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Table 2 Extract of Coffield et al.’s ( 2004 ) stability-taxonomy of learning styles theories

From: Intellectual style theories: different types of categorizations and their relevance for practitioners

Families of learning styles – descriptiona

Example theoriesb

1. Learning styles and preferences are largely constitutionally based including the four modalities VAKT (visual, audio, kinesthetic, tactile)

Learning styles (Dunn and Dunn 1993)

Mind styles (Gregorc 1982; 1988)

Hemisphere dominance (Torrance in Torrance et al. 1976)

2. Learning styles reflect deep-seated features of the cognitive structure, including ’patterns of ability’.

Perception styles (Witkin 1962)

Conceptual tempo (Kagan 1966)

Intellectual structure (Guilford 1967)

3. Learning styles are one component of a relatively stable personality type

Personality types (Myers-Briggs in Myers and McCaulley 1985)

4. Learning styles are flexible stable learning preferences

Learning styles (Kolb 1984)

Decision making styles (Kirton 1976)

5. Move on from learning styles to learning approaches, strategies, orientations and conceptions of learning

Approaches to learning (Entwistle 1988)

Approaches to learning & studying (Biggs 1987)

Approaches to learning (Marton & Säljö in Bowden and Marton 1998)

Learning styles (Grasha and Riechmann 1975)

Learning styles (Vermunt 1998)

Thinking styles (Sternberg 1988, 1997)

  1. Table notes. aThe descriptions are all cited from Coffield et al. (2004, p. 19). bOnly a selection of the theories included in Coffield et al. (2004) are included here.