Additional Learner Characteristics

This information supplements the list of learner characteristics and design implications in Figure 3.1 and Table 3.1 inStreamlined ID.

Characteristics / Implications for Design
Social
  • Relationships to peers
  • Tendencies toward cooperation versus competition
  • Preferences for individual versus team work
  • Moral development
  • Role models
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  • Learner social experiences and preferences can impact instructional formats and activities (group versus individual, cooperative versus competitive, assessments, etc.).
  • Information about learner moral development and role models provides clues for developing instruction that seeks to change attitudes or inspire.

Cognitive Styles*
  • Field dependence/independence
  • Cognitive tempo (reflection/impulsivity)
  • Cognitive information gathering and organization
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  • Just a few of the many cognitive styles that have been proposed over time are listed here. Field dependence/independence, reflection/impulsivity, and other cognitive and learning styles are addressed in the Cognitive Styles & Learning Stylesresource for this chapter.
  • The category of cognitive information gathering and organizing includes a wide range of cognitive styles and controls that have been categorized differently by various researchers. Examples include: leveling/sharpening, scanning, field articulation, conceptual differentiation, constricted/flexible control, category width, cognitive simplicity/complexity, visualizers and verbalizers, and serial/holistic information organizers.

Learning Styles/Preferences*
  • Perceptual modality (visual, auditory, kinesthetic)
  • Locus of Control
  • Personality styles
/
  • Many models and instruments have been developed to test various cognitive and learning styles or preferences. Several of the more influential ones are described in the Cognitive Styles & Learning Styles resourcefor this chapter. Information on the measurement of preferred perceptual modalities and locus of control are included.
  • Personality instruments such as the Myers-Briggs Personality Type inventory measure a wide range of factors, including introversion/extroversion; tolerance for ambiguity, frustration, and unrealistic experiences; achievement motivation; risk-taking versus cautiousness; and sensing/intuiting.

* Due to the variation in categories and lack of valid, or in some cases lack of consistent, empirical evidence for the impact of learning/cognitive styles (Tiedemann, 1989), we refer you to the supplemental Cognitive Styles & Learning Stylesresource for this chapter.

References:

Tiedemann, J. (1989). Measures of cognitive styles: A critical review. Educational Psychologist, 24(3), 261–275.

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