Peter Honey & Alan Mumford s Learning Styles
Activists
Get fully involved in new experiences
Open minded and enthusiastic
Will 'try anything once'
Revel in crisis management, 'fire fighting'
Get bored by detail
Reflectors
Prefer to stand back and observe
Look at all angles and implications
'Chew it over' before reaching conclusions
Take a back seat in meetings and discussions
Theorists
Think problems through logically, step by step
Assimilate disparate facts in coherent theories
Rigorously question assumptions and conclusions
Don't allow their feelings to influence decisions
Uncomfortable with subjectivity, creative thinking
Pragmatists
Keen to try out new ideas to see if they work
Like solving practical problems and making decisions
Emphasise expediency - 'the end justifies the means'
Impatient with long-winded or open-ending discussions
Based on these preferences, different activities are likely to produce different
responses in the learners. Selection of learning method should take your
preferences into account but effective learning demands the achievement of a
balance between the four styles.
If you have a high activitist style you will learn best from activities where: -
You can become involved with new experiences
There is excitement and drama
You can have high visibility, e.g. chairing a meeting, giving a presentation
You are thrown in at the deep end
You are involved with others
You can  have a go
You will enjoy business games, role-playing exercises and competitive
teamwork tasks
If you have a high reflector style you will learn best from activities where:
You are allowed to watch and think
You can stand back and observe others
You can think before acting
There is research involved
You can review what has occurred
You will enjoy assignments
If you have a high theorist style you will learn best from activities where:
There is an obvious system, concept or model you can follow through
There is time to explore the relationship between ideas and events
You can ask questions
You are stretched intellectually
There is a clear purpose and reason to the learning
If you have a high pragmatist style you will learn best from activities where:
There is an obvious link between what you are learning and the working
environment
You are shown practical techniques for solving problems
You have a chance to practice techniques to check they work in practice
You are provided with an immediate opportunity to put into effect what you
have learnt