Cognitive Style and Pupil Learning Preferences

Abstract

A total of 78 12‐year‐old pupils from four secondary comprehensive schools were given the computer‐presented Cognitive Styles Analysis, which determined the position of each pupil on two learning style dimensions: Wholist‐Analytic and Verbal‐Imagery. They were also given individually a structured interview questionnaire to assess their learning preferences in English and science in terms of: (a) mode of working, (b) task outcomes and (c) social context. The English and science teachers were asked to rate the achievement level of the pupils in their subject and this was used as an index of ability. The main findings were as follows, (a) Preferred Mode of Working: As expected, there was a tendency for Imagers to use pictures and Verbalisers to prefer writing, and this increased with ability and what the subject would naturally allow. There was evidence that lower ability pupils were more constrained by the usual format for the subject than were those of higher ability, (b) Social Context: Overall, Group or Pair was preferred to Individual work. Group work was particularly liked by Wholists and especially by lower ability Wholist‐Imagers. Individual work was least disliked by Analytics, particularly in the case of higher ability Verbalisers (c) Task Outcomes. For open versus closed tasks, open tasks were preferred by lower ability pupils, while high‐ability Wholist‐Imagers preferred closed tasks. The findings were discussed in terms of their implications for current practice.