ADDRESSING DIVERSITY: GENDER DIFFERENCES IN LEARNING STYLE
Learning style, according to Gurian (2001), simply refers to the individual and diverse ways in which students process information. With respect to learning styles, Miller (2001) informs that existing research has established that both student motivation and academic performance improves when instruction is tailored to students' diverse learning styles. In this regard, Miller states that educators have a responsibility to determine the diversity of students' learning styles and ensure that instruction methods accommodate students' learning style needs. This paper explores the thesis that gender is one factor that makes for diversity in learning style and therefore is a factor that educators must understand in their efforts to accommodate student differences in learning style.
Research on Gender Differences in Learning Style
In a discussion of gender differences and learning, Gurian (2001) points out that gender goes beyond biological differences to include both culture and social issues surrounding sex differences. However, it is noted that meta analyses conducted on studies of gender differences in learning style do not show any large differences between boys and girls in terms of cognitive ability, but they do show differences in terms of cognitive processing. In particular, studies are said to show that females are more abstract learners, have more anxiety about studying, learning and success than do males, and are more intuitive learners.
Further, Gurian (2001) states that females tend to be more organized in their approach to learning and they learn better when the approach to instruction carries emotional elements; on the other hand, males learn better when the approach emphasizes logic and thinking skills. Also, if instruction emphasizes tasks, males do better whereas if instruction emphasizes process or discussion of the topic, females do better. In add...