Sunday, April 15, 2007
Learning styles and flexible delivery
Becker, Kehoe and Tennent (2007) investigate the impact of personalised learning styles on online delivery and assessment of students in undergraduate introductory courses in the Faculty of Business and Law at CQU. Using the VARK learning preference approach they find that:
1. Learning style preferences do not appear to influence students level of preference overall for flexible delivery and assessment approaches.
2. A significant percentage of students report that they do not want all course delivery to be online.
3. Those with a preference to aural learning are less likely to desire flexible delivery methods.
4. Those with kinesthetic preference are more likely than those with read/write preference to be offered a choice of assessment.
5. There has been an overall shift to a preference for the inclusion of group assessment within courses.
The authors claim that the results of their study may be 'influenced by the significantly younger respondents and the fact that Generation Y was strongly represented in the sample' (Becker, Kehoe, & Tennant, 2007, p.117).
Becker, K., Kehoe, J., & Tennant, B. (2007). Impact of personalised learning styles on online delivery and assessment. Campus-wide information systems, 24(2), 105-119.
Some principles of youth learning
Choy and Delahaye (2005) used quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate the learning preferences of 17-24 year olds in the vocational and university sectors. They found that youth learners 'indicated a strong preference for surface learning and a surprising preference for unstructured learning (p.6) ...[they] reported a preference for he 'feel good' aspects of andragogy - for example, being able to address the teacher by her or his first name. They were not keen on taking responsibility for what should be learned, how it should be learned or even how it should be assessed. This ambivelance towards responsibility and an acceptance of the 'feel good' aspects of andragogy resonate well with a preference for surface learning' (p.7).(Choy & Delahaye, 2005)
Choy, S., & Delahaye, B. (2005). Some principles of youth learning, Emerging Futures. Recent, Responsive and Relevant Research. Brisbane: Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association.
