LEARNING WITH "STYLE" A study on learning styles: analysis and correlation with results, motivation, context

Theoretical Background Recent discoveries within cognitive psychology and neurosciences bring about new crucial considerations about teaching and learning. It has become clear that, as far as learning is concerned, we have to shift our attention from “what” is learnt to “how” we learn. Learning Theories Learning only became part of cognitive sciences in 1800. Up to then learning theories belonged to Philosophy. Modern theories about learning date back to the end of the Nineteenth Century. The German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850- 1909) was among the first experimental psychologists who contributed with original and important research about learning and memory. Ebbinghaus can be considered the father of experimental psychology, more specifically of associationism. He was followed by Thorndike (1874-1949) and Pavlov (1849 †" 1946) who laid ground for Skinner's research (1904- 1990). Thorndike can also be seen as an associationist, even though his main interest was about associations between actions and reactions rather than about associations of ideas. While Thorndike can be viewed as a forerunner, the real father of behaviourism is Pavlov who espressed the famous theory of classical conditioning. Skinner introduced the theory of operant conditioning which differs from classical conditioning in that the subject acts in an environment and modifies it by behaving in response to stimuli reinforcement theory) . According to behaviourism, learning consists in acquiring new attitudes and habits which can be the result of associating a stimulus with another (in classical conditioning) or associating the response of an individual with its consequence (operant conditioning). The Gestalt school (beginning of the Twentieth Century) laid the basis for the most recent cognitive learning theories. According to Gestalt, the typical learning form is “insight”, consisting in a sudden reorganization of the cognitive field. Such theory was opposing both associationism and behaviorism which were very authoritative in those years. The term “insight” refers to a learning process which diverges both from the theory of association and from“ trial and error”. According to Gestalt, the individual experiences a sudden enlightenment and connects scattered elements into a “new” form giving them a new meaning. “Insight” is a sudden restructuring of the cognitive field which develops new learning. Starting from the 1960s this new cognitivism and the related research become very influential. Cognitive processes are described as the mental processes which allow us to perceive and elaborate information which support behaviour. The human mind is seen as a processor of information working within a given sequential organization. Only in the 1980s was this theoretical background partly questioned, when the idea was put forward that the world is not an outside objective reality, but a construction based on experience. Such outlook developed into the second generation cognitivism or “constructivism”. The main assumption of constructivism is that knowledge is the result of active construction by the subject, closely connected with the actual situation where learning takes place. Therefore learning is active, not passive and receptive, and derives from comparing and contrasting new information with information and knowledge already stored in memory. New knowledge is influenced by previous knowledge and is organized in representational patterns which can add up and integrate previous patterns or sometimes create new ones. Kolb's theory of experiential learning derives from constructivism. He refers back to John Dewey, Jean Piaget, Kurt Lewin and Carl Rogers and ascribes a central role to experience in the learning process. According to Kolb, learning is a dynamic cycle where two main dimensions interact: 1. “grabbing experience” which develops from concrete experience (CE) to abstract conceptualization (AC); 2. “transforming experience” moving from active experimentation (AE) to reflective observation (RO). Kolb views learning as the result of a 4 phases cycle: a process through which people try to understand their experiences and to modify their behaviours accordingly. The 4 phases support one another and each of them requires different skills and competences. According to this model, people learn in four phases: - Concrete experiences (CE) in which learning is mainly influenced by feelings and reactions to experience; - Reflective observation (RO), in which learning is mainly influenced by listening and watching; - Abstract conceptualization (AC),in which learning is shaped by thinking and by a systematic analysis of problems; - Active experimentation (AE) in which learning is mainly influenced by doing, experimenting and observing results. While learning, the subject should go through all four phases, at least in part, but due to genetic factors and other variables depending on interaction with the environment, he starts preferring a phase to another (learning style) By learning style Kolb means the typical “language” of an individual which makes him process information in a way rather than another. Kolb identifies four styles: - assimilating - converging - diverging - accomodating (adaptive) each one characterized by a precise orientation on the axes of concrete experience/abstract conceptualization and active experimentation / reflective observation. The issue of the research In the last 15 years in Italy there have been about 3 million (31.9%) dropouts among state high school students. Most of them are included in statistics about Neet, young people between 15 and 29 years of age who neither study nor work or experience any form of training or internship. ISTAT estimates they are 2.2 million or 23.9 % of people within this age group. So the challenge of education for the twenty-first century is to endow schools with vocational guidance procedures in order to prevent early school leaving and promote the right and duty to effective education and training. We need to move from dealing with the negative results of early school leaving to preventing it. It is necessary to plan curricula and teaching practice which focus on the learner. We need to develop teaching activities which can encompass our students' different learning styles including verbal as well as visual information and logical as well as systemic sequences . Objective of the research The main objective of this research are: 1. Inquire into the different learning styles in a representative sample of third year lowersecondary school students in the Parma region in order to connect them with possible prediction of later school choice as well as educational success or failure. 2. Investigate mutual influence and relationship between learning style and: - attitude to study - school performance - socio-economic and cultural context MATERIALS AND METHOD The study population was chosen among lower secondary schools in the Parma area, more specifically 3 schools within the Parma municipality and 3 schools outside it. The analyzed classes were third year classes in each school making a total of 744 students. All Principals were sent a written request of collaboration. Two sample classes (not included in the study population) were administered a questionnaire aimed at testing the possible effectiveness of an online administration of the questionnaire and the reliability of the Italian translation of Kolb and Biggs' questionnaires. The study population came out as representative in terms of gender as well as matching the regional spread of foreign students. The questionnaire consisted of three sections. In Section 1 the researcher inserted socio-economic data (Reference were INVALSI and TIMSS tests) and questions about high school choices, average grade in school subjects and feelings about school. Section 2 consisted in the Kolb's test, carefully translated by the researcher in agreement with David and Alice Kolb. Such test (Learning Style Inventory †" LSI) is one of the most widely used tools in research about learning styles. It is based on a precise theory of learning derived from the thinking of psychologists and educationists of the last century (Jean Piaget, John Dewey, Carl Rogers, Carl Jung, Paulo Freire).