Aja Williams Bolen Research II

Literature Review
For this experiment the dependent variables are learning styles. These learning styles include: Aural (auditory), Visual, Logical (mathematical), Verbal (linguistic), and Physical. Auditory learning is a learning style in which a person learns through listening. Today this learning style appeals to individuals who are able to encounter and retain information that is delivered in some type of verbal presentation. Students with this learning style benefit form verbal instruction, group discussions, verbal reinforcement, group activities, reading aloud, and putting information into a rhythmic pattern such as rap, poem, or song. Visual learning is a learning style in which ideas, concepts, data, and other information are associated with images and techniques. Today, visual learning is one of the most common learning styles. Students with this learning style benefit from graphic organizers, Venn diagrams, and pie charts. Logical learning is a learning style in which a person uses basic logic systems such as math and numbers. Students with this learning typically excel in trigonometry and algebra. Verbal learning is a learning style in which both written and spoken word is used to learn. Students with this learning style benefit from techniques that involve speaking and writing. They would also benefit from scripting, songs, or jingles. The independent variables for this experiment are the grade levels of the students taking the survey. This is because the project tested to see which learning styles are most common within these grade levels. The grade levels that were tested are sixth through twelfth grade. A similar study used seventh graders up to age fourteen. I chose to use grades 6th through twelve

Aja Williams Bolen Research II because it would give me more data. The more data I receive, the more likely it is that the results will be accurate. I have noticed a few inconsistencies within the similar literature on this topic. One inconsistency is that many studies dont list the learning styles that they use in the experiment. My study uses specific learning styles for all of the grade levels. I think that this is important information because the learning styles are an important part of the experiment. Another thing that I noticed was that most studies didnt test the same thing. Some studies tested how gender determines learning style, while others tested different things. The studies that I looked at were all different. If these experiments were redone, some of the results may have turned out differently. I also noticed that not very many learning styles were tested. I am testing the 5 specific learning styles. Other studies tested three learning styles. The tested learning styles tended to be auditory, physical, and visual. If more learning styles were tested, the results would have been different. Most previous research says that visual learning is the most common learning style. Auditory tends to be the second most common learning style. Previous studies vary on whether or not gender affects learning styles. The rationale for this project is that there is no literature for this experiment. There are many research papers that study similar topics, but none of the ones that I read are exactly the same as my experiment. One difference between this experiment and other experiments is that other experiments such as The Relationships between Pupils' Learning Styles and Their Performance in Mini Science Projects use different learning styles. It is important for this topic

Aja Williams Bolen Research II to be studied because it could lead to future research that could be used to help teachers determine better teaching methods. The use of different grade levels will help determine which learning style is the most common among different levels. This could possibly lead to different grade levels being taught to benefit the most common learning styles or classes could eventually be divided by learning style in the future.

Aja Williams Bolen Research II Alaoutinen, S. (2012). Evaluating the Effect of Learning Style and Student Backround on Self Assessment Accuracy. Computer Science Education, 175-198. Hung, Y. (2012). The Effect of Teaching Methods and Learning Style on Learning Program Design in Web Based Education Systems. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 409-427. Kurshid, F., & Mahmood, N. (2012). Learning Styles of Natural Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities Students at Graduate Level. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 672-678. O'Leary, C., & Stewart, J. (2013). The Interaction of Learning Styles and Teaching Methodologies in Accounting Ethical Instruction. Journal of Business Ethics, 225-241. Samms, C. & Friendel, C. (2012). Relationship Between Dissimilar Cognitive Styles and Use of Learning Strategies in Undergraduate Students.Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, 113-130 Sengodan, V., & Iksan, Z. (2012). Students' Learning Style and Intrinsic Motivation in Learning Mathematics. Asian Social Science, 17-23. Weng, P. (2012). The Effect of Learning Strategy Use by EFL Learners. Journal of Social Sciences, 230-234.