Considers three serious problems associated with learning styles: confusion in definitions, weaknesses in reliability and validity, and the identification of relevant characteristics in instructional settings, or aptitude-treatment interactions. Discusses four basic groups of learning styles that developmental educators should be aware of.…

Information from a survey of temperament and learning styles was used with International Teaching Assistants (ITAs) at the University of Minnesota in an ITA development course to enhance their communication skills and teaching abilities. The study used the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, a condensed version of the Myers-Briggs Temperament Inventory,…

Explores the experiences and research which led Bernice McCarthy to advocate the goal of deliberately helping students to develop skills and potentials inherent in each hemisphere of the brain. Describes the 4MAT system, which equally emphasizes four learning styles (i.e., experience, active experimentation, reflective observation, and abstract…

Asserts that college developmental reading students often start out as passive learners. Describes a college reading lab where students practice active, self-directed, independent learning. States that when students are exposed to self-regulation and metacognition, they learn to manage their own learning activities and an attitude of success can…

J. Robert Hanson responds to questions concerning the "learning style" and "perceptual and judgement functions," styles common among developmental students and members of particular ethnic/social groups, the modification of teaching styles to accommodate students, coownership of the classroom, and ways teachers can facilitate…

Edmund W. Gordon, noted for his research on diverse human characteristics and pedagogy related to the education of low-status populations, responds to questions on learning styles and their modification, cultural background, hemispheric dominance, instructional design, teaching methods, matching teacher and student characteristics, and the use of…

Argues that few new techniques for teaching remedial writing courses work. Suggests that learning styles, a research-based teaching approach, has demonstrated statistically significant results. Explains that learning styles aims to provide learning strategies that are compatible with individual learners. Reports on two experiments conducted at an…

Stresses the importance of metacognitive skills (knowledge of one's own cognitive processes) in mathematical performance. Discusses the differences between metacognitive thinking and metacognitive experiences and the ways they each influence performance. Describes how accurate metacognition improves students' mathematical performance, and outlines…