Cognitive style and instructional preferences

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between learners' cognitive styles and their instructional preferences. The sample consisted of 240 business studies students at a UK university. Subjects' cognitive st yles were assessed using the Cognitive Styles Analysis (which assesses the wholist-analytical and verbaliser-imager dimensions of style) and their ins tructional preferences assessed using an instructional preferences inventor y which consisted of three sub-inventories (instructional method, instructi onal media and assessment method). Overall subjects favoured dependent meth ods, print based media and informal assessment methods. There was a signifi cant main effect of wholist-analytical style on collaborative method prefer ence (role play, group discussions and business games) and non-print based media preference (overhead transparencies, slides and videos). There was an interaction of the two dimensions of style and gender in their effect on i nformal assessment method preferences (individual and group assignments and multiple choice and short answer-type questions). The findings are discuss ed in terms of: (i) models of the cognitive style construct; (ii) the pract ical implications of individual differences in style and preference.