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In 1967, Prof Rita Dunn was asked by the New York State Department of Education to help design and direct a programme that would improve the effectiveness of instruction for students who were not demonstrating appropriate progress. Together with Prof Kenneth Dunn, she developed the Dunn and Dunn Learning Styles Model over the next thirty years (Dunn and Dunn, 1972, 1993).
Both Prof Rita and Kenneth Dunn have served the education service and research academia for more than 40 years. Prof Rita Dunn is the Director, Center for Study of Learning and Teaching Styles, St. John’s University. She is the founding member of the Learning and Teaching Styles Network, which has more than 30 International Learning Centres around the world.
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| Figure 1. The Dunn and Dunn Learning Styles Model (reprinted with kind permission from Prof. Rita Dunn) |
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The 20 elements identified in the model are grouped across five categories:
| • environmental preferences,
• emotional preferences,
• sociological preferences,
• physiological preferences, and
• psychological (cognitive processing) preferences.
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These 20 elements describe the learning environment and approaches that the individual student takes when learning. The model expects an observable improvement in student learning and behaviour when a match between instructional environment and learning styles is obtained (Choy, 2004; Burke, 2000). The model was developed for use across all academic levels for the purpose of improving the performance of students in their learning, and in particular, improving the performance of low and underachieving students.
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A kinaesthetic boy displays a ‘Hand Action’ Strategy to help him remember that a Center Punch in a Design & Technology lesson has a 90 degree tip. |
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Motivation Discovered!
Research studies carried out in Singapore schools mirrored the positive results on student’s academic performance and motivation levels found in studies carried out since the 1970s. After working with 20 teachers and 100 students at Millenia Institute, results showed that the 18-year-old students were more motivated, felt the lessons had become more interesting and indicated that the teaching strategies used during the lessons helped them to remember the concepts more effectively, compared to traditional teaching strategies.
Through the training on learning styles, the 20 teachers displayed a wider repertoire of teaching skills and were more willing to use learning styles in their lessons (Ong-Ooi, Ng, Choy, Tee, Loh & Lim, 2005). The study was repeated the following year with 224 students and a separate group of teachers in the same Centralised Institute with similar positive results. The second study (Tee, Ng & Choy, 2006) was presented at the Teachers’ Conference in Singapore this year.
A Different Grouping Scheme?
The dialogue session presented participants with different possibilities of redeploying teachers and students according to their strengths and how we can make learning styles work in the classroom. One possibility is perhaps grouping students according to their learning styles in different classes. Teachers going into the class would know exactly which strategies would work best for the students.
To make it more effective, teachers with a certain preference or aptitude to teach in certain ways could be matched with the learning styles of the class. For example, a highly verbal teacher could be matched with an auditory class and a teacher who prefers to use PowerPoint slides frequently could be matched with a visual class. In doing so, the quality of teaching and the degree of match could be further enhanced, resulting in better student learning and behaviour.
Burke, K. (2000). Math education, learning styles, and the standards: The winning tri-mathlon. Impact on Instructional Improvement, Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, 29(2), 13-19.
Choy, M. (2004). Reaching Your Child the Right Way through Learning Styles. Singapore: Rank Books.
Dunn, R., & Dunn, K. (1972). Practical approaches to individualising instruction: Contracts and other effective strategies. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Dunn, R. & Dunn, K (1993) Teaching Secondary Students Through Their Individual Learning Styles, US: Allyn and Bacon, Massachusetts.
Ong-Ooi, G.T., Ng, Y.L., Choy, M., Tee, L.H., Loh, H.H. & Lim, A.P. (2005) Applying Learning Styles Methodology in the Classroom. Conference Proceedings at International Conference for Education, National University of Singapore, 416-421.
Tee, L.H., Ng, Y.L. & Choy, M. (2006) Learning @ Millennia with Styles. Conference Proceedings at Teachers’ Conference, Ministry of Education, Singapore.
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