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Summary
When students are unable to learn with complementary resourcestextbooks, films,
or videotapes for visual preference; manipulatives for tactual preferences; tapes or
lectures for auditory preference; or large floor games for kinesthetic preferencethey
do not achieve what they are capable of achieving. Research has revealed the
importance of adjusting learning styles to the learner. In addition, the closer the
match between students learning styles and their teachers teaching styles, the higher
the grade point average (R. Dunn, Griggs, Olson, Gorman, & Beasley, 1995).
R. Dunn and K. Dunn (1992) revealed the benefits of a comprehensive model of
learning styles because not only are many individuals affected by different elements
of a learning style, but so many of the learning elements are capable of increasing
academic achievement.
R. Dunn and Griggs (1995) conceived a Learning Style Model revealing that students
are affected by five main factors:
1. their immediate environment (sound, light, temperature, and
furniture/ setting design)
2. their own emotionality (motivation, persistence, responsibility, or
the opportunity to do things in their own way)
3. their sociological preferences (learning alone or in different-sized
groups)
4. their physiological characteristics (perceptual strengths
represented by auditory, visual, actual, kinesthetic, and
sequenced characteristics)
5. their processing inclination (global/analytical, right/left, impulsive/
reflective)
Further explanation shows how student learning may be affected by these five factors
and their subcategories. Concerning theirimmediate environment, although many
students require quiet while concentrating on difficult information, others literally
learn better with sound than without (Pizzo, as cited in R. Dunn, & K. Dunn, 1992).
In addition, while many people concentrate better in brightly illuminated rooms,
others think better in soft light rather than in bright light. Fluorescent lighting
overstimulates certain learners and causes hyperactivity and restlessness (R. Dunn, K.
Dunn, & Price, 1989).
Other environmental factors that may affect learning include temperature and
furniture/design. Some students achieve better in warm environments and others in

cool environments (Hart, 1981). Some people prefer studying in a wooden, plastic, or
steel chair, but others become so uncomfortable in conventional classroom seats that
they are prevented from learning.
Students own emotionality may also affect their ability to learn. Their inner
motivation, persistence to complete assignments, ability to take responsibility for their
own behavior and work, or the opportunity to do things in their own way may all play
a role in how a student best learns (R. Dunn, & K. Dunn, 1992).
Sociological factors may also affect learning. Teachers need to be aware of the
students learning styles under various conditions. Variations that enhance, or inhibit,
learning may include learning alone, in pairs, in small groups, as part of a team, with
either an authoritative or a collegial adult, and wanting variety as opposed to patterns
and routines (R. Dunn, & K. Dunn, 1992).
Physiological characteristics are another Learning Style Model factor that can affect
student learning. These characteristics refer to when and how students learn best.
Understanding students physiological characteristics will let teachers help students
learn based on their perceptual strengths. The characteristics include time of day,
outside stimulation, energy level, and mobility while studying. For instance, teachers
could encourage students to study at their best time of day, which might be early in
the morning before they leave for school, during lunch or study halls, immediately
after school, or in the evening before they go to bed. Students also react differently to
outside stimulation when they concentrate on studies. Some like to eat, chew gum, or
drink while learning. Some older students may even prefer to smoke while learning.
Still other students may have perceptual strengths in the area of energy level or
mobility. They may study better or work better in a classroom situation if they can
move around while learning and not be confined to one desk space (R. Dunn, & K.
Dunn, 1992).
The way students process information can also affect learning abilities. Some
students are more analytical processors who tend to be persistent. They may not
always start an assignment immediately, but once they do begin, they have a strong
emotional urge to continue until the task is done or until they come to a place where
they feel they can stop. Global learners, on the other hand, tend to prefer learning
with what conventional teachers think of as distractionssound (music, tapping, or
conversation), an informal design (lounging comfortably), soft illumination (covering
their eyes or wearing sunglasses indoors), peer orientation (wanting to work with a
friend), and a need for food (snacks) while studying (R. Dunn, & K. Dunn, 1992).
Two other processing inclinations may affect students learning abilities: right/left and
impulsive/reflective. Some students process information sequentially, analytically, or
in a left-brain mode rather than in a holistic, simultaneous, global, right-brain
fashion. And some students will rush into learning and sometimes work too fast, and
their grades may reflect this. The impulsive students will not spend much time in
learning. A reflective student will spend time thinking about the information,
understanding the content being taught (R. Dunn, & K. Dunn, 1992).
The Learning Style Model and Its Benefits

Using the Learning Style Model, teachers can test and identify students learning
styles accurately (Beaty, 1986). For instance, it is difficult to determine whether a
students hyperactivity is due to a need for mobility, an informal seating arrangement,
kinesthetic resources, or breaks, or to nonconformity or a lack of discipline
(Shaughnessy, 1998). The Learning Style Model is a reliable and valid instrument and
the only comprehensive one that can diagnose the many learning style traits that
influence individuals (Shaughnessy, 1998).
One of the key factors for students in having a knowledge of their learning style is
improved self-esteem (Martin & Potter, 1998). Now these at-risk students exhibit
confidence and accept responsibility for their own learning (Perrin, 1990, p. 24).
When children understand how they learn and how they struggle to learn, they can be
more in control of their environment and ask for what they need (Martin & Potter,
1998). OBrien (1989) stated that perhaps schools should spend more time
developing students awareness of their style rather than pushing teachers into more
inservice workshops about adapting curriculum (p. 85).
When students understand their learning style, they no longer need to feel different
because they require total quiet to study or need to be mobile during class (Martin &
Potter, 1998). Students can learn almost any subject matter when they are taught with
methods and approaches responsive to their learning style strengths; these same
students fail when they are taught in an instructional style dissonant with their
strengths (R. Dunn, 1990, p. 18). De Bello (1996) argued that principals and
teachers have a responsibility to make parents aware of their childrens need for a
study environment that reflects their learning styles strengths(p. 39).
Perhaps the most important people who need to understand the concept of individual
style are parents (Guild & Garger, 1985, p. 85). Parents need to understand the
distinctiveness of their children to help them become better students (Martin & Potter,
1998).
R. Dunn (as cited in Shaughnessy, 1998) concluded that students achieve more when
their teachers teach according to students learning styles. She based her conclusions
on a meta-analysis of 42 experimental studies conducted with the Dunn and Dunn
Learning Style Model between 1980 and 1990 by 13 different institutions of higher
education. These studies revealed that students whose characteristics were
accommodated by educational interventions responsive to their learning styles could
be expected to achieve 75% of a standard deviation higher than students whose styles
were not accommodated.
Moreover, practitioners throughout the United States have reported statistically higher
test scores or grade point averages for students who changed from traditional teaching
to learning-style teaching at all levelselementary, secondary, and college. For
instance, the Frontier, New York, school districts special education high school
program applied the Learning Style Model. After the first year (1987-1988), the
percentage of successful students increased to 66 % from previous years. During the
second year (1988-1989), 91% of the districts population was successful; in the third
year (1989-1990) the results remained constant at 90% (Brunner & Majewski, as cited
in Shaughnessy, 1998).

Two North Carolina elementary principals published similarly startling gains with the
same learning styles program. One principal worked with a K-6 school whose
students were from low-income, minority families. The students had been scoring in
the 30th percentile on the California Achievement Test and were brought up to the
83rd percentile in a three-year period where their learning styles were accommodated
(Andrews,1990). The other principal taught highly tactual learning disabled (LD)
elementary school students with hands-on resources and allowed them to sit
informally in subdued lighting. Within four months, those students showed four
months gain on a standardized achievement test, better than they had previously done
(Stone, 1992).
Finally, a U.S. Department of Education four-year investigation that included on-site
visits, interviews, observations, and examinations of national test data concluded that
attending to learning styles was one of the few strategies that had such a positive
impact on the achievement of special education students throughout the nation
(Alberg, Cook, Fiore, Friend, & Sano, 1992).
Gardners Theory and Its Impact
Howard Gardner, a developmental psychologist, proposed a theory regarding the
nature of intelligence that stands in contradiction to the prevailing psychometric
perspective. This theory of multiple intelligences, posited in Frames of Mind: The
Theory of Multiple Intelligences (1993a), stressed the importance of not viewing
intelligence as uni-dimensional construct, but rather as a series of seven independent
intelligences. The seven intelligences enable the individual to perform
transformations and modifications of ones perceptions and to recreate aspects of
one's experiences (Gardner 1983, p. 173).
The original seven types of intelligences are as follows:
Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence. This is the capacity to employ words effectively,
whether orally (e.g., as a show host, orator, politician, storyteller) or in writing (e.g.,
as a journalist, playwright, poet, editor). A highly verbal/linguistic learner would
enjoy reading, writing, telling stories, and playing word games (Armstrong, 2000).
Students who possess this intelligence have the ability to manipulate: the structure or
rules of language (e.g., punctuation for dramatic effect); the sounds of language ( e.g.,
alliteration); the meaning of language (e.g., double entendre); the pragmatic
dimensions of language; using language to convince (rhetoric); using language to
remember information (mnemonics); using language to explain (expatiation); using
language to talk about itself (metalanguage) (American Education Network
Corporation, 1999).
Logical/Mathematical Intelligence. Logical/mathematical intelligence includes the
ability to use inductive and deductive reasoning, solve abstract problems, and
understand the complex relationships of interrelated concepts, ideas, and
things. Reasoning skills apply to a broad array of areas and include using logical
thinking in science, social studies, literature, and other areas (Bellanca, 1997).
This intelligence also includes the skills of classifying, predicting, prioritizing, and
formulating scientific hypotheses and understanding cause-and-effect
relationships. Young children develop this intelligence as they work with concrete

manipulatives and grasp the concept of one-to-one relationship and numeration. These
critical thinking skills are taught in most schools' curricula, but need to be emphasized
through active learning activities.
Visual/Spatial Intelligence. This intelligence of pictures and images encompasses the
capacity to perceive the visual world accurately and to be able to recreate ones visual
experiences. This intelligence begins with the sharpening of sensorimotor
perceptions. The painter, sculptor, architect, gardener, cartographer, drafter, and
graphic designer all transfer images in their minds to the new object they are creating
or improving. Visual perceptions are mixed with prior knowledge, experience,
emotions, and images to create a new vision for others to experience.
Students with spatial intelligence have the ability to keenly perceive: color, lines,
shapes and forms, space, and the relationship that exists among these elements.
Learners with visual/spatial intelligence also have the ability to visualize, graphically
represent visual or spatial ideas, understand ones position in a special matrix
(American Education Network Corporation, 1999).
Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence. The intelligence of the whole body, particularly the
hands, enables us to control and interpret body motions, manipulate physical objects,
and establish harmony between the mind and the body. It is not limited to athletes, but
includes such skills as a surgeon's fine small-motor control when performing an
intricate heart operation or an airplane navigator's ability to fine-tune delicated
navigational instruments. This intelligence includes specific physical skills such as
coordination, balance, dexterity, strength, flexibility, and speed, as well as
proprioceptive, tactile, and haptic capacities (Armstrong, 2000, p. 2).
Musical/Rhythmic Intelligence. This intelligence starts with the degree of sensitivity
one has to a pattern of sounds and the ability to respond emotionally. As students
develop their musical awareness, they develop the fundamentals of this intelligence. It
further develops as students create more complex and subtle variations of musical
patterns, develop talent on musical instruments, and advance to complex
composition. This intelligence grows as students increase their sophistication when
listening to music. It represents the capacity to perceive (e.g., as a music aficionado),
discriminate (e.g., as a music critic), transform (e.g., as a composer), and express
(e.g., as a performer) musical form (Armstrong, 2000, p. 2).
Interpersonal Intelligence. This is the ability to quickly grasp and evaluate the moods,
intentions, motivations, and feelings of other people. This can include sensitivity to
facial expressions, voice and gestures; the capacity for discriminating among many
different kinds of interpersonal cues; and the ability to respond effectively to those
cues in some pragmatic way (Armstrong, 2000, p. 2).
This intelligence involves verbal and nonverbal communication skills, collaborative
skills, conflict management, consensus building skills, and the ability to trust, respect,
lead, and motivate others to the achievement of a mutually beneficial goal (Bellanca,
1997, p. 24). For example, at a simple level, this intelligence is seen in children who
notice and are sensitive to the moods of the adults around them. A more complex
interpersonal skill is an adult's ability to read and interpret the hidden intentions of
others.

Intrapersonal Intelligence. This intelligence includes having an accurate picture of

oneself (ones strengths and limitations); awareness of inner moods, intentions,
motivations, temperament, and desires; and the capacity for self-discipline, selfunderstanding, and self-esteem (Armstrong, 2000).
An individual of this type of intelligence thrives on time to think, to reflect, and to
complete self-assessments. The need for such introspection makes this intelligence the
most private. In Gardner' s words, the intrapersonal intelligence amounts to little
more than the capacity to distinguish a feeling of pleasure from one of pain and, on
the basis of such discrimination, to become more involved in or to withdraw from a
situation" (1993b, p. 27).
Gardener added Naturalistic Intelligence to his original seven in 1991.
Naturalistic Intelligence. This is the intelligence of students who learn best through
nature. For these students, most learning needs to take place in outdoor
settings. These students enjoy doing nature projects, such as bird watching, butterfly
or insect collecting, tree study, or raising animals. They like studying about ecology,
nature, plants, and animals (Gardner, 1994).
Armstrong (2000) argued that it is very beneficial for these students to have greater
access to developing their naturalistic intelligence inside the school building. So the
schools task is to bring the natural world into the classroom and other areas.
Gardners theory has played a major role in a unique combination that Soares and
Soares (1994) described as the core of three new theories of teacher training that
could be considered the solution to going beyond the traditional theories. Gardners
theory explains how each theory has worked in one university program represented by
(a) the Copernican plan for block scheduling, (b) the application of Howard Gardners
theory of multiple intelligences, and (c) John Deweys basic ideas about process. By
combining these three perspectives, faculty and students are afforded more
opportunities to work together in an interdisciplinary context, to discover the degree
to which children and teachers possess the talents and interests indicated in each of
the seven intelligences, and to develop personal mastery in content, instructional
skills, and learning styles (Armstrong, as cited in Soares, 1998).
In applying the theory of multiple intelligences to the classroom, the curriculum is
organized around the seven capacities: linguistic, logical/mathematical,
bodily/kinesthetic, spatial, musical, interpersonal, and intrapersonal (Gardner, 1991).
The multiple intelligences concept has provided the foundation for much of current
curriculum development (Armstrong, as cited in Soares, 1998) in pre-university
classrooms. The advantages of this approach include the following:

More opportunities for developing childrens strengths and

achieving mastery

More time for connecting the content areas

More provision for improving assessment

Gardeners theory had a catalyzing effect on education. For instance, in general

education there was a push for valuing cultural diversity, and the lens of multiple
intelligences was another way to validate that intelligence is a culturally constructed
construct (Gardner & Avery, 1998). Gardners work has also supported other
important directions in educational practice related to the construct of creativity. By
emphasizing the importance of the field in recognizing a creative achievement, he is
endorsing the value of real-world applications that are subjected to expert judgment.
Gardners insights have also given additional impetus to the fostering of habits of
mind and the importance of intrinsic motivation (Gardner & Avery, 1998).
References
Alberg, J., Cook, L., Fiore, T., Friend, M., & Sano, S.
(1992). Educational approaches and options for integrating students with
disabilities: A decision tool. Triangle Park, NC: Research Triangle Institute.
American Education Network Corporation. (1999). AENC'sEducational
philosophy Recognition of Howard Gardner [On-line].
Available: http://www.aenc.org/ABOUT/MI-Pie.html
Andrews, R. H. (1990). The development of a learning style program in a
low socioeconomic, underachieving North Carolina elementary school. Journal of
Reading, Writing, and Learning Disabilities International, 6 (3) , 307-314.
Armstrong, T. (2000). Multiple intelligences in the classroom (2nd ed.).
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Beaty, S. A. (1986). The effect of inservice training on the ability of teachers
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style. Principal, 76, 38-39.
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styles. Educational Leadership , 48 (2) , 15-19.
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Dunn, R., Griggs, S. A., Olson, J., Gorman, B., & Beasley, M. (1995). A
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