12 Responses

1. Suggestions …
   Hi Jennefer, if you haven’t already discovered this you’ll be battling against copyright issues with regards to finding an appropriate tool. Personally I would recommend the Honey & Mumford Learning Styles questionnaire which can be found on Peter Honey’s website. This has copyright issues but it would be worth spending a few quid just to complete it for your own personal development. As a trainer being aware of your own preferences can ensure greater effort in trying to achieve a better balance with your training material. One thing you may wish to try (which may get around some copyright issues) would be individual learning preferences through the representational systems. Better known as visual (seeing), auditory (listening) and kinesthetic (feeling) preferences people can also learn by using these preferences and tend to be more inclined towards one of the three. There are two further preferences – smelling and tasting – which are not often referred to but they are recognised preferences. Also known in the world of NLP as the sub-modalities. There’s stacks of info on learning using these preferences which might suit your needs.

2. Ascertaining Learning styles
   Jennefer

   I agree with the previous reply and would advocate the use of Honey and Mumford Learning Styles. The link for this is

   http://www.peterhoney.com/content/LearningStylesQuestionnaire.html

   An additional option is Multiple Intelligences developed by Dr Howard Gardner of Harvard University

   http://www.acceleratedlearning.com/method/test_your_style.html

   I hope this helps
   Graham
   http://www.accelerate.uk.com

3. Learning Styles
   Learning Styles

   The Honey & Mumford questionnaire was developed from work done by Kolb. If you look at the resources section on http://www.trainerbase.co.uk you will find a Kolb Learning Style Questionnaire. This has been checked against the Honey & Mumford version and the accuracy is about 95% or so.

   The resources can be found more easily if you look for my profile on TB and then look at my resource section.

   Andrew Miller
   http://www.rubus-consultants.co.uk

4. Learning Styles
   Jennefer
   My answer will depend on how you want to use the questionaire. If you want a good medium to discuss the issues of how different people learn then – something indicative rather than diagnostic – I would endorse others’ views. The Honey & Mumford questionnaire is easy to use and, in my view, is an excellent tool to introduce someone to the topic.
   Some academics argue that most learning style profiles are not as robust as they might be. There is a good critical review of learning styles at http://www.lsda.org.uk/files/PDF/Unplearnstylespost16.pdf
   In this review the Cognitive Styles Index appears to come out strongest. The research is pretty good but, like most research, it seems to focus on validity rather than utility. In other words, insufficient account is given to how a tool is most commonly used and how valuable it can be if it is used appropriately.
   Graham

5. A couple of alternatives…
   I have to agree that Honey and Mumford’s questionnaire is hard to beat. However, for an alternative approach, why not consider multiple intelligences, as devised by Howard Gardener?

   Not strictly about learning styles, but it can help to understand why people are good at and find it easier to master certain things or in a certain way.

   Also, their is the NLP based ‘VAKOG’ model, which is also sometimes used in relation to learning.

   If you visit http://www.businessballs.com, you will find information and free tests on both of these theories.

6. Conversations are key
   I think that it’s important not to get too ‘hung up’ over the relative merits of particular questionnaires, whether in relation to learning styles or any other aspect of people and organisational development.

   Whatever the topic and whichever questionnaire is used to generate data, the most important aspect of the process for me is the conversations that these stimulate – both of the self-reflective kind and, more importantly perhaps, between people.

   If questionnaires (or other models and frameworks for that matter) help to shift the conversations in organisationally beneficial and personally meaningful ways, they will have served their purpose.

7. Type Preferences and Trainer/Learner Styles
   Just thought I’d do some internal promotion for TrainingZone and cross-reference this discussion with a feature that a colleague of mine has just contributed:

   https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/item/185696

   We focus a lot on learner styles, but maybe less so on trainer styles. Yet the two go hand in hand together.

   Tim

8. Learning Style Self Assessment
   I have a really simple document which can create discussion within a group at the outset of a course – mail me at mrob@misco.co.uk and I will forward it to you

9. The original and best
   The original and best has to be the Honey & Mumford LSQ – by a long way. Not only does the instrument have good face validity, but the reports from the latest version add a lot of value.

   If you are looking for ‘fun’ light weight learning styles questionnaires I have recently published 2 on the resource zone of our site. These are intended for self development reflection only and are not as robust as the original LSQ.

10. Learning Styles Online
    Having used H&M learner and VAK plus the H&M trainer styles questionnaire i came across this one, follow the link its free and combines many of the previously used.
    http://www.learning-styles-online.com/ plus more
    Additionally allows you to share online and profile a group.

11. Learning Styles
    I agree with Graham that what is ‘good’ and ‘useful’ depends on the use you wish to make of them.
    Honey and Mumford (Kolb) provides interesting pedagogical theory and discussion but I reckon a straightforward VAK (visual, auditory, kinaesthetic) questionnaire for students, together with a handout on different ways to support their own learning that tie in to their preferences, is a useful tool for them.
    As for tutors / teachers – we should, in any case, be varying our methods so that they are accessible to as many learners as possible.

12. measuring learning styles

    Hi

    I would suggest 3 instrument for consideration:

    1) LSQ

    2) The Cognitive Style Index (assessing an individual’s preferred way of learning in terms of the way they gather, process and evaluate data in order to solve problems, make decisions and carry out tasks) 

    3) Golden Personality Type Profiler 

    All above are published in the UK from PEARSON’s occupational test division http://www.TalentLens.co.uk