The Interaction of Learning Style on Measures of Successful Intelligence in Secondary Agriculture Students Exposed to Experiential and Direct Instruction

Abstract

Understanding the teaching and learning paradigm is a relentless search for educators. Because individual students bring their own learning style preferences to the learning environment, teachers are asked to consider and even adjust their teaching to these preferences to improve student learning. In Kolb's (1984) experiential learning theory, learners have preferences for how they grasp and transform information. These considerations have implications for students' success, or lack thereof, in the classroom. This study determined the interactions that existed between learning style and successful intelligence of secondary agricultural education students. No statistically significant differences were found regarding teaching approaches and students' preferred method of grasping information. However, statistically significant interactions were identified related to students' preferences for transforming information and performance on an analytical assessment. Recommendations point to infusing variability in the classroom, especially in how students are asked to transform the information they have grasped previously. Further research should focus on the motivational outcomes resulting from experiential instruction delivered to students of varying learning styles.

The Effects of an Experiential Approach to Learning on Student Motivation

“…The learning style scales, as a system of measures, explained 14% of the variance in motivation. Extrapolated to the context of this population, students entered the classroom with inherent learning preferences that did not affect their performance (Baker & Robinson, 2014), but did relate to their motivation for the course content. In a subsequent study of this same population, Baker and Robinson (2014) reported that over one-half of the students held an accommodating learning preference and 20% held a divergent learning preference.…”

“…Extrapolated to the context of this population, students entered the classroom with inherent learning preferences that did not affect their performance (Baker & Robinson, 2014), but did relate to their motivation for the course content. In a subsequent study of this same population, Baker and Robinson (2014) reported that over one-half of the students held an accommodating learning preference and 20% held a divergent learning preference. If this population is representative of the general makeup of secondary agricultural education students, a systematic motivational bias is embedded into the system.…”

Exploring the preferred learning style of preservice teachers and how this influences their philosophy of teaching

“…Literature supports the idea of novice teachers teaching how they were taught (Beegle & Coffee, 1991;Oleson & Hora, 2014). Further, positive results are achieved when agriscience students are taught using their preferred learning style (Baker & Robinson, 2019;Smith & Rayfield, 2019). Therefore, there is a need to investigate how preservice teachers' learning styles influence their initial teaching philosophies, which could influence their pedagogical preferences as a novice teacher.…”