The relevance of learning styles for international pedagogy in higher education

Abstract

As the number of international students and transnational education agreements continue to rise at an unprecedented rate in many countries, an area of research that continues to lag behind is how far students' learning styles can adapt to different educational contexts. Learning styles research has recently developed from simplistic yet popular models, subjected to recent heavyweight criticisms concerning their validity and reliability, into more complex conceptual models based on metacognitive concepts, processing strategies and motivation. Research based on the latter models tends to be limited to learning styles comparisons of Asian students, particularly from Confucian Heritage Cultures and Western samples. The findings from both psychometric and non-psychometric studies indicate some cultural differences in learning styles. However, there are growing concerns that the application of learning styles concepts from Western cultures and research may not be valid in non-Western education contexts, due to fundamental differences in learning processes or misinterpretation of international students' learning behaviour. This article considers recent developments in the area of learning styles research, including concerns over the validity of popular measures, and their application to international pedagogy. © 2011 Taylor & Francis.