Students preferentially take in and process information in different ways: by seeing and hearing, reflecting and acting, reasoning logically and intuitively, analyzing and visualizing, steadily and in fits and starts. Teaching methods also vary. Some instructors lecture, others demonstrate or lead students to self-discovery; some focus on principles and others on applications; some emphasize memory and others understanding.

When mismatches exist between learning styles of most students in a class and the teaching style of the professor, the students may become bored and inattentive in class, do poorly on tests, get discouraged about the courses, the curriculum, and themselves, and in some cases change to other curricula or drop out of school. Professors, confronted by low test grades, unresponsive or hostile classes, poor attendance and dropouts, know something is not working. They may become overly critical of their students (making things even worse) or begin to wonder if they are in the right profession. Most seriously, society loses potentially excellent professionals.

I am developing a model of learning styles and a parallel model of teaching styles that seems to apply well to students in technical disciplines. (The model was originally formulated in collaboration with Dr. Linda K. Silverman, an educational psychologist.) The idea is not to teach each student exclusively according to his or her preferences, but rather to strive for a balance of instructional methods. If the balance is achieved, students will be taught partly in a manner they prefer, which leads to an increased comfort level and willingness to learn, and partly in a less preferred manner, which provides practice and feedback in ways of thinking and solving problems which they may not initially be comfortable with but which they will have to use to be fully effective professionals.

Assessment of learning style preferences

The Index of Learning Styles is a self-scoring questionnaire for assessing preferences on four dimensions of the Felder-Silverman model.

Publications related to learning styles

1. R.M. Felder, "Reaching the Second Tier: Learning and Teaching Styles in College Science Education," J. College Science Teaching, 23(5), 286-290 (1993). Defines the Felder-Silverman learning style model and identifies teaching practices that should meet the needs of students with the full spectrum of styles.
   
   
2. R.M. Felder, "Matters of Style," ASEE Prism, 6(4), 18-23 (December 1996). Principles and applications of four learning style models (Felder-Silverman, Kolb, and models based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument). The paper concludes that the choice of a model is almost irrelevant: teaching designed to address all dimensions on any of the models is likely to be effective, and all of the models lead to more or less the same instructional approach.
   
   
3. R.M. Felder, "A Longitudinal Study of Engineering Student Performance and Retention. IV. Instructional Methods and Student Responses to Them," J. Engr. Education, 84(4), 361-367 (1995). Instructional methods designed to reach the full spectrum of learning styles, as applied in an ongoing longitudinal study of engineering students.
   
   
4. R.M. Felder and E.R. Henriques, "Learning and Teaching Styles in Foreign and Second Language Education," Foreign Language Annals, 28(1), 21-31 (1995). Application of the F-S learning style model to language education.
   
   
5. R.M. Felder and L.K. Silverman, "Learning and Teaching Styles in Engineering Education," Engineering Education, 78(7), 674 (1988). The original paper that defined the F-S learning style model. The "auditory" category in this paper was subsequently changed to "verbal," for reasons explained in Reference 1 and in greater detail in Reference 9.

   The subsequent references focus on individual style dimensions, including several on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator that are not included in the F-S model but are equally important in understanding different ways that students learn and perform in classroom settings.
   
   

6. R.M. Felder, "Meet Your Students: 1. Stan and Nathan." Chem. Engr. Education, 23(2), 68-69 (Spring 1989). The sensing learning and the intuitive learner.
7. R.M. Felder, "Meet Your Students: 2. Susan and Glenda." Chem. Engr. Education, 24(1), 7-8 (Winter 1990). The sequential learner and the global learner.
8. R.M. Felder, "Meet Your Students: 3. Michelle, Rob, and Art." Chem. Engr. Education, 24(3), 130-131 (Summer 1990). Three different approaches to learning (deep, surface, and strategic), and the conditions that induce students to take a deep approach.
9. R.M. Felder, "Meet Your Students: 4. Jill and Perry." Chem. Engr. Education, 25(4), 196-197 (Fall 1991). The judger and the perceiver on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.
10. R.M. Felder, "Meet Your Students: 5. Edward and Irving." Chem. Engr. Education, 28(1), 36-37 (Winter 1994). The extravert and the introvert on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.
11. R.M. Felder, "Meet Your Students: 6. Tony and Frank." Chem. Engr. Education, 29(4), 244-245 (Fall 1995). The thinker and the feeler on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.
    
    

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