Different learning styles among automotive students in order to determine appropriate pedagogy at TOC classrooms. Essay

The purpose of this study is to better understand the different learning styles among automotive students in order to determine appropriate pedagogy at TOC classrooms.
1.4 Objective of Study
The primary objectives of this study are
i) To identify students learning style by using Honey and Mumfords (1992) Learning Style
Questionnaire theory (LSQ)
ii) To identify suitable pedagogy to be used in vocational classrooms by using students learning
style
1.5 Research Question
i) What are the learning styles of the students in vocational classroom?
ii) What is the suitable pedagogy to be used in vocational classroom based on students
learning styles?
1.6 Hypothesis
i) Students have all the four types of learning styles (Activists, Reflectors, Theorists and
Pragmatists) in vocational classroom.
ii) A mix of pedagogy should be used in the vocational classroom according to the learning
style proportion.
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
In this chapter a thorough review was done on learning style theory, the pedagogy complementing with it and how to implement it in the vocational classroom context. The review was done based on the popular Honey and Mumford LSQ (2000).
2.2 Vocational Education
As many commentators have indicated (Coffield, 2008 Grollmann, 2008), vocational education has suffered a relative lack of esteem when compared with school or university education. This has in turn has impacted on the body of research into vocational education, which, in the UK in particular, is sparse. Ofsted (2010) reported that the delivery of vocational education and training was variable in quality. Too much teaching and learning was mediocre and more emphasis was required on meeting individuals needs through more suitable teaching methods.
2.3 Learning Style
The term learning styles is widely used to describe how learners gather, sift through, interpret, organize, come to conclusions about, and store information for further use. There are well over 70 different learning styles schemes (Coffield, 2004), most of which are supported by a thriving industry devoted to publishing learningstyles tests and guidebooks and professional development workshops for teachers and educators (Pashler, et al., 2009, p. 105).
Despite the variation in categories, the fundamental idea behind learning styles is the same that each of us has a specific learning style (sometimes called a preference), and we learn best when information is presented to us in this style. For example, visual learners would learn any subject matter best if given graphically or through other kinds of visual images, kinesthetic learners would learn more effectively if they could involve bodily movements in the learning process, and so on. The message thus given to instructors is that optimal instruction requires diagnosing individuals learning style[s] and tailoring instruction accordingly (Pashler, et al., 2009, p. 105).
Although learning styles have been heavily researched (Duff & Duffy, 2002 LhoriPosey, 2003 Coffield et al., 2004 Herbert & Stenfors, 2007 Sievers, 2007 Hyde, 2007 Kayes, 2007 Garcia et al., 2007 Demirbas & Demirkan, 2007 Armstrong & Mahmud, 2008 Li et al., 2008), little is known about Malaysian students learning styles, especially in the field of automotive.