Led by the eye or the ear: Using I-HEAR © to assess how children learn

Abstract

The present study aimed to determine whether a preferred learning style, either visual-spatial or auditory-sequential, could be assessed through the application of cognitive test items derived from the school curriculum. In this context the I-HEAR © Assessment was developed to enable the process. It comprised two paired components using paired-test items addressing preferred learning style. These were administered, with the auditory-sequential items presented aurally and the visual-spatial items presented in both visual and oral format. The assessment was administered to a cohort of students whose average age was seven years, in a coeducational primary school in a low socio-economic suburb in the outer metropolitan area of the capital city of a state in Australia. The participants included students receiving assistance in literacy, a student with autism and two students identified as gifted. The identification of preferred visual-spatial learning styles through objective cognitive test items was compared to the only available published alternative (Silverman, 2002), which is a subjective self-report using personality trait test items. The findings of the current study suggest that the I-HEAR © Assessment is capable of identifying visual-spatial learners. However, there was considerable disparity between the results using the IHEAR © Assessment and the results using Silverman (2002). It could be contended that the cohort of 20 students was too small for the statistical outcomes to be applied to the general population. Nevertheless, the number is enough to give a very strong suggestion that the validity of Silverman's (2002) Visual-Spatial Identifier (VSI) should be seriously questioned. The I-HEAR © Assessment model is proposed as an alternative to Silverman's VSI in that it is cognitive based, validated, low cost, easy to administer in the classroom and the result is immediately available.