Learning Styles

The Dunn and Dunn Model

One of the most widely used learning style models is that of education researchers Rita and Kenneth Dunn. They proposed that individuals’ learning styles vary on five key dimensions: (1) environmental, (2) emotional support, (3) sociological composition, (4) physiological, and (5) psychological. The environmental dimension refers to individuals’ learning preferences related to the physical environment (e.g., temperature, light, seating arrangement). The emotional dimension refers to students’ preferences related to the amount of external structure, support, and motivation in a learning context. The sociological dimension refers to the amount and kinds of interactions (e.g., studying alone or in groups) individuals prefer during learning. The physiological dimension refers to individuals’ preferences related to movement, time of day, and food intake. Finally, the psychological dimension refers to individuals’ preferences for general learning strategies, such as global versus analytic strategies. An individual’s unique combination of preferences on these five dimensions defines his or her learning style.

Fleming’s VARK Model

The VARK model, developed by Neil Fleming, a teacher and researcher from New Zealand, proposes that there are four distinct learning styles: visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinesthetic. According to this model, visual learners prefer information in visual form, such as graphs, drawings, diagrams, and highlighting with different colors. Second, auditory learners prefer to learn by listening and benefit from group discussions, oral stories, and verbal explanations. Moreover, reading/writing learners prefer written information and benefit from books, bulleted lists, and writing assignments. Finally, kinesthetic learners prefer to learn by moving, touching, and doing—and so they benefit from hands-on activities, such as performing experiments and role playing.

Few individuals, however, fall exclusively into one of these categories. Approximately 60% of the population is considered multimodal, meaning they exhibit preferences in several categories.

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