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Learning Styles: Survey
Module: Rural Business Management (100)
24 Documents
Students shared 24 documents in this course
University: Scotland's Rural College
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Copyright 2005 The Open University
Technology: Level 1
Networked living: exploring information and communication technologies
Learning styles
Jon Rosewell
When we start to learn something new, our first concern is naturally with
what we are learning. But have you stopped to consider how you learn?
How will you approach your new subject? Do you know how effective that
approach will be? Have you considered other methods?
Educational research has shown that by becoming more aware of how you
learn, you can become a more efficient and effective learner. There is no
one single method of learning; there are many, and what works best
depends on the task, the context and your personality. You will be a more
effective learner if you are aware of the range of possible learning
methods, and know when to apply them and what works best for you.
Peter Honey and Alan Mumford (1986a) identify four distinct styles or
preferences that people use while learning. They suggest that most of us
tend to follow only one or two of these styles, and that different learning
activities may be better suited to particular styles. Knowing your
predominant learning style will help you judge how likely an activity is to
be helpful to you.
Honey and Mumford have produced a questionnaire (Honey and Mumford,
1986b) that can identify your preferred learning styles. But you may be
able to decide yourself by reading the following descriptions; do you
recognise yourself?
Activists
Activists are people who learn by doing. They like to involve themselves
in new experiences, and will ‘try anything once’. They tend to act first and
consider the consequences afterwards.
Activists learn best when:
•involved in new experiences, problems and opportunities;
•thrown in at the deep end;
•working with others in problem solving, games, role-playing exercises;
•able to lead a group.
Activists learn least when:
•listening to lectures or reading long explanations;
•reading, writing and thinking on their own;