Although students vary in their abilities and interests, "hyper-individualizing" the curriculum in an attempt to accommodate these differences is not the best way to help each student excel, write Willingham and Daniel. Drawing on educational research, the authors give examples of several cognitive must haves (things that the cognitive system…

Educators have three approaches to learning styles: focusing on the individual, using comprehensive models to adapt instruction to major learning differences, and identifying key elements of an individual's learning style and matching instruction and materials to these differences. One controversial aspect of learning styles is the use of…

An associate law professor recounts the incompatibility of his own professors' analytical teaching methods with her dynamic learning mode. Since learning the 4MAT principles, she has used alternative approaches to help law students move from experiential learning to abstract thought, to practical theory applications, and to development of new…

Reared in a hierarchical environment, teachers in Germany have had difficulty working with team structures despite the benefit of increased professional autonomy. The Holweide Gesamitschule in Cologne, a large comprehensive high school begun in 1975, developed a plan to diminish big-school anonymity and emphasize cooperation among children of…

Student differences in learning mathematics are categorized under four different mathematical learning styles. The names of books providing examples on how mathematics teachers can differentiate their classroom instructions are mentioned.

In this interview, James Block explains the model of mastery learning, developed by himself and B. Bloom, according to which individual differences in academic ability are lessened by appropriate teaching methods. (GW)

Cultures have distinctive learning style patterns, but the great variation among individuals within groups requires educators to use diverse teaching strategies. Researchers identify three kinds of information about culture and learning styles: observation-based descriptions of cultural groups of learners, data-based descriptions of specific…

Rip Van Winkle would not recognize Corsicana (Texas) High School since its curriculum coordinator began implementing learning styles techniques in various pilot programs. Lecturing to rows of bored students has been replaced by students' active involvement in group activities, listening centers, and tactile/kinesthetic exercises on the floor or at…

As dropout and student disengagement rates reach alarmingly high levels, learning styles theory offers one way to expand teaching methods and curricula to reach more students. Although accommodating individual differences is appealing, nagging doubts and murky research results (detailed in a sidebar) persist. Another sidebar explores culture/style…