Investigating the relationships among instructional strategies and learning styles in online environments

Researchers investigated differences in learner preferences for different types of instructional strategies and learning styles in online environments. Results suggested that matches between students’ learning styles and instructional strategies did not affect their perception of their own learning outcomes, level of effort and involvement, and level of interactions in the course. Data also indicated that no single instructional strategy, among three instructional strategies tested, emerged as superior for high and low field dependent online students. Introduction The Internet has taken center stage today as a preferred medium for the delivery of distance education. Many universities offer online courses that respond to the diverse distance and time needs of today’s learners. These universities provide course instructors with online tools to manage course participation and facilitate learning. Instructors can continuously monitor student progress, provide learners with time to reflect on content and feedback before participating, prompt active participation with content and peers, and offers instructional modules that are designed to appeal to a variety of learning styles and preferences (Hamilton-Pennell, 2002). Learning style can be thought of as the combination of the learners’ motivation, task engagement, and information-processing habits (Aragon, Johnson, & Shaik, 2002). Each learner can have different preferences as to how s/he receives, processes, and recalls information during instruction. Many researchers however, have not controlled for students’ characteristics in their analyses of students’ satisfaction of online instruction (Thurmond, Wambach, & Connors, 2002). Understanding the relationships among learning styles and instructional preferences holds great promise for enhancing educational practice (Claxton & Murrell, 1987). The primary purpose of this exploratory pilot study was to investigate the relationships among learning styles, defined as high and low field dependence, and preferences for, and evaluation of, instructional strategies used in an online course. Field dependence describes the degree to which a learner’s perception or comprehension of information is affected by the surrounding contextual field (Jonassen & Grabowski, 1993). Learning styles are useful because they provide information about individual differences from a cognitive and information-processing standpoint (Smith & Ragan, 1999). Field dependent individuals are more likely to succeed at learning tasks that engage them in: Group oriented and collaborative work situations Situations where individuals have to follow standardized pattern of performance Tests requiring individuals to recall information in the form or structure that it was presented (Jonassen & Grabowski, 1993) . High-field dependent individuals have more difficulty locating the information they are looking for than low field dependent individuals. Low field dependent individuals are more likely to excel at learning tasks involving identification of important aspects of information from a poorly organized body of information. High field dependent individuals tend to accept the information without reorganizing it from the way it was presented to them so low field dependent individuals are likely to reorganize information to fit their own perceptions. Muir (2001) recommends teaching methods that match instructional strategies to field dependenceindependence style. Instructional strategies represent a set of decision that result in plan, method, or series of activities aimed at obtaining a specific goal (Jonassen, Grabinger, & Harris, 1990). Instructional strategies are the activities used to engage learners in the learning process. Many types of instructional strategies are used to engage learner in different ways such as reading, collecting, thinking, etc. Expository strategies may include providing learners with lecture notes. Explanations are often kept simple and direct. Students usually use lecture notes to complete learning activities or respond to posed questions. Collaborative and group work instructional strategies require individuals, often at various levels, to work together to achieve a common goal. Individuals are prompted to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate their ideas collaboratively. Inquisitive (discovery learning)