An Analysis of Two Alternate Learning Models: Learning Styles and Dual Coding

This presentation will examine research evidence behind two alternate and mutually exclusive learning models- learning styles and dual coding. The most common incarnation of each model is based on learning modalities, and each makes predictions about how learners process auditory and visual stimuli. Learning styles instruction has found wide acceptance in public perception and throughout education at all levels, yet recent research has questioned its efficacy. Dual coding is more strongly supported by empirical research yet less well known and less commonly used in practice. This presentation will include a demonstration that tests both models. The demonstration mirrors the procedures implemented in the empirical study that we are conducting and that we expect to publish in 2015. We will explain how a significant interaction effect is necessary to confirm the matching hypothesis, the foundation of the learning styles model. We will preview the results of our study and describe the implications of the findings. The audience will learn about the relative efficacy of these two mutually exclusive models, come to understand the underlying research methodology for testing them, and learn about the implications of applying each in a classroom setting