Learning Styles of Deaf College Students and Instructors' Teaching Emphases

Six learning style dimensions of the Grasha-Riechmann Student Learning Style Scales (GRSLSS) were examined in this study with 100 deaf college students. In addition, six corresponding scales of teaching emphases were administered to the 16 instructors of these students. Student mean scores were higher for the dependent, participative, collaborative, and independent dimensions than for the competitive and avoidant styles. The participative learning style correlated significantly with course achievement and course interest, which suggests that an emphasis on active learning may be desirable. For instructors, as with students, the mean scores for teaching emphases were found to be higher for the collaborative, dependent, participative, and independent dimensions. The similar patterns of results for students and teachers suggest a correspondence between the learning styles and the teaching emphases.