lmost thirty years ago, St. John’s University and
the National Association of Secondary School
Principals (NASSP) cooperated to explore the possible
impact of learning-style instructional strategies on stu-
dentachievementandattitudes.Infiveyears,thatinitial
effortexpandedintoanationalnetworkthatcontinued
expandingtoincludethirtycentersonfourcontinentsby
1994.Thegroup,theInternationalLearningStylesNet-
work,currentlyincludesoneormorecentersinAustralia,
Bermuda, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, the Philippines,
Singapore,Sweden,Turkey,andtheUnitedStates.
Originally,theresearchersimplementedmanytheo-
rists’learning-stylemodels,examinedtheireffects,and
analyzed their results (Gregorc 1982; Hill 1971; Kolb
1976; McCarthy 1982; NASSP 1999, ctd. in Thom-
son 1980). After several years of experimentation, the
Network board unanimously decided to focus on the
Dunn and Dunn learning-style model because of its
extensive research base (Shea Doolan 2004). Today,
theInternationalLearningStylesNetwork(2008)Web
sitehighlightsabibliographythatincludesmorethan
870studiesonthismodelthatresearchersatmorethan
135 institutions of higher education worldwide have
conducted.Thesitealsoalertseducatorstoconferences,
seminars, workshops that individual centers conduct,
andanannualinternationalinstitutetowhichpartici-
pating centers contribute. It is important to highlight
thecommentsoftheeducatorswhohavebeeninvolved
attheforefrontofthisnetworkovertimeandtosum-
marizetheresearchconcernedwiththeeffectsoflearn-
ingstyleonstudentsinmultiplelocations.
ImpactofLearning-Style
InstructionalStrategies
onStudents’Achievement
andAttitudes:Perceptionsof
EducatorsinDiverseInstitutions
RITA DUNN, ANDREA HONIGSFELD, and LAURA SHEA DOOLAN with LENA BOSTROM, KAREN
RUSSO, MARJORIE S. SCHIERING, BERNADYN SUH, and HENRY TENEDERO
RitaDunn,EdD,isaprofessorintheDepartmentofAdministrativeandInstructionalLeadership,coordi-
natoroftheInstructionalLeadershipDoctoralProgram,anddirectoroftheCenterfortheStudyofLearn-
ingandTeachingStyles,St.John’sUniversity,NY.AndreaHonigsfeld,EdD,isanassociatedeanofthe
DivisionofEducation,MolloyCollege,RockvilleCentre,NY,aFulbrightScholar,andcodirectoroftheCol-
oradoLearningStylesCenter.LauraSheaDoolan,EdD,isanassociateprofessorintheDivisionofEduca-
tion,MolloyCollege.LenaBostrom,PhD,isanassociateprofessorattheUniversityofJönköping,Sweden.
KarenRusso,EdD,isanassistantprofessorofchildstudy,St.Joseph’sCollege,Brooklyn,NY.Marjorie
S.Schiering,EdD,isanassociateprofessorintheDivisionofEducation,MolloyCollege.BernadynSuh,
EdD,isanassociateprofessorofeducationatDowlingCollege,Oakdale,NY.HenryTenedero,MA,is
directorofoneofthetwoPhilippineLearningStyleCenters.Copyright©2008HeldrefPublications
135
Abstract:Educatorsfromvariousinstitutionsresponded
to key questions concerning learning style as it was
implemented in their institutions and communities.
Amongthoseitemsexploredweretheimpactoflearn-
ingstylesonteachingpractices,syllabi,andvaluesand
whethertheconstructimprovedinstructionorstudent
outcomes, how it improved students’ perceptions of
theirlearningoutcomes,andhowitcontributedtothe
professionofeducation.
Keywords:internationallearning-stylenetworkcenters,
learningstyle,studentoutcomes,teachingpractices
A