Transcript Learning Style and Online Learning

Reflectors as online extraverts?
Educational Studies, Vol. 30, No. 3, September 2004
Dr. Kevin Downing & Ms. Alice Chim
Research Questions & Operational Definitions
• Do Learning Styles work
online and if so, how?
• Learning Styles (Honey and
Mumford, 1982)
– Activists
– Pragmatists
– Theorists
– Reflectors
• Blended Learning
Gandell et al. (2000)
• Minimal: Use of web neither
•
•
•
•
relevant or necessary to achieve
learning goals
Supplemental: Use of web relevant
but not necessary to achieve a few
explicitly stated learning goals
Integral: Use of web relevant and
contributes to achieving some learning
goals
Central: Use of web that is relevant
and necessary to achieve most
learning goals in the course
Exclusive: Use of web that is
relevant and necessary to achieve all
learning goals in the course
What does the literature tell us?
Salmon (2001):
•Activists are Extraverts
•Pragmatists are Extraverts
•Theorists are Introverts
•Reflectors are Introverts
Barron (2002):
Reflectors prevalent amongst
Asian degree students
(Quantitative)
Results: Reflectors prefer online learning to
‘traditional’ learning modes
Mode of delivery
Table 1: Matched Pairs TFQ Distribution of Scores
for Reflectors (N=32 Matched Pairs)
20
17
15
15
15
10
5
Traditional
8
2
0
7
6
7
0
0
00
00
00
5
4
3
2
1
TFQ scores
Online
(Blended)
(Qualitative)
Traditional mode vs. Online mode
• Traditional mode
- Difficulties in
comprehension during
lesson
- Get lost easily
• Online mode
- Learn better
- Able to do preparation in
advance
- Understand better during
lessons
Student Feedback (Traditional class)
• “I have not had time to process
the information during lessons.”
• “Sometimes the teachers ask us
questions, and I have no idea
what the answers are.”
• “I see other students having
discussion with the peers and
the teacher, but I don’t really
understand what they are
talking about”
• “Sometimes, I got lost in the
lessons.”
Student Feedback (Online class)
•
“I downloaded the materials from the
web platform and read it before the
lesson, then I found that it helped me
to understand better during lesson.”
•
Although we do not see each other
often, the bulletin board is certainly a
great tool that we are learning online
at home as well.
•
I certainly enjoy a lot and I hope more
people can join and share more views.
One head is not better than two heads
and two heads is not better than
three....four....five. Imagine we bring
all the intelligence/experience together,
it becomes the knowledge reservoir.
•
I enjoyed this course so much. Though
it's an online course, I think it's
somehow more interactive than some
normal courses.
Some Preliminary Conclusions
• Extraversion/Introversion shows
potential as a predictive measure
of student satisfaction in
online/blended learning modes of
delivery.
• Salmon’s (2001) results are not
supported: Reflectors are Online
Extraverts!
• Previous research assertions
correlating the Reflector
learning style with high reported
student satisfaction are
supported.
• It seems that Reflectors behave
as Introverts in the traditional
classroom and Extraverts online.
Thank you very much 