Learning Styles Questionnaire Scales

Conscientious Achiever 

 1

Conscientious Achievers are responsible and wise people who learn best by collecting, analyzing and reviewing information, before they act. They therefore can gain insight into the experience enabling connections to be made so that learning can progress in leaps and bounds. The end result is conscientious activity. They prefer to learn through the complex collation of information and data so that a thorough analysis of the situation can be made, seemingly unconnected data can be connected and mistakes can be avoided. They prefer to be objective, broad minded and see a wider picture than just their own selfish perspective. Learning is by insight and this is conscious and socially learnt.

A high Conscientious Achiever score is a responsible and wise learner who uses complex higher level learning derived from insight to understand difficult to interpret information (such as to do with social rules, norms and conventions).

A low scoring Conscientious Achiever finds it hard to learn complex and fuzzy information.

Goal Oriented Achiever

 2

Goal Oriented Achievers set hard and specific goals and have the self-confidence (self-efficacy) to achieve them. They understand that they can change the amount of resources which they can allocate to a problem such that they put more effort into learning by means of goal setting. It is through this focus of resources that the goal oriented achiever achieves success. Low goal oriented achievers tend not to set goals, tend to have low self-efficacy and tend to feel that resources can not be increased in order to learn about a difficult problem.

Emotionally Intelligent Achiever

 3

Emotionally Intelligent Achievers are autonomous and independent thinkers who develop a rational and logical basis to learning.

They are patient learners who learn best by understanding the logic underlying the problem. They break the problem into constituent parts, so that it can be understood from the scientific perspective. Once a model of how things work has been developed, they are very good at generalizing from one problem to another. This detached approach tends to reject intuition, dependence upon others and subjectivity.

High Emotionally Intelligent Achievers are usually consistent and unemotional in their approach, whereas low Emotionally Intelligent Achievers are inclined to base decisions on chance or are dependent on other people etc. In fact, it is the low Emotionally Intelligent Achievers who are the quickest learners on this scale - the problem is that they can learn the wrong things as a result of an avoidant learning style.

Sensation Seeker

 4

Sensation Seekers are impulsive and find new sensations so exciting that they can’t wait to explore them straightaway.

Sensation Seekers believe in action and in trying out new ways of doing things at work. They rapidly move on from one activity to the next and tend to be doing several things all at the same time. They prefer to explore their environment and like learning. They are 'appetitive learners' as they have an active appetite for learning as much as they can and as fast as they can. Sensation seekers are people who are prepared to take risks and act on the spur of the moment so that they experience learning opportunities. Low Sensation seekers are more cautious and often plan life so that learning from trial and error is rarely encountered. Low Sensation seekers are therefore meticulous in removing the effects of risk, but in so doing they also remove new learning opportunities.

Sensation seeking is a biologically derived scale which represents the neuropsychological basis of learning. High sensation seeking can lead to functional or dysfunctional learning based on the amount that these impulses are redirected by the four achievement learning styles which are more conscious or cognitive in basis.

A high Sensation seeker score suggests an approach oriented or impulsive person who generates many learning opportunities. This appetite for learning creates the opportunities for advancement so long as the lessons are learnt well.

A low Sensation seeker score suggest a cautious person who tends to have little appetite for generating new learning opportunities. Without the desire to initiate, there can be few action-oriented learning opportunities. Low Sensation seekers may have learnt lessons well in the past so that they are now more cautious, but a low score will still indicate someone who does not have an approach orientation to learning.

Deep Learning Achiever

 5

Deep Learning Achievers reflect and think about the world that we live in. They like to know a lot about subjects which they are interested in even if the subjects have little practical relevance. Deep Learning Achievers love to learn. They are generally thoughtful people who enjoy knowledge and observing how the world works. They will usually know a lot about their areas of interest, because they learn well and absorb information quite easily.

Low scorers put the plan into action by single-minded focus on the solution. They identify the most expedient, sensible and practical solution, which they then put into action. They are keen and enthusiastic at implementation and are very practical people. As far as they are concerned, they are implementing the optimal plan and others should be grateful for it, even if it causes some disruption. They learn best when they understand the practical value of something so they are able to test out the theory or idea. They are down to earth and like to get on with things, but may also be impatient if others seemingly go off the point. They find it difficult to learn if they do not see the point or purpose of something.

High Deep Learning Achievers learn a lot and know a lot about things. This often indicates a non-focussed learner who has a 'love of learning.'

A low Deep Learning Achiever score indicates a practical person who has a single-minded focus on completion. There may be also a lack of knowledge which has enabled the focus to be.