UNIT 3
3.2 Personality Types

Personality Types:

Learning Styles & Thinking Preferences

Learning styles can be defined as the various approaches to learning developed by individuals over time. It seems obvious that individuals have different ways of collecting, processing and organizing information in the learning process. What is not obvious is the application and integration of these theories into instructional strategies in post-secondary classrooms. Learning styles research is providing a basis to effect change in our current education system and hopefully raise the educational levels of all students.

Today, there are many learning style assessment tools readily available to help instructors understand the learning characteristics of their students. These assessment tools often encompass personality and thinking preference instruments coupled with the more traditional learning assessment tools. This assessment information can also assist students in determining their most efficient and effective learning method. Instruments are available such as the Kolb's "Learning Style Indicator," the Myers-Briggs Inventory, Soloman's "Inventory of Learning Styles," Gregorc's Style Delineator, the Canfield Learning Styles Instrument, Bishop's Personality Spectrum and Barsch's "Adult Learning Style Profile."

The Myers-Briggs Inventory identifies personality types. This inventory is based on personality characteristics as described by Carl Jung in his book, Psychological Types. His theory is that individuals perceive their world and reach conclusions with the following preferences:

• sensing versus intuition;
• judging versus perception,
• thinking versus feeling, and
• extroversion versus introversion.

The Myers Briggs can be used to assess children through adults and this instrument has a high level of reliability (.48 to .83). (1997 McFarland).

The Kolb Learning Style Indicator used John Dewey's theories of experiential learning which identifies four sequential learning phases:

• concrete experience -- learner actively involved in learning,
• reflective observation - learner thinks about the learning experience,
• abstract conceptualization - formulation of theories about the experience and
• active experimentation - synthesis of learned information and application to other situations.

Kilb identified four learner groups and named them Divergers (learn with concrete modes and transform through reflective observation), Assimilators (learn through abstract conceptualization and transform knowledge through reflective observation), Convergers (learn with abstract conceptualization and transform through experimentation) and Accommodators (learn through concrete experience and transform through active experimentation. (Reliability .52 to .86) (1997 McFarland).

Gregorc Style Delineator is a learning preference inventory and constructs a paper-pencil graph delineating four categories:

• Abstract - Random (emotion, multidimensional, imaginative, relationships,
• Abstract-Sequential (intellect, logical, sequential, theories), Concrete-Random (intuitive, originality, futuristic, application), and
• Concrete-Sequential (methodical, stable, practical, linear).

It consists of forty words arranged in groups of four. The respondent ranks the words on a scale of one to four. This instrument is self-scoring. A study at Texas A&M with 191 freshman engineering students was conducted utilizing the Gregorc Style Delineator. This study was funded by the National Science Foundation and is contributing to the research being conducted with post-secondary students. The study found that learners with concrete-sequential were more successful in engineering courses than those with abstract-random learning styles. It was also found that there is almost no "learning style preferences: categorized by gender or ethnicity.

Canfield Learning Styles Instrument is based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs and McClelland's theory of achievement motivation. He identified eight preferred conditions for learning (peer, organization, goal setting, competition, instructor, detail, independence, authority).

The Personality Spectrum referenced in Dr. Joyce Bishop's book, Keys to Success, identified thinking preferences and learning styles. Through a series of eight questions and corresponding plotting of the cumulative totals on a diagram, an individual's learning style is graphically represented on a left/right brain diagram. The preferences identified by Dr. Bishop are described as "thinker" (mathematical, analytical, explicit), "giver" (interpersonal, adaptable, idealistic), "organizer" (administrative, organized, disciplined), and "adventurer" (imaginative, simultaneous, artistic). This questionnaire is referenced in the book, Keys to Success, 2ed. Prentice-Hall by Dr. Bishop.

The Adult Learning Style Profile is adapted from the Learning Style form developed by Dr. Ray Barsch. It is a series of thirty statements designed to delineate learning styles into three categories:

• auditory,
• visual, and
• tactile.

Dr. Barsch like Dr. Gardner believes that no style of learning is better than another; but each makes its own demands on the environment of the learner.