'learningstyles accuratelywithout an instrument(Beaty 1986). Some characteristicsare not observable, even to the experienced educator.In addition, teachers often misinterpret students' behaviors and misunderstand their symptoms. For example, it is difficult to determinewhether a youngster's hyperactivityis due to a need for mobility,informalseating,kinestheticresources, or "breaks," or to nonconformityor a lack of discipline. a reliable and valid instrumentcan providereliable Only and valid information, and only a comprehensiveinstrument can diagnose the many learning-styletraitsthat influence individuals.Teacherswho use instrumentsto identify only one or two variables on a bipolar continuumrestrict their ability to prescribefor the many elements other than the one or two they identified. Learningstyle is a multidimensional construct; many variables have an impact on each other and produce unique patterns. Those patterns suggest exactly how each person is likely to concentrate, process, internalize,and retain new and difficult information. The patternsindicatewhich readingor mathmethodis most likely to be effective with each student. Only three comprehensivemodels exist, and each has a related instrumentdesigned to reveal individuals' styles based on the traitsexaminedby thatmodel. Duringthe past two decades, the most frequentlyused instrumentin experimental research on learning styles, and the one with the highest reliability and validity, is the Dunn, Dunn, and Price Learning Style Inventory(LSI), with its subtests for students in grades 3-12 and the ProductivityEnvironmental PreferenceSurveyfor college studentsand adults. Tell us about your testfor identifyinglearning styles. The Learning Style Inventory (grades 3-12) was developed throughcontent and factor analysis and is one of the three comprehensiveapproachesto identifyingstudents'learning styles. Different grade-level forms permit analysis of the specific conditions under which students prefer to learn. This easy-to-administerand interpretinventoryuses more than one hundreddichotomousitems (e.g., "WhenI really have a lot of studying to do, I like to work alone" and "I enjoy being with friends when I study")that are ratedon a five-point Likert scale and can be completed in approximatelythirtyto forty minutes. of learningstyle In an analysis of the conceptualizations of nine differentinstruments and the psychometricstandards thatmeasurelearning-style preference,the LSI was ratedas having good or betterreliabilityand validity(Curry1987). A series of age-appropriate storybooksis availablefrom the Centerfor the Study of Learningand TeachingStyles at

St. John's University for primary, elementary, middle school, and secondary students and adults to clarify the concept of style and to demonstratethat there is no bad or better style. Most people can learn anything when they know how to capitalize on their learning-stylestrengths. Describe what the LSI reveals. The LSI assesses individual preferences in the following areas: (a) immediate environment(sound, light, temperature, and seating design); (b) emotionality (motivation, persistence, responsibility/ (c) conformity,and need for internalor externalstructure); in a as of a small alone, sociological (learning pair, part group or team, with peers, or with an authoritativeor collegial adult;also, in a variety of ways or in a consistent pattern);(d) physiological (auditory,visual, tactual, and/or kinesthetic perceptual preferences; food or liquid intake needs; time-of-day energy levels; mobility needs); and (e) indications of global or analytic processing inclinations (throughcorrelationwith sound, light, design, persistence, and intake scores). peer-orientation, How does the LSI affect learning? The LSI does the following: * Permitsstudentsto identify how they preferto learn and also indicates the degree to which their responses are consistent * Suggests a basis for redesigning the classroom environment to complementstudents'diverse styles * Describes the arrangementsin which each student is likely to learnmost effectively (e.g. alone, in a pair,with two or more classmates,with a teacher,or, dependingon the task, with studentswith similar interestsor talents;it also describeswhetherall or none of those combinations is acceptablefor a particularstudent) * Explains which students should be given options and alternativesand which studentsneed direction and high structure * Sequences the perceptualstrengthsthrough which individuals shouldbegin studying-and then reinforce-new and difficult information;it explains how each student should study and do homework(HomeworkDisc 1995) * Indicates the methods through which individuals are most likely to achieve (e.g., contracts, programmed learning, multisensoryresources, tactual manipulatives, kinestheticgames, or any combinationof these) * Provides information concerning which children are conforming and which are nonconformingand explains how to work with both types * Pinpoints the best time of day for each student to be scheduled for difficult subjects (thus, it shows how to group students for instructionbased on their learningstyle energy-highs) * Identifiesthose studentsfor whom movement or snacks, while the studentsare learning,may acceleratelearning * Suggests those studentsfor whom analytic versus global approachesare likely to be important

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Vol. 71, No. 3

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143

How can schools ordertheLSI?Discuss purchasing andcost with Price in possibilities Systems Lawrence,Kansas.When orderingthe LSI, stipulatethe grade level and total number of studentsyou plan to test; the cost decreases when more studentsare tested. The LSI is availableon IBM and Apple self-scoringdiscs; if you plan to test three hundredpersons or more, the disc may be considerablyless expensive. How does learning style influence homework?St. John's University's Center for the Study of Learning and Teaching Styles developed IBM and Apple software packages that translateLSI scores into prescriptions for how students should study and do their homework (HomeworkDisc 1995). Is it possible to identify the styles of children in grades K-2? For young children in K-2, use the Learning Style Inventory:PrimaryVersion(LSI:P)(Perrin1982), which is obtainable from St. John's University's Center for the Study of Learning and Teaching Styles. The LSI:P is a pictorialassessmentof young children'slearningstyles and is accompaniedby a researchmanualthat explains how to administer it. Although there are decided advantages to having teachersadministerthe test on an individualbasisbecause of all the information each child reveals-the assessment's questions are written so that an intelligent parentcan elicit the same informationand assist the teacher in compiling the hand-scorabledata. How do teachers adaptfor each child's style? Teachersdo not need to adaptto each child's style. Rather,they need to do the following: * Understand the concept, its related practices, and its implementationstrategies * Explain learning styles to their students so that the youngsters understandthat there is no such thing as either a "good"or a "bad"style * Preparestudentsfor takingthe LSI (Price Systems interprets the students'print-outs,and the Homework Disc provides theirprescriptions) * Have alternativeinstructionalmethods and resources to teach the identical information differently to students with diverse learningstyles St. John's University has many such resources at varied gradelevels and subjects.They can be adaptedor paralleled for a particular classroom. In addition,many of our books provide directions for developing resources (Dunn and Dunn 1992, 1993; Dunn, Dunn, and Perrin 1994). We also teach studentsto create their own instructional resources. How do learning-style teachers differ from conventional teachers? Unlike traditionalteachers who teach an entire class in the same way with the same methods (or the "brain-based"practices where every student is taught nontraditionally), learning-style teachers actually teach different children differently.Teachers do two important things: Using the resources and methods that best match

each child, they teach students(1) to recognize and rely on their personal learning-style strengths and (2) to teach themselves and each other by using those strengths. Whatis a learning-styleschool like, and how does it differ from conventionalschools? Although studentsin the same class may be masteringthe same informationand skills at the same time, in learning-styleschools they work in those sections of the classroom that best respond to their environmental andphysiological styles. A varietyof tactual and kinesthetic resources are available for mastering the curriculum,but children work only with those resources that best complement their own processing, perceptual, emotional,and sociological styles-and studentsoften will have made the materialsthey use! It would be rare to see whole classes engaged in either teacher-directedinstructionor cooperative learning when the studentsare being introducedto new and difficultmaterial. Instead, children begin learning alone, with a classmate or two, in a small, cooperativeor competitivegroup, or with their teacher through their primary perceptual strengthsfor the first ten to fifteen minutes.They then reinforce the new informationwith a differentresourcethrough their secondary strengths.Students may vary their choice of resourcesbut are encouragedto begin learning through their strengthswheneverthe academic materialis complex or difficult for them. In learning-styleclasses, students' strengths are identified and then transferred to a computersoftware package, the HomeworkDisc (1995). That package generatesa personalized, printedprescriptionfor each child thatdescribes how to study and concentratethroughhis or her strengths. each child learnshow to teach him- or herself or Gradually, how to work with a classmate who learns similarly.Children study, learn, complete in-class assignments, and do their homeworkthroughtheir strengths-instead of as the teacherhappensto teach. Whathappenswhen teachers teach in a differentstylefrom the way in which studentslearn? When studentsare unable to learnwith complementary resources-such as textbooks, for films, or videotapesfor visual preferents; manipulatives tactualpreferents;tapes or lecturesfor auditorypreferents; or largefloor games for kinestheticpreferents-they do not achieve what they are capable of achieving. Research reveals thatthe closer the matchbetween students'learning styles and their teachers' teaching styles, the higher the grade point average(Dunn et al. 1995). How do gifted childrenlearn? Although all gifted students do not have the same style, their styles differ significantly from those of underachievers. When comparing the learning styles and multiple intelligences of gifted and talented adolescents in nine different cultures, we found that,regardlessof culture,adolescentsgifted in a particular mathematdomain-athletics, dance, leadership,literature, ics, and music-had essentially similar learning styles.

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Surprisingly,the gifted in each intelligence domain had essentially similar styles--but those were different from the styles of other gifted groups and from the styles of the nongifted (Milgram,Dunn, and Price 1993). Are there perceptual differences between the gifted and nongifted students? Although gifted students prefer kinesthetic (experiential/active) and tactual (hands-on) instruction,many also are able to learn auditoriallyand/or visually-although not as enjoyably. On the other hand, low-achieving students who prefer kinesthetic and/or tactual learning can only master difficult information throughthose modalities. In addition, low achievers often have only one perceptualstrength,or none, in contrastto the multiperceptual strengthsof the gifted. Are there sociological differencesbetween gifted and nongifted students? Gifted adolescents in nine cultures preferred learning either by themselves or with an authoritative teacher. If those students are representativeof gifted students across nations, cooperative learning and smallgroup instructional strategies should not be imposed on them; few wish to learn with classmates. In addition,when permittedto learnalone, with peers, or with a teacherbased on their identified learning-style preferences, even gifted first and second graders revealed significantly higher achievement and aptitude test scores through their preferredstyles-and few preferredlearningeither via wholeclass instructionor with their nongifted classmates. Are there chronobiologicaldifferencesbetween gifted and nongifted students? Although some gifted adolescents learned well in the morning, many more preferred late morning, afternoon,and/or evening as their best times for concentration. At no educationallevel (K-12) did we find a majorityof early-morningstudents,and this is particularly true for poor achievers. Conventional schooling appears to be unresponsiveto the majority of both gifted adolescents and low achievers, whose best time of day rarely is early morning. Are theredifferencesbetweentheprocessing styles of gifted and nongiftedstudents?Of the gifted and talentedstudents we tested for processing style, 19 percentwere analytic,26 percent were global, and 56 percent were integrated processors who functioned in either style-but only when interestedin the content. Both global and analytic students can be gifted, but textbooks and teachers'styles tend to be analyticratherthan global. Do the learning styles of able and at-risk students differ? Seven learning-style traits significantly discriminate between at-riskstudentsand dropouts,and studentswho perform well in school. A majority of-but not all-low achievers and dropoutsneed (a) frequentopportunitiesfor mobility, (b) reasonable choices of how, with what, and with whom to learn, (c) a varietyof instructional resources, environments, and sociological groupings rather than

routinesand patterns,(d) opportunitiesto learn duringlate morning, afternoon,or evening hours (rarely in the early morning), (e) informal seating-not wooden, steel, or plastic chairs and desks, (f) soft illumination (bright light contributesto their hyperactivity),and (g) either tactual/ visual introductoryresources reinforced by kinesthetic/ visual resources, or kinesthetic/visual introductory resources reinforcedby tactual/visualresources. Underachievers tend to have poor auditory memory. When they learn visually, it usually is through pictures, drawings, graphs, symbols, comics, and cartoons rather than book text. Although underachieversoften want to do well in school, their inability to remember facts through lecture, discussion, or readingcontributesto their low performance in conventionalschools, where most instruction is delivered by teachers talking and students listening or reading. (Although underachieverslearn differently from high achieversand the gifted, it should also be pointed out that they can learn differentlyfrom each other.) What role does motivationplay in the learning-style construct? Motivationis one of the twenty-threeelements of learning style. Unlike at least three-quartersof the remaining elements, motivationis not biologically imposed. Rather it develops as a reaction to each learner's experiences, interestin the content that is being learned, and the ease with which it can be mastered. The Milgram, How does culturecontributeto achievement? Dunn,andPrice(1993) studyof the learningstyles of almost 6,000 gifted and nongifted adolescents in nine diverse cultures revealed that opportunityinfluences individuals' ability to develop specific areas of talents that may eventually lead to giftedness. For example, if access to creative activities, information, or role models was not readily availablein a specific culture, few adolescents developed giftedness in that domain. Thus, in cultures that respected art, higher percentagesof artisticallygifted students were identified. The same finding held firm across othergifted domains-athletics, dance, mathematics,literature, music, and science-across eight countries (Brazil, Canada,Greece, Guatemala,Israel, Korea, the Philippines, andthe UnitedStates)andthe cultureof the Maya.It may be importantto acknowledge that most communities in the United States financiallysupportathleticsregardlessof the state of the economy but rarely hesitate to eliminate programs in music, art, or drama.Is it any wonder that most young Americanboys seem to aspireto becoming baseball, thanscientistsor artists? or footballplayersrather basketball, How importantwill learning styles be in the year 2000? Given the statistically higher reading and mathematics achievementtest scores of previously failing standardized and poorly achieving students in the United States after their learning styles were addressed, learning styles are likely to become a mandated prerequisite for schooling within the next decade. It will only take one class action

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Vol. 71, No. 3

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145

suit, led by one small group of angry parent advocates, whose nontraditionalchildren have been demoralized by the imposition of traditional schooling, to cause that change. And it will happen, because learning style is not something that affects other people's children. In every family, mothers' and fathers' learning styles are dramatically differentfrom each other.Siblings do not necessarily reflect their parents'styles, and siblings' styles differ significantly.In most families, one child does extremely well in traditionalschooling and another considers academics dull and uninteresting.A third child may be extremely different from the first two; thus, one in three is likely to pursue a path totally different from the parents' and the siblings'. Style affects everyone. Whether or not we acknowledge thatwe each learndifferently,certainresources, approaches, and teachers are right for some-and very wrong for others. REFERENCES
Alberg, J., L. Cook, T. Fiore, M. Friend,S. Sano, et. al. 1992. Educational approachesand optionsfor integratingstudents with disabilities: A decision tool. Triangle Park, N.C.: Research Triangle Institute, P O. Box 12194, ResearchTrianglePark,North Carolina27709. Andrews,R. H. 1990. The developmentof a learningstyles programin a low socioeconomic, underachieving North Carolinaelementaryschool.

Journal of Reading, Writing,and Learning Disabilities International 6(3): 307-14. Beaty, S. A. 1986. The effect of inservice trainingon the ability of teachers to observe learningstyles of students.Doctoral diss., Oregon State University.DissertationAbstractsInternational47:1998A. C. E., andW. S. Majewski.1990. Mildly handicapped studentscan Brunner, succeed with learningstyles. EducationalLeadership48(02): 21-23. Curry,L. 1987. Integrating concepts of cognitive or learning styles: A review with attention to psychometric standards. Ottowa, Ontario: CanadianCollege of Health Services Executives. Dunn, R., and K. Dunn. 1992. Teachingelementarystudentsthroughtheir individuallearning styles. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. - . 1993. Teaching secondary students through their individual learning styles. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Dunn, R., S. A. Griggs, J. Olson, B. Gorman, and M. Beasley. 1995. A meta-analyticvalidationof the Dunn and Dunn learning styles model. Journal of EducationalResearch 88(6): 353-61. Dunn, R., K. Dunn, and J. Perrin. 1994. Teachingyoung childrenthrough their individuallearning styles. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Dunn, R., K. Dunn, and G. E. Price. 1972, 1975, 1979, 1981, 1984, 1989. Learning Style Inventory.Lawrence,Kan.:Price Systems. HomeworkDisc. 1995. Jamaica,N. Y.: St. John's University'sCenterfor the Study of Learningand TeachingStyles. Milgram,R. M., R. Dunn, and G. E. Price, eds. 1993. Teachingand counseling gifted and talented adolescents: An internationallearning style perspective.Westport,Conn.:Praeger. Perrin,J. 1982. LearningStyle Inventory: PrimaryVersion.Jamaica,N. Y.: St. John's University's Centerfor the Study of Learningand Teaching Styles. Stone, P. 1992. How we turnedarounda problem school. The Principal 71(2): 34-36.

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