ERIC_NO:
ED330535
TITLE:
Learning Styles of Native Americans and Asians.
AUTHOR:
More, Arthur J.
PUBLICATION_DATE:
1990
ABSTRACT:
This paper reviews the literature on learning styles of Native Americans and Asian-Americans. Four different operational definitions of "learning
style" or "cognitive style" are presented, related terms are examined,
and inconsistencies of usage in the literature are discussed. Noting the
great diversity among Native American cultures, aspects of Native American
learning style are described: (1) visual-spatial mode of information
processing; (2) tendency toward the global end of the global-sequential
continuum; (3) high levels of field independence; (4) tendency toward
the imaginal end of the verbal-imaginal continuum; and (5) tendency toward
reflectiveness on the reflective-compulsive continuum. These five aspects
are also examined in the literature on two Asian-American cultural
groups--Cantonese Chinese (primarily from Hong Kong) and South Asians
(from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh). This paper finds
considerable support for the proposition that culture affects learning
style. However, the available research has a number of problems: (1)
inconsistency in operational definitions; (2) lack of comparability among
studies; (3) possibly inappropriate use of bipolar continua to describe
learning styles; (4) validity of test instruments across cultures; and
(5) dearth of cross-cultural studies on aspects other than field
independence/dependence. This paper contains 83 references. (SV)
MAJOR_DESCRIPTORS:
American Indians; Asian Americans; Cognitive Style; Educational Research; Learning Modalities; Research Problems;
MINOR DESCRIPTORS:
American Indian Education; Cultural Influences; Elementary Secondary Education; Literature Reviews;
IDENTIFIERS:
*Native Americans
PUBLICATION_TYPE:
070; 150