LEARNING STYLES OF LEARNERS AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN
INSTRUCTION

Mrs. Rosamma Joseph,
Page No. 67-76

A learning style is a student's consistent way of responding to and using stimuli in the context of
learning. Learning styles are influenced by many factors like culture, technological age, gender,
years of schooling, type of learning environment, heredity, personality and communication and
perception skills. There are many learning style models based on the three schools of thought viz,
perceptual model (VAK model), personality model (Myers Brigg model) and information processing
models(Kolb’s model). Learners having a particular learning style possess characteristic features.
The learning style of a student can be identified using various learning style assessment tools. This
helps the teacher to guide the student as to which learning strategies are best for him/her. It also
enables the teachers to use different teaching methods to match the learning styles of the learners in
her class. Learning styles can also give a clue which courses may be best for a learner. Thus
knowledge of learning styles can help in improving the academic performance of the learner.
Keywords : learning style, learning style models, learning style assessment instrument, learning
strategies, methods of teaching, academic performance