Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter shows the material used, such as international and local literatures, articles

and studies. Reviewed and read by the researchers to obtain knowledge and background related

to the conduct of the study.

Foreign Literature

Gabe Keri (2002) stated that female students and male students learn differently. In

general, the studies on males and females learning differences have concluded that more females

are relational learners, whereas more males are independent learners. Using Canfield’s Learning

Style Inventory (1988) more males indicated a preference for applied learning styles (i.e., using

every-day-life experiences as a basis of learning), whereas females preferred abstract (i.e., where

copious reading assignments are required, learning materials are organized, and instructors

demonstrate knowledge).

According to Jones, Reichard and Mokhtari(20003) Learning styles are subject area

sensitive, that a majority of the students perceive different discipline require different learning

strategies and that they are able to adapt or style-flex to meet the requirements of the learning

task. Many students may have some intuition regarding how they learn, many may simply not be

consciously aware of their learning preferences in general, let alone learning in different

disciplines. Increasing student awareness of their own learning styles may be quite helpful in

increasing control of their learning habits and strategies, which should, in turn, influence their

Academic performance.
 This journal shows how the male and female students differ from each other when it

comes to learning or studying. The male students prefer an hand-on experience or assignments

that applied to day to day activities. They tend to explore or draw on their personal everyday life

circumstances to inform their learning. While the female students are conceptual learners where

they prefer to organize their materials for school before they start studying and it is also required

to have a reviewer.

In this journal, it shows that many students have different learning styles in acquiring

different learning task that was given by their teachers. There are also students who are not aware

how they learn or many students do not know what is their learning preference in common. Let

them explore and know his/her learning styles because it helps the students to perform well or

get highest scores in exams or quizzes. Understanding the different learning styles of students

can also help the teachers not only the students because they can implement better strategies in

teaching and for the students they can used better strategies in studying.

Every student has their own studying preference and priorities; some prefer to study

alone while others prefer in group study. According to an article from Thomas Edison State

College (2014) there are things to consider when deciding between studying alone or with a

group of peers. When studying alone it minimizes distraction, it allows you to pace yourself and

it improves focus. While in group study, it increases retention, it expands access to information

and it boosts motivation.

Local Studies

We live in a world that is increasingly dependent on physics and fueled by breakthroughs

in physics research. Technology continually advances, we are beginning to answer questions about

the beginning and end of the universe, and we are discovering amazing things about the interaction

of subatomic particles. Unfortunately, less and less students are studying physics, which is causing

the general public to mitigate their understanding about scientific concepts. According to, students

form opinions about physics in the early years of secondary school, and those beliefs become less

favorable as students get older. One reason that so many people have such a lack of familiarity

with physics is the fact that very few people ever actually take a physics course. Generally, a

negative attitude toward a given subject leads to lack of interest and, when subjects can be selected,

as in senior high school, to avoiding the subject or course. Furthermore, a positive attitude toward

science “leads to a positive commitment to science that influences lifelong interest and learning in

science”. This is one reason why major science education reform efforts have emphasized the

improvement of students’ attitudes. Several studies have identified a number of factors affecting

students’ attitudes towards science in general. These can be largely categorized as gender,

personality traits, structural variables, and curriculum variables. Of these, the most significant is

gender for, stated “sex is probably the most important variable related to pupils” have reported that

males have more positive attitudes toward science than females, while others found no statistically

Significant gender differences. On the other hands, it was initially discovered that teachers and

professors have the single largest influence on students who show an interest in physics. Family

members and famous physicists also had a strong amount of influence, but a student’s peers had

very little influence on that student’s positive interest in physics. Mukherjee (2002) posits that

learning is the sum total of an individual’s life experiences acquired through socialization process.
It exceeds a mere acquisition of information and mastery of skills. It is also the sum total of an

individual’s life experience which are relatively permanent in nature and which have survival value

for the learner. Similarly, Nwankwo (2005) defined learning as a relatively permanent process

inferred from performance change of an individual due to practice. According to the author, when

an individual’s performance on a particular task changes as a result of practice, then learning has

occurred in the individual.

 Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

Related Literature

This chapter presents the related literature and studies after the thorough and in-depth

search done by the researchers.

Learning styles have received considerable attention in recent years. There are more than

20 style dimensions that have been identified so far. It has come out of the more general research

on cognitive styles, particularly from the field of psychology. The earliest and frequently discussed

dimension of learning styles is the concept of field dependence and field independence that is

advocated by psychologist Herman Witkin. Recent researchers, such as Lardner (1989),

Reid(1995), Nam & Oxford (1998), Bailey & Onwuegbuzie (2000), Malinsky (2001), Ehrman &

Leaver (2003), Decapua & Wintergerst (2005), have contributed greatly to the development of

learning style theories.

Kolb's (1976) experiential learning theory is prevalent in educational settings, because his

theory explains more about the teaching and learning process (Cited by Reid, 1995). Many

researchers and instructors have adopted his theory and applied it into different educational areas.

The most important thing is that he has proposed four learner types on the basis of his learning

theories. And the four learner types are converger, diverger, assimilator, and accommodator.

The concept of style has existed in literature for approximately a century. It can be dated

back to a description of personality in classical Greek literature about the ancient classification of

temperament and physique created by Hippocrates (Riding & Rayer, 1998). Styles are the words

used to describe differences among people. They are the general, broad approaches a person uses
to learn or to solve a problem. Brown (1994) defines it as consistent and rather enduring tendencies

or preference within an individual. Generally speaking, styles are an individual's habitual patterns

or preferred ways of doing something that remain consistent over a long period of time.

Learning styles originate from the concept of "style". There is a lack of concept

agreement over the basic terminology. The term has been used in various and sometimes

confusing ways in the literature, often interchangeably with the terms of cognitive styles,

affective styles, or learning strategies. Cognitive styles and affective styles are only sub-

constructs of learning styles and learning styles are more comprehensive. Cognitive styles are

often referred to as an individual's preferred and habitual approach to organize and represent

information. Its important dimensions are field-dependent and field independent, leveling and

sharpening, holist and serialist, impulsive and reflective, and abstract and concrete etc.

Affective styles are usually related to an individual's emotional states, including self-

esteem, inhibition, risk-taking and anxiety and the like. Learning styles are constant and innate and

difficult to be changed, whereas learning strategies can be learned and consciously applied in

different learning situations.

In this model, the Dunns describe learning style as the ways to affect an individual's

abilities to master new and difficult academic information or skills. 21 elements have been

identified in this model and are classified into five categories of learning stimuli.

(1) Environmental. The elements are sound, light, temperature, and design. Part of an

individual's learning style depends on his or her preference regarding sound versus silence, bright

versus soft lighting, warm versus cool temperatures, and formal versus informal seating.

(2) Emotional. These elements are motivation, persistence, responsibility (conformity

versus nonconformity), and preference for structure versus choice.

 (3) Sociological. These elements describe the group in which a student prefers to learn,

such as whether to learn alone, with peers, or with either a collegial or authoritative adult, andlor

in a variety of ways as opposed to patterns or routines.

(4) Physiological. These elements include perceptual strengths like auditory, visual,

tactual, and kinesthetic skills; time-of-day energy levels; intake (snacking while concentrating);

and mobility needs.

(5) Psychological. These elements describe the way in which a student processes

information. For example, analytic students focus on facts or details in step-by-step fashion.

Gradually the facts build up to an understanding. Conversely, global students need to

understand how they are learning relating to them and their lives before they can begin to focus on

facts.

Also, analytic students respond to printed words and numbers, whereas global students

respond better to illustrations and pictures (Searson, R., & Dunn, R., 2001).

In summary, Dunn and Griggs (2000) explain the theoretical base towards the Dunn and

Dunn Learning-Style Model as follows:

1. Most individuals can learn.

2. Instructional environments, resources, and approaches respond to diverse learning-

style strengths.

3. Everyone has strengths, but different people have very different strengths.

4. Individual instructional preference exists and can be measured reliably (Burke,

Guastello et al.,1999/2000).

5. Given responsive environments, resources, and approaches, students attain statistically

higher achievement- and attitude-test scores in congruent, rather than in incongruent,

 treatments ( Dunn & Dunn, 1992, 1993; Dunn, Dunn, & Perrin, 1994; Dunn, Griggs et

al., 1995); they also behave better in style-responsive environments (Oberer, 1999).

6. Teachers can learn to use learning styles as a cornerstone of their instruction ( Dunn &

DeBello, 1999).

7. Students can learn to capitalize on their learning-style strengths when concentrating on

new and difficult information (P. Roberts, 1999; Schiering, 1999).

Kolb's learning style model has attracted considerable interest since the mid-1970s and has

greatly contributed to the development of learning style theories. Kolb remarks that learning is the

process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience (Cited by Riding

& Rayer, 1998). Learning style is described by Kolb (1976) as the individual's preferred method

for assimilating information and makes learners actively involved in the learning process.