Does learning take place in multiple ways?
17
Apr 2009
As a parent, I certainly would wonder about the best way in which my child can learn and move ahead. This mindset fortifies its place in those little grey cells dwelling within our craniums from the time our children start their formal education. A probable question that arises is that learning starts only from the time our children start their formal education?
Studies have shown the rampant stupidity of this question as many scientists and professors vouch for the fact that learning starts from infancy. Some of them, notably Dr. Rita Dunn and her husband Dr. Kenneth Dunn maintain that learning happens in multiple ways, or styles.
Dr. Rita Dunn is the Director of the Center for Study of Learning and Teaching Styles, St. John’s University, New York and Dr. Kenneth Dunn is the Professor and Coordinator, Educational Leadership Program, Department of Educational and Community Programs, Queens College, New York.
Together, they share nearly 25 years in the study and analysis of learning styles prevalent in the world today. According to them, the styles which are most commonly seen are:
- Auditory
- Visual
- Tactile
According to their findings, learning starts right from infancy and the actions and reactions of infants give way to their preferred style of learning: Auditory, visual or tactile.
Infants who prefer the auditory style are more attuned to learning by hearing. Infants who are visual learners get attracted to motion, color, and shape. Infants who are tactile learners are ones who learn by quenching their curiosity about the world through crawling, standing and walking towards the objects of their attention.
The Dunns have in fact formulated a learning model called the Dunn and Dunn Learning Style Model which is designed on the basis of the theory that children learn in different ways and styles. The fact that this model is a valid one can be seen from its inclusion in the International Learning Styles Network.
Learning therefore does take place in different ways and another proponent to this theory would be the Felder-Silverman Learning Style Model. Formulated by Dr. Richard M. Felder and Dr. Linda K. Silverman, this model classifies the preferences of learners under the following dimensions:
- Active learners and reflective learners
- Sensing learners and intuitive learners
- Visual learners and verbal learners
- Sequential learners and global learners
The Index of Learning Styles (ILS) has been created as an online instrument for assessing the preferences of learners given in the aforementioned list. This model has been developed by Dr. Richard M. Felder and Barbara A. Soloman of the North Carolina State University. It goes without saying that the presence of this online instrument is statement of the fact that learning does take place in different ways.
