Some interactions between personality and differing strategies of instruction, with special reference to employment rehabilitation

The thesis is generally concerned with the exploration of individual differences in learning. Particular emphasis is placed upon the examination of the effects of personality factors on learning achievement from different.teaching strategies. First the relevant literature and prevalent theories were reviewed. This analysis suggested that the factors anxiety and intelligence are of paramount importance for an explanation of learning differences. However the evidence also indicated a need to examine the interactions between these factors and their relationship to teaching strategies. It was discerned that the teaching strategies which had been employed varied from predominantly discovery to predominantly reception. Consequently these two extremes were chosen for experimental comparison and analysis. The general impressions gained from the literature were supported by the results of two preliminary studies. The first of these dealt with the production and evaluation of a computer assisted teaching programme, and the second with the creation of a training scheme. The scheme involved analysis of learning tasks according to types of learning strategy combined with data on individual differences to produce Instructional Strategy Templates (I.S.T.s) as a basis for selecting appropriate teaching strategies for various types of task. [Continues.