Building Usage and Learning Styles At the Middle Level

Abstract

Phyllis L. Messer is instructor, University of Wyoming, Laramie. This article describes how one learning style measurement tool can be used to improve the instruction of middle level learners.T here are more than 20 forms of identified, measurable learning styles (Fischer and Fischer, 1979;Lepke, 1978;Messick, 1976). One person may have several distinct learning style strengths. The variety of publications and measurement instruments are an indication of the breadth of the field.Some of the instruments are more readily applicable to classroom use than others. This article will deal with one instrument, selected because of its accuracy, its feasible administration and scoring, and the logical use of its resulting profile as a tool for improved instruction for young adolescent students.A learning styles inservice should remind educators that the &dquo;ease of learning&dquo; process is indeed different from intellectual abilities. One primary difference is that learning styles involve the way an individual learns; how mental processing takes place. Intelligence involves the amount that an individual is capable of learning. Second, learning styles affect how all information is processed. A learning style strength influences how a person learns golf, social studies, mathematics, and fly-tying. Inat LAKEHEAD UNIV on March 15, 2015 bul.sagepub.com Downloaded from