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This research had the following four inter-related purposes:
- to identify and clarify the distinctions between learning styles, preferences
and strategies of students, and their practical application to vocational
education and training (VET) learning environments
- to identify the extent to which the VET sector takes account of preferred learning
styles and the range of teaching strategies already in place throughout
the sector, their effectiveness for learners and different learner
groups, and their applicability to different instructional methodologies
and learning outcomes
- to develop a set of strategies that instructors can use to develop learners
and knowledge/skill acquisition within the training package context
- to identify a professional development program, or set of programs, that will
be valuable in assisting VET instructors to develop client-focused
delivery methods.
New teaching technologies in the VET sector have the potential to increase the
degree to which the sector can respond to the needs of individual learners,
while new ways of thinking about VET delivery have increased the number
of ways in which training is delivered. New learning products in vocational
education and training, and an increasing demand on the credentials
of trainers, have also increased the scope of VET clients and potential
clients. These changes in instruction have increased the range of learners
that VET services must contend with, while potentially increasing the
capacity for the VET sector to respond more differentially to that range
of learners. Nonetheless, there is evidence from research in Australia
and the United Kingdom that VET instruction may not as yet have fully
recognised the need and capacity to adapt to different learner groups
and individuals, and that there may still be something of a 'one size
fits all' view among VET providers and practitioners.
The research undertaken in this project was designed to identify how VET practitioners
view style differences between students, and what sort of account they
take of those differences in designing and delivering teaching. Part
of that broader research question involved an identification of the
methods that VET practitioners use to identify learner group and individual
styles, and the forms of response that they make to those identified
styles in their teaching. The research was also designed to identify
forms of professional development that may be most useful to VET practitioners
in their attempts to identify and accommodate style.
The research was undertaken in five technical and further education (TAFE) institutes
and one professional network of trainers in private and public registered
training organisations. Research sites were spread between Victoria,
South Australia and Western Australia. Participants in the research
were teaching staff, students and management staff. Data collection
methods included a questionnaire undertaken by teaching staff, focus
groups of teachers, students, and management/support staff, and case
studies of exemplary practice. There was some overlap between participants
in the questionnaire and focus group components. The questionnaire was
largely quantitative and the data analysed quantitatively, while all
other research methods were qualitative in nature. Participants were
largely self-selected.
Through a literature review the project identified that the concepts of learning
styles, learning preferences and learning strategies can be differentially
characterised as the following:
- 'learning style' is the individual learner's distinctive and habitual manner
of acquiring knowledge, skills or attitudes through study or experience
- 'learning preference' is the favouring of one particular teaching mode over
another
- 'learning strategies' are the plans of action that learners adopt in the acquisition
of knowledge, skills or attitudes through study or experience
- styles tend to be more stable within an individual across different learning
tasks and contexts; preferences are more variable across different
learning tasks and contexts; and strategies vary between learning
tasks on a basis how best the learner believes a learning task can
be successfully completed.
The following points summarise the major findings of the research:
Teachers:
- Experienced VET teachers develop an intrinsic understanding and response to
student learning styles and preferences.
- VET teachers generally understand that learning styles, preferences and strategies
are largely the same concept, and are expressions of individual differences
between students in the way that they like to learn. That understanding
is mainly developed through experience and observation of students,
rather than an understanding based on theory.
- There was general recognition that responding to student style formed part of
good teaching practice, and was seen as something that a teacher should
do as part of providing a professional and quality learning experience
for students.
- The understandings teachers have, based as they are in experience and observation,
serve them well and enable them to identify different style characteristics
between individuals and between groups, as well as responding to those
differences in teaching design and delivery.
- Teachers have developed a range of personal methods of identifying individual
and group style, and a range of techniques that they used to respond
to individual and group style differences.
- Teachers identified learning styles through two domains of student activity:
the first is associated with student reaction to different media used
to present content such as visual, hands-on, listening, and print-based;
and the second domain comprised student reaction to various learning
contexts such as group learning, collaborative learning, independent
learning, and instructor-led learning. Teachers identified style differences
in these domains at a level of analysis with which they could work,
and at which they could respond.
- Teachers identified with, and responded to, student group and individual style
in an interactive and ongoing way. They would start a new group with
some preconceptions based on previous experience, and then would progressively
modify those preconceptions through observation and interaction with
the new group. On that basis they would modify teaching, and then
use those modifications to make new observations about individuals
and the group.
Students:
- Students in the VET sector commonly expressed the view that their teachers did
take account of student learning characteristics in their teaching,
and provided experiences that were designed to cater for them as individuals.
- Students were limited in their understanding of their own style, conceptualising
style largely as to whether they liked to sit and listen to 'lectures',
or whether they liked to engage in learning that is hands-on.
- In a context of greater student choice between different media for content presentation,
greater choice among different modes of study, and a higher need for
self-management in resource-based and flexible learning contexts,
there is need for the development and implementation of effective
learning-to-learn training for students.
Organisational:
- The view was quite commonly expressed that response to learner style was part
of the customer service business model of VET providers, and should
belong in the same area of organisational strategy as other forms
of learner-centred client service.
- A common concern expressed by teachers was that the main constraint in providing
teaching that is responsive to style was the time they had available
to achieve this. Similar concern was expressed that in a price-competitive
VET market environment, the need to provide training in the cheapest
and quickest way possible often outweighed the capacity to provide
quality learner-centred teaching.
- The observation/interaction process and subsequent modification worked most
successfully for teachers who had regular contact with the same group
of students. The process was progressively more difficult as regular
contact decreased. Teachers whose exposure to a group was occasional,
block release (when students are away from their workplace for short
teaching periods), or through remote teaching delivery methods had
much less opportunity to identify and respond to style.
- Although many experienced teachers believed that training packages gave them
considerable opportunity to respond to student style, others felt
that training packages were constraining in their capacity to deliver
training that was responsive to individual and group style. The majority
of teachers felt that training packages were limiting the capacity
of teachers to respond to student style when designing and conducting
assessment.
- Teachers felt constrained by time, and the demands and limitations of the training
packages in developing students' self-directed learning skills (as
opposed to self-paced learning skills) and their learning-to-learn
capacity.
Professional development:
- There was considerable difference across the six research sites in the number
of staff who had participated in professional development related
to learning styles— some research sites have a high commitment
to professional development in that area, while others have relatively
low commitment. However, all research sites had already provided some
professional development on styles.
- Most professional development on styles appeared to have been delivered in a
theoretical context with a focus on one or two particular theories
of learning style. The research indicates that professional development
on styles may be most effective when the focus is more on teacher
identification and response to style in practical teaching settings,
rather than knowledge of theoretical models. However, some knowledge
of theoretical models is important to ensure that teacher understanding
is not based only on experience. There is also value in focusing the
professional development on the issues of style identification through
content presentation methods, and through the different learning contexts
in which students engage.
- Professional development that presents potential methods for teaching and assessment
within training packages would also be particularly useful in enabling
teachers to gain a better understanding of the capacities they have
to respond to students within the training package design.
- Professional development that provides teachers with guidance on how they can
use their knowledge of learning styles to support students studying
at a distance would be particularly beneficial.
- A proposed professional development program was an outcome of the research.
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