LEARNING STYLES AND METACOGNITION

In this paper we introduce the results of a research that involved 60 primary school pupils. Attention is drawn to a relevant issue in instructional research: the potential value to learners of metacognitive awareness. Some implications of these issues for learning styles research are then discussed. The purpose of this study was to investigate how students perceive learning and their learning styles preferences. Through a reflection on relations between the personalization of education and knowledge of learning styles, we will emphasize how the very important issue, for a teacher, is to create his own working knowledge on his students' learning styles, if he really wants effectively stimulate their learning process through activities normally done at school. We will consider Kolb's learning styles model and will analyze how a teacher, minding the diversity of students' learning styles, will be able to make his own teaching more effective. Regarding the pupils, we will try to show how the awareness of one's learning style can help to guide the self-regulation on learning and personal development. Research about metacognition and its implications for learning and instruction has become a central issue in education. The call for teaching metacognitive skills is considered one of main implications for instruction that emerged from over three decades of research about how people learn. Learning how to learn has been identified by the EU as one of eight key competences. This study is aimed to compare how students think what they learn to their learning styles preferences. The metacognitive model is used to describe how fundamental concepts of experiential learning theory can guide metacognitive monitoring and control of learning. Metacognitive strategies to help pupils to improve their learning effectiveness are outlined. We will analyze relationship between learning styles and teaching methods highlighting how one of the teacher's educational role is helping each student to find the right balance between intellectual abilities and learning style. Learners can chart their path on the learning way by developing their metacognitive learning capacities, and educators can pave the way for placing learning about learning on the agenda of their educational programs.