The Implications of Learning Styles for Training and Development: A Discussion of the Matching Hypothesis
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8551.1996.tb00106.x |
| Author | John Hayes,Christopher W. Allinson |
| Date | 01 March 1996 |
| Published date | 01 March 1996 |
British
Journal
of
Management, Vol.
7,
63-73
(1
996)
Styles
for
The Implications
of
Learning
Training and Development:
A
Discussion
of
the Matching Hypothesis
John Hayes and Christopher
W.
Allinson
School
of
Business
and
Economic Studies,
University
of Leeds,
Blenheim
Terrace,
Leeds
LS2
9JT,
UK
This review paper examines the effect of matching and mismatching learning style and
learning activity and matching and mismatching trainer and trainee learning style on
learning achievement. It also explores the possibility
of
creating a match by promoting
learner adaptability or modifying the trainer’s training style. The implications of this
discussion for training and development are considered.
In a recent paper Hayes and Allinson (1994)
considered the relevance of cognitive style for
management practice. Cognitive style refers to
individual differences in information processing.
It is concerned with the form rather than the con-
tent of activity and relates to how people think,
solve problems, learn and relate to others. Hayes
and Allinson argue that cognitive style may be
used to inform and improve the quality of decision
making in relation to selection and placement,
career planning, task and equipment design, team
composition, conflict management and manage-
ment style. This paper considers some implica-
tions that cognitive style might have for training
and development.
Claxton and Ralston (1978) refer to learning
style as a consistent way of responding to, and
using, stimuli in the context of learning and
DeBello
(1990)
defines it as the way that people
absorb or retain information. Both definitions pre-
sent learning style as a subset of cognitive style.
irn has received
considerable attention in the management litera-
ture. Kolb’s theory of experiential learning (Kolb,
1976, 1984) has been widely used as a basis for
helping individuals identify the kinds of learning
activity which they will find most satisfying and
will improve their learning achievement. It has
The ways in which managers
also been used as a basis for helping individuals
identify weaknesses in their learning style and
suggesting development activities that will make
them more effective learners. Kolb’s theory
focuses
on
the polar extremes of the concrete-
abstract and active-reflective dimensions of
cog-
nitive growth and presents a four-stage cycle of
learning. Concrete experience leads to reflective
observation. These observations are then assimil-
ated into a ‘theory’ through abstract conceptual-
ization from which new implications for action
can be deduced. These implications, or ‘hypo-
theses’, serve as guides for action which are tested
through active experimentation which, in turn,
produces new concrete experiences. Kolb argues
that, ideally, effective learners will be able to
involve themselves fully, openly and without bias
in new experiences (concrete experiences), reflect
on and observe these experiences from many
perspectives (reflective observations), create con-
cepts that integrate their observations into logically
sound theories (abstract conceptualization) and
be able to use these theories to make decisions
and solve problems (active experimentation).
While the most effective learners will be equally
proficient at all these stages in the learning cycle,
in practice learners are rarely like this. By map-
ping the individual’s location on each
of
the
0
1996
British Academy
of
Management
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