ERIC Number: ED377195
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1994-Apr
Pages: 18
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Evaluating the Use of Learning Styles Instruction To Promote Academic Success among At-Risk 9th Graders.
O'Sullivan, Rita G.; And Others
This study investigated how teachers who are trained to use learning styles and a Learning Styles Laboratory tutoring program can assist at-risk incoming high school freshmen. The study was a collaborative effort among faculty from a state university, students from an historically black private college, and a local high school. Eight teachers at the high school volunteered to participate in the study, completed two days of learning styles instruction training, and identified their four students who were having the most difficulty after the first six weeks of school. These students were then randomly assigned to either a learning styles tutoring program or the comparison group. Overall, 21 students participated in the tutoring program. In addition, all incoming high school freshmen took the "Learning Styles Inventory" and the results for the 21 participants were shared with college-student tutors trained in learning styles instruction. Tutors worked with the students once or twice a week for 50 minutes each. Students' grades for the first and the second nine weeks of school were collected for comparison. Results were mixed. Six of the treatment group realized an improvement in grades, but the number of students in the treatment group with failing grades suggested that the program was not effective. Some of the problems with the program had to do with the attitudes of the high school teachers, their enthusiasm toward the program, and their willingness to give direction to the tutors. (Contains 43 references.) (JB)
Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Black Students, Cognitive Style, College Students, High Risk Students, High School Freshmen, High Schools, Higher Education, Instructional Effectiveness, Partnerships in Education, Preservice Teacher Education, Secondary School Teachers, Student Improvement, Teaching Methods, Transitional Programs, Tutorial Programs, Tutoring, Tutors
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: North Carolina Univ., Greensboro. School of Education.; BellSouth Foundation, Inc. Atlanta, GA.
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Learning Style Inventory
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A