Are learners confined to learning styles?

There are many different ways of looking at learning styles.  I was interested in learning more about learning styles because my mom has always talked about how people learn in different ways.   What is most important is that people do learn in different ways and each way is beneficial to students in some capacity.  Some may gravitate towards certain methods of instruction, but all instruction methods have pros and cons.  For a long time research in this field has been associated with “learning styles”.  However, current research is suggesting a slightly different wordage with “learning strategies”.  I like the change in terminology because it does not put students in a box.  If a student knows which learning style they prefer, it gives them an opportunity to mentally check out if a teacher is not catering to their learning style.  However, with learning strategies students can engage no matter what learning strategy is being used.  This goes back to the idea that every strategy has strengths and weaknesses.  One is not better than the other.  To further understand how to implement learning strategies, researchers have looked at them to characterize them and suggest best methods of approach.

            In the book Learning as a Generative Activity the authors outline eight generative learning strategies.  First of all, the word generative means someone or something is capable of production or reproduction.  So a generative learning strategy would be a way of presenting material so that a student could produce or reproduce a result.  With that in mind, the eight generative learning strategies are summarizing, mapping, drawing, imagining, self-testing, self-explaining, teaching, and enacting.  In summarizing the teacher develops a written or oral summary of the material.  For mapping the teacher develops a spatial map to depict important information from the lesson.  In drawing the teacher creates a drawing to visualize the material.  Imagining is the same as drawing, but without a physical drawing.  Self-testing is when a teacher gives a practice test. Self-explaining allows the teacher to explain a part of the lesson that was confusing to students.  Teaching as a generative learning strategy has students teaching the course content to others.  Enacting is when teachers act out some portion of material from the lesson.  Each of these strategies is a strategy to teach students that does not isolate a student to a box, but allows them to learn in a variety of ways.

            In an article about how learning strategies connect to learning outcomes, authors Moldasheva and Mahmood identify ways in which to describe learning strategies.  The main strategies they use in their research are rehearsal, organization, elaboration, critical thinking, effort learning, time and environment management, help seeking and peer learning.  The difference between these and the ones presented before is that these are student strategies.  These are ways in which students demonstrate and participate in their learning.

Fiorella, L., & Mayer, R. E. (n.d.). Learning as a generative activity: Eight learning strategies that promote understanding.

Graf, S., Kinshuk, & Liu, T. (2009). Supporting teachers in identifying students' learning styles in learning management systems: An automatic student modeling approach. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 12(4), 3

Moldasheva, G., & Mahmood, M. (2014). Personality, learning strategies, and academic performance. Education & Training, 56(4), 343-359. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.gvsu.edu/10.1108/ET-10-2012-0101

Yang, T.-C., Hwang, G.-J., & Yang, S. J.-H. (2013). Development of an adaptive learning system with multiple perspectives based on students' learning styles and cognitive styles. Educational Technology & Society, 16(4), 185+.