Learning Styles and Distance Education

by Evelyn Beck ATTENTION TO THE way students learn is just as important in on-line classes as it is in the traditional classroom. Yet while most of us regularly design face-to-face activities that involve visual and audio components, group work, and physical movement, we still rely heavily on the written word when delivering courses through the Web. Learning-styles theory suggests that individuals process information differently and that instructors can help more students become successful by varying the way course material is presented. Measurements of learning styles often make distinctions between minds that process abstract versus concrete data effectively and between individuals who best learn in sequence versus those who more easily comprehend information in chunks. Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences identifies eight kinds of learners, including those who benefit most from personal interaction, those who prefer quiet reflection, and those who need physical activity for optimal learning. John Buerck, who directs the computer science program at Saint Louis University, conducted a study in which he compared the learning styles of students enrolled in two sections of the same computer science class (Programming Logic and Design) taught by the same instructor with the same course requirements. But one of the classes was taught on campus, while the other was offered on-line. After completing Kolb's Learning Style Inventory and a short questionnaire, all students were classified as one of four types of learners: Converger, Diverger, Assimilator, Accommodator. What Buerck found was that students tended to choose the method of course delivery according to their own learning styles. Those who preferred the traditional face-to-face course were mostly Assimilators (comfortable with theory and abstract ideas), while those who preferred the Web-based course were Convergers (skilled at solving problems and identifying practical applications of knowledge). No Internet students were identified as Divergers (good at understanding multiple viewpoints and generating new ideas), and smaller but comparable numbers of students were identified as Accommodators (skilled at carrying out plans and tasks and undertaking new experiences). The study concluded that we must pay attention to learning styles when incorporating Internet technology into our curriculums, and it provides further evidence that we should help guide students toward the kind of classroom that best suits the way they learn. Of course, the reality is that students are generally free to choose on-line courses without any required screening. But many learning style inventories are available and can easily be added to a course Web site so that students are at least aware of how they learn best. And we can make on-line courses more appealing for all kinds of learners by varying the presentation of course material. "The most common mistake of those new to on-line learning is to underestimate the need for interaction and engagement with their learners," says Ray Schroeder, the director of technology-enhanced learning at the University of Illinois at Springfield. "As regards presenting on-line materials, this is manifested by a failure to include interaction, discussion, or feedback into every on-line assignment. The capabilities of on-line learning are significantly different than 'correspondence' classes of decades ago. Among the enhancements are a wide array of opportunities to engage the student. These must not be overlooked." In addition to encouraging student interaction, Schroeder presents his courses with attention to the multiple ways that students take in information. For example, for every unit, he provides a trio of alternatives: a PowerPoint outline, transcripts of his lectures, and the lectures themselves, streamed using RealPresenter (or Microsoft Media Player). "Perhaps my years in radio convinced me that people like to hear the human voice," he says. "They make judgments about sincerity and character by hearing a voice. It helps to make a better communication link between learner and teacher." In contrast, he suggests, inundating students with print materials is "boring and overwhelming." Richard Felder, who teaches chemical engineering at North Carolina State University and who writes regularly about distance education in his field, presented a scenario in a recent article that showed the possible ways in which an on-line course could engage a learner in multiple ways. In the example, the student reviews a multimedia tutorial that includes photos and diagrams and poses critical thinking questions, watches a video of the course instructor giving a lecture, retrieves information from a database to build an equation, exchanges e-mail with the instructor, and participates in a chat room with the other members of her group to discuss a joint project. However, Morten Flate Paulsen cautions that all these options don't necessarily have to be available on-line. The director of development for The NKI Internet College in Bekkestua, Norway, Paulsen says, "Even though both text and video can be presented on-line, paper is often a better medium for text, and television is better for presenting video. Still, there is a tendency among on-line educators to substitute excellent textbooks with mediocre Web material and superb videocassettes with a tiny, degenerated PC-version of the video. My point is that we should combine the best from each medium and not present everything on the Internet." Whatever methods instructors use to tap into their students' learning styles, the key is to offer multiple possibilities for understanding. "Every sense you can tickle, you're better off," says Buerck.