Kolb Learning Style Research Articles

STUDENTS’ LEARNING STYLES IN THE CLASSROOM AND IT’S IMPORTANCE TO EDUCATORS IN THE TEACHING AND LEARNING PROCESS: AN OVERVIEW

This article discusses the various learning styles of students in the teaching and learning process in the classroom. Among the learning style models discussed in this article are such as Dunn and Dunn learning style model, Kolb learning style model, Felder Silverman learning style model, VAK learning style model, Visual, Audio, ‘Read and Write’ and Kinesthetic (VARK) learning style model, Honey and Mumford learning style model, Selmes learning style model. Each learning style model has its strengths and weaknesses. This, a good understanding and mastery of a learning style will allow teachers to help implement teaching and learning strategies that students are interested in according to their tastes. Furthermore, it can increase the interest and effectiveness of students in the teaching and learning process as well as improve the academic achievement of students.

Analysis of David Kolb's Learning Style According to Mathematical Representation Ability

The purpose of this study was to describe David Kolb's learning style according to the mathematical representation of students. This research is qualitative. The subjects of this study were students of class VIII SMP Agus Salim Semarang. The data were obtained by using the test method of the mathematical representation ability instrument, questionnaire of KLSI (Kolb Learning Style Inventory), interviews, and documentation. The results of this study are: (1). Students with High Mathematical Representation Ability tend to have an assimilator type of learning style, (2). Students with Medium Mathematical Representation Ability tend to have a converger learning style type, and (3). Students with Low Mathematical Representation Ability tend to have a divergent learning style. Teachers are suggested to identify students’ learning styles to be the best teachers for students. It is also recommended to collect mathematical representation-based problems to improve students' mathematical representation skills.
 Keywords: David Kolb, Mathematics Representation, Assimilator, Converger, Diverger

Preferred Learning Styles of Accounting Major Students

The general objective of this research is to determine the learning style of accounting major students of a university in Central Luzon, Philippines, and the corresponding teaching strategy for the identified learning style. By conducting a cross-sectional descriptive research design on learning styles among three hundred fifty-three (353) accounting major students, the combination of learning styles that best describe the accounting major students using Kolb Learning Style Inventory Model is said to be ‘reflector’ style using the diverging strategies which are watching and feeling, following a combination of concrete experiences and reflective observation. The proposed teaching strategies will aid teachers in adjusting their teaching methods that suited for the learning style of accounting major students versus the current teaching methods being received by accounting students today.

What virtual laboratory usage tells us about laboratory skill education pre- and post-COVID-19: Focus on usage, behavior, intention and adoption.

COVID-19 pandemic has brought uncertainty in educational response, skilling methods, and training practices among teachers and institutions. Even before the pandemic shutdowns, the incorporation of virtual laboratories within classroom education had brought transformations in teaching laboratory courses. Virtual laboratories were integrated as training platforms for complementing learning objectives in laboratory education especially during this pandemic imposed shutdown. In context of suspended face-to-face teaching, this study explores the role of virtual laboratories as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in ensuring the continuity of teaching–learning, providing alternative ways for skill training from home. As an innovative approach, the study presents push–pull mooring theory to analyze switching intention of users from offline conventional education to online education. The study explores the complements of physical experiments brought in with animations, simulations, and remote laboratory set-ups for providing skill trainings to learners. To test whether virtualization techniques have global impact in education sector, the study included a comparative analysis of student users during the academic year 2019 (before-COVID) who had a blended approach of learning and those of the year 2020 (post-COVID), with remote learning. Initial before-COVID behavioral analysis on university students (n = 1059) indicated the substantial popularity of virtual laboratories in education for skill training and instructor dependency. Usage adoption of virtual laboratories increased during the pandemic-imposed lockdowns and learners were being less instructor dependent. 24% of students accessed more 10 times a week without the instructor being present and overall, 90% contributed to a minimum of 5 usages a week. In terms of Kolb’s learning styles, most of the virtual laboratory learners were assimilators. The results suggest virtual laboratories may have a prominent role in inquiry based and self-guided education with minimum instructor dependency, which may be crucial for complementing practice skills and planning online tools to add to this post-COVID-19 teaching and learning scenarios.

Teaching leadership to pre-college populations using personal assessment tools.

This article presents a national and international youth leadership program utilizing personal assessments as part of the pedagogy. Using the tenets of experiential learning, the learner's self-awareness heightens their experience as individuals make personal connections with the topic for deeper understanding. In addition to discussing the creation of tools for advancing the understanding and practice of leadership in the context of a specific organization, this article explores the following instruments and assessments: Kolb Learning Styles Inventory, Transformational Leadership Instrument, Path-Goal Leadership Questionnaire, Identity-Who am I? Survey, and Leading from Experience.

The Effect of Educational Game Method on Learning Achievements of Seventh-grade Students with Different Learning Styles

This research aimed to investigate the effect of the educational game method on the learning achievements of seventh-grade students with different learning styles. A case study was used in the research. The study group of the study consisted of 120 secondary school seventh-grade students studying in the central and rural areas of Erzurum. The Kolb Learning Style Inventory and the achievement test developed by the researcher were used as data collection tools. Descriptive statistics, dependent groups t-test, and one-way ANOVA were used in data analysis. As a result of the research, it was determined that the students in this study have the most diverging, least accommodating learning style. It was determined that the educational game method significantly increased learning achievement in all learning styles. It was determined that there was no statistically significant difference among the learning achievements of students with different learning styles applied educational game method. The effects of the educational game method can be evaluated by applying for a longer period of time in teaching different subjects.

A multi-centre study of learning styles of new nursing students.

To describe beginning nursing student learning styles and to determine whether there are relationships between learning style and sociodemographic or educational background. We also aim to compare these data with the normative values of the 3.1 version of the Kolb learning style inventory and verify its reliability. Learning style is related to the way in which an individual interacts with learning conditions, involving cognitive, affective, physical and environmental aspects. In nursing education, few studies have focused on knowing the learning styles of beginning nursing students, despite the need for students to develop critical thinking skills required of nurses. Descriptive, cross-sectional, correlational, multi-site study. The study took place at five universities in Brazil and one university in the United States. Data were collected from a sample of beginning nursing students (n=176) in 2019, using the Portuguese and English 3.1 versions of Kolb's learning style inventory. Most students' learning styles were classified as divergers (34.10%), while 28.41% were assimilators, 23.86% were accommodators and 13.63% were convergers. Kolb describes learning as a four-stage cyclical process grounded in experience. The mean score of one learning stage, the concrete experience, showed those who attended public high schools compared with private high schools was higher (mean=26.22; p=.0019), and there were different results between Brazilian state universities, Brazilian federal universities and the American university (p=.0149). The diverger style was the most common among beginning nursing students in Brazil and the United States. There was a significant relationship between learning style, the educational background of students, the type of institution they attend and their previous experience with some active learning methodologies. Aligned with Kolb's experiential learning theory, nurse educators must be aware of student learning styles so they may use teaching strategies to meet their students' needs.

The Effects of Culture on Learning Styles: The Sample of Ondokuz Mayıs University

This study examines the effect of culture on learning styles. The study sample consisted of undergraduate and graduate students, most of whom are foreign nationals, studying in different departments of Ondokuz Mayıs University in Samsun, Turkey. Based on the experiential learning theory (ELT), Kolb's Learning Styles Inventory (KLSI) was used as a data collection tool to define individual learning styles. By examining previous studies such as the Global Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness (GLOBE), the study focused on categorizing cultural differences. 193 participants from 35 different nationalities were included in one of three cultural clusters (The Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia). In the first part of the study, the dominant learning styles of each cultural cluster were evaluated based on Kolb's traditional 4 learning styles (diverging, converging, assimilating, and accommodating) and the new 9 learning styles (experiencing, imagining, reflecting, analysing, thinking, deciding, acting, balancing) defined in KLSI 3.2 and KLSI 4. It was analysed whether there was a statistically significant difference in the dominant learning styles among the cultural clusters. The results of the analysis showed that there was no significant difference among the cultural clusters according to 4 learning style classifications, whereas there were significant differences among the cultural clusters according to Kolb’s 9 learning style classifications. In the second part of the study, it was evaluated whether there was a significant difference among the cultural clusters according to the modes of grasping experience – concrete experience (CE) and abstract conceptualization (AC) – and two dialectically related modes of transforming experience—reflective observation defined in the ELT model.
 Keywords: learning style, Kolb learning style inventory (KLSI), culture, cultural dimensions, cultural clusters, higher education

How do gifted students learn? Their learning styles and dispositions towards learning

ABSTRACT Gifted students have unique characteristics and these characteristics influence their learning styles and dispositions towards learning. The purpose of this study is to examine gifted students’ learning styles and to understand how gifted students articulate learning. In this convergent parallel mixed methods study, 106 (n = 106) students attending the third, fourth and fifth grades were selected as participants. The study was carried out with gifted students who are attaining in science and art centres in Turkey. The data was gathered through The Kolb Learning Style Inventory and focus group interviews. Findings of study indicated that the participants were mainly divergers and convergers. Their learning styles did not significantly dependent on their gender, age and school type. In addition, they referred to social interaction, self-discovery, social responsibility and transfer of knowledge as their learning attributes. Their learning motives were inspired by an effective learning environment, interaction and the sense of accomplishment in the learning process. Lastly, they adopted certain learning strategies such as encoding and storage in the learning process.

Investigation of Prospective Preschool Teachers’ Attitudes towards Science Education and Learning Styles

The knowledge, skills and attitudes of prospective pre-school teacher towards science education enable more effective classroom practices and science teaching. Teaching scientific processes at an early age affects students’ attitudes towards science in the coming years. In this context, this study was designed to examine the relationship between prospective pre-school teachers’ attitudes towards science education and their learning styles. The study was designed as correlational survey model. The sample of this study consists of 193 (165 female, 28 male) prospective pre-school teachers studying in the first, second, third and fourth class of faculty of education of a state university. The data were collected using the “The Science Teaching Attitude Scale” developed by Thompson and Shringley (1986) and adapted into Turkish by Özkan, Tekkaya, and Çakıroğlu (2002) and “Kolb Learning Style Inventory” developed by Kolb (1984) and adapted into Turkish by Evin Gencel (2007) in the spring semester of the 2019-2020 academic year. Descriptive statistical analysis and predictive statistical analysis were used in the statistical calculations of the data obtained in the study. As a result of the study, it was found that there was no statistically significant difference in the attitudes of prospective teachers towards science education according to their learning styles. In addition, it was determined that prospective pre-school teachers developed positive attitude towards science education and had different learning styles. Based on the results, suggestions have been made regarding the organization of learning environments according to learning styles and the studies that will increase the attitude levels towards science education.

The Relationships between Web-Based Information Credibility Judgment, Critical Thinking, and Learning Styles of Iranian EFL University Students

The advent of Web 2 tools and their features have allowed Internet users not only to seek information but also to generate and edit on-line information. However, excessive reliance of students, particularly EFL students, on the Internet has raised the issue of information credibility or quality of the information found online. This study sought to investigate the relationship between Iranian EFL university students’ credibility judgment and their learning styles and critical thinking. It also intended to examine the extent to which the learners employ credibility judgment strategies to verify web-based information. To this end, 212 Iranian EFL students, 165 female(s) and 47 male(s) (or add) students, received three questionnaires: Honey’s (2004) Critical Thinking questionnaire, Kolb's (1984) Learning Style inventory, and the adapted version of Credibility Judgment questionnaire originally developed by Metzger, Flanagin, and Zwarun (2003). The results of descriptive as well as bivariate and multivariate correlation analysis revealed that, first, Iranian EFL students employ credibility judgment strategies at a moderate level, and second, critical thinking is a better predictor for credibility judgment behavior of EFL students than learning style. Moreover, three learning styles were significantly related to the currency sub-scale of credibility judgment. The findings can assist curriculum planners, policymakers, and instructors to develop plans for empowering EFL students with the skills they need to evaluate on-line information for accuracy, objectivity, authority, and currency.

Collaborative Group Activities in The Context of Learning Styles on Web 2.0 Environments: An Experimental Study

The aim of this research is to determine the learning styles of Web 2.0 based collaborative group activities; to examine the effects on academic achievement, online cooperative learning attitude level, computer thinking skill level. The research was carried out with a quantitative method and a pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental design was used. Data were collected through Computational Thinking Skill Level scale, Online Cooperative Learning Attitude Scale and academic achievement test. The research was conducted for 10 weeks in the 2019-2020 academic year, within the scope of Information Technologies and Software course, with 83 6th grade students. The experimental group consists of 43 students and the control group consists of 40 students. In the research, one of the learning style theories, Kolb Learning Style model was used. In the experimental group, Web 2.0 based activities developed by the researcher were applied and the experimental group students produced content with Web 2.0 tools. In the control group, the lesson was taught in the way the current program suggested in schools. As a result, a meaningful difference was determined between students' academic achievement scores, online cooperative attitude levels, computer thinking levels and learning styles. According to these variables, the students with the discriminating learning style show the highest success. In addition, as a result of the research, it was determined that there are some features and developments other than the learning style feature in students. Learning environments other than the learning path of the learning style can be provided. Similar studies can be conducted by using the learning style inventory based on different theories.

Identification Of KOLB’S Learning Style In Seventh Grade Students and The Effect On Misconception In Science Learning

800x600 Normal 0 false false false EN-ID X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:Table Normal; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Times New Roman,serif;} The purpose of this study is to identify Kolb’s learning style of seventh-grade students. Learning style is a combination of the way how the student absorbs then processes the information. Kolb's learning style, developed by David Kolb, combines students' learning tendency and produces four learning styles; they are diverger, assimilator, converger, and accommodator. Learning style is one of the factors can cause misconceptions. A misconception is a difference between a student's conceptions and the expert. Usually, the concepts are difficult to correct. This misconception will affect a student's achievement and disturb in understanding and developing a student's knowledge. The method applied in this study was a survey method with describtive qualitative technique. The data were collected using Kolb's Learning Style Inventory (KLSI) 3.1 version . The subjects were 78 students in three schools with high, medium, and low grades The results indicated that from 78 students, there were 40 divergers (51%), 12 assimilators (15%), ten convergers (13%), and 16 accommodators (21%). Each kind of learning style affects a student's misconception. This research benefits in identifying misconceptions probably faced by students in certain subjects of science learning.

Investigation of the Effects of Some Variables on Middle School Students' Problem-Solving Skills, Science Process Skills and Learning Styles

The aim of the study is to investigate the effects of gender, type of the school attended and mother/father’s educational background on middle school students’ problem-solving, science process skills and learning styles. The population of the present study consists of all the 4th-grade students in the secondary schools in the city of Mugla in the 2012-2013 school year while the sample consists of 569 middle school fourth grade students. As the data collection tools, “The Problem-Solving Inventory”, “The Science Process Skills Test”, “The Kolb Learning Styles Inventory” and a student information form were used. The data were analyzed by using a variety of statistical techniques such as descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, One way ANOVA and Chi-Square test. As a result of the study were found that middle school students mostly use the “Avoidance” sub-dimension. Also, there isn't any difference was found between problem-solving skills and gender, the school attended, mother and father’s education level. Also, it was found that the students frequently used “Basic Science Process Skills” and that there is not any statistically significant difference between science process skills and gender and maternal education level yet there is a significant difference between science process skills and the school attended and father’s education level and “Integrated Process Skills” were found to be correlated with father’s education level. On the other hand, learning styles were found to be varying significantly depending on the school attended but not depending on gender and maternal education level and father’s education level and it was also found that the highest number of students has the “Diverging” learning style while the lowest number of students has the “Accommodating” learning style. Thus, it can be said that planning instructional and educational activities in such a way as to give feedbacks to individual students can increase efficiency of learners.

Artificial Neural Network Model for Prediction of Students’ Success in Learning Programming

This paper presents the model for predicting students’ success in acquiring programming knowledge and skills. In order to collect the data needed for development of the model, 159 undergraduate IT students from Faculty of Technical Sciences in Čačak were tested. Other relevant data were also gathered for each student: high school, the subject he/she took at the entrance exam, size of student’s birthplace, average high school grade, points from high school, gender, previous education, existence of IT educational profile in high school, study year, percentage of attendance on classes, reason for enrolment, subjective assessment of preparedness for programming, solving sequential tasks, type of programming student prefers, subjective assessment of preparedness for working in industry, solving tasks with branching and cycle, solving complex tasks, knowledge level, formal education, informal education, Kolb's learning style. Based on the results about the relevance of the parameters, the model reached an accuracy of 92.3%. In order to facilitate the use of the created model, a Web-based application for displaying the results were created. The application was primarily created for teachers with no experience in working with neural networks, who can use it for planning the teaching process based on prediction of students’ performance.

Differences in learning styles, critical thinking skills, and peer evaluations between students with and without leadership engagement

IntroductionLeadership has long been suggested as an attribute essential to the pharmacy profession. Academic pharmacy has identified and addressed the need for leadership development among student pharmacists. The objective of this study is to assess differences in learning styles, critical thinking skills, and peer-perceived leadership skill evaluations between those with vs. without student leadership engagement (SLE). MethodsFour cohorts of pharmacy students were included in the analysis. Each student completed the Kolb Learning Style Inventory and Health Science Reasoning Test (HSRT) during pharmacy school orientation. Student-peer evaluation scores were derived from three courses and assessed important leadership skills such as communication, critical thinking, teamwork, and professionalism. Descriptive analysis was performed; group difference was tested using independent group t-tests on continuous variables and Fisher exact tests on categorical variables. ResultsThis study included 205 pharmacy students from the Classes of 2018 to 2021; 63 students (31%) displayed SLE. No significant differences were found in the peer evaluation scores between students with and without SLE. Students with SLE showed significantly higher scores in domains of the HSRT and the overall HSRT score. ConclusionsThe study results showed that HSRT assessment of critical thinking skills was significantly higher in students engaging in leadership, suggesting that HSRT should be explored as a possible predictor for SLE in future studies.

Analysis of Students' Mathematical Problem Solving Ability in terms of Student Learning Styles with Models Problem Based Learning

This study aims to analyze and determine: (1) the level of mathematical problem solving ability in terms of learning styles after implementing problem-based learning; (2) errors and difficultiesexperienced by students in solving math problem solving abilities in terms of learning styles after implementing problem-based learning. This research is a descriptive qualitative research. The subjects of this study were 32 students of SMA Negeri 1 Rantau Selatan class X MIPA 1, who were then appointed to interview subjects based on the Kolb & Kolb learning style, namely accommodation, divergent, assimilation, and convergent based on the level obtained based on indicators and aspects of difficulty. The research results are as follows: (1) there are 8 students (25%) has a learning style accommodation with the level of mathematical problem solving ability medium category amounted to 3 students, and low category amounted to 5 students; there are 11 students(34.37%) have a divergent learning style with a level of mathematical problem solving ability 1 student in high category, 4 students in medium category, 6 students in low category; exist 9 students (28.13%) have an assimilating learning style with a level of mathematical problem solving ability medium category amounted to 2 students, and low category amounted to 7 people; exist4 students (12.5%) have a convergent learning style with a level of mathematical problem solving ability medium category amounted to 3 students, with the low category amounted to 1 student;(2) for students' difficulties with accommodation learning styles, students have difficulty on principle indicators; for the difficulties of students with divergent learning styles, students have difficulty on indicators of concepts and principles; for the difficulties of students with assimilation learning styles, students have difficulty in the concept indicators and indicators of verbal problems; for the difficulty of students with convergent learning styles, students have difficulty on principle indicators.

Assessing learning styles of medical students using Kolb's learning style inventory and their association with preferred teaching methodologies.

To determine the frequency of learning styles of medical students and their association with preferred teaching methodologies. The cross-sectional study was conducted at Baqai Medical College, Gadap, Karachi, form July to October 2019, and comprised medical students regardless of age, gender and academic year. David Kolb's learning style questionnaire, along with another questionnaire, was used to collect data. Data was analysed using SPSS 23. Of the 523 students, 213(40.7%) were males and 310(59.3%) were females. The overall mean age was 21.5±1.69 years. Of the total, 268(51.7%) students were divergers, 118(22.8%) assimilators, 86(16.6%) accomodators and 46(8.9%) were convergers. There was a significant association between learning styles and selected teaching methodologies (p<0.05). Majority students were found to be divergers and assimilators. Aligning instructional strategies with learning styles will improve learning and academic performance.

An Analysis of Students’ Error in Learning Mathematical Problem Solving; the Perspective of David Kolb’s Theory

Schoenfeld and Sloane argued that the main task of mathematics education is to explain students’ thought processes in order to improve the quality of mathematics learning. Many students make errors in answering maths tests. It turns out that various types of errors depend on students’ learning styles. The focus of this research was to analyze students’ errors in solving mathematics problems based on differences in students’ learning styles according to David Kolb’s theory of experiential learning. The study was conducted at Vocational Middle School in Cirebon-Indonesia. The research used a qualitative research case study approach. The instrument used in this study was the Kolb Learning Style Inventory (KLSI version 3.1), and math tests. For data analysis, this study used triangulation techniques. The four categories of learning orientations were found among 24 students who participated in this study, namely converging, accommodating, assimilating, and diverging. The difference with other studies is that this study focuses on discussing student errors based on learning styles. Each type of learning style was associated with its unique errors. Errors made by divergers were procedural errors and misunderstandings; the assimilators’ types of error were procedural and conceptual errors; the convergers’ error type was a procedural error; the type of error made by accommodators was a theoretical error. Conceptual errors were caused by a misunderstanding of existing concepts, leading the students to make errors in the answer to math tests. Strategy errors can be encountered by students when they were stuck in the answer to a math test. A procedural error occurred when students used a non-systematic method in completing the test.

Changes in Learning Style: Does it Change?

Background: Learning styles can change over time. Changes in learning styles can be influenced by the learning environment that students accept. The dominant learning style provides an overview of students' adjustment in the learning environment. The studies aim to analyze the changes in the learning styles of medical students in the Faculty of Medicine over the past three years. Methods: A cohort study was conducted to medical students in 2016 and 2017 (n= 107). All students were asked to fill out Kolb learning styles questionnaire twice, first during the first semester and the second in semester V. A comparative analysis was conducted to measure the significance of changes in learning styles. Results: The most learning styles in the first semester were Diverger (40.4%), followed by Converger (24.6%), Assimilator (19.3%), and Accommodator (15.8%). In the fifth semester still dominated by Diverger (33.3%), Converger (28.1%), Accomodator (21.1%), and Assimilator (17, 5%). There was no significant difference found between student learning styles in the first year and third year (p> 0.05). Conclusion: There is no difference in the dominant learning style between the first year and the third year. But there are changes in student learning styles over time.