How Cognitive Styles Shape Learning: A Person-Centered Study of Student Profiles

What is it about?

This study investigates how different configurations of cognitive styles influence the ways graduate business students approach learning. It focuses on three dimensions of cognitive style—creating, knowing, and planning—and examines how these tendencies combine to form distinct learning profiles. Rather than treating each style in isolation, the researchers adopt a person-centered approach to better understand how unique patterns of thinking shape learning behaviors. Using latent transition analysis, the study identifies several cognitive style profiles: one with moderate levels across all three dimensions, one dominated by creating and knowing, another emphasizing creating but low in planning, and one characterized by strong planning but low creating. These profiles differ not only in their structure but also in how they relate to learning approaches such as strategic, deep, and surface learning. The findings also show that these profiles are relatively stable over time, supporting the idea that cognitive style has a trait-like quality. For educators and program designers, these results highlight the importance of recognizing and accommodating diverse thinking styles among students. Understanding that learners differ in their preferred ways of creating, knowing, and planning can help tailor instruction and assessment to promote deeper and more strategic learning outcomes. Encouraging flexibility across cognitive styles may also enhance students’ capacity to adapt to varied academic and professional challenges.

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Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This research advances understanding of cognitive styles by moving beyond variable-centered analyses to a more holistic, person-centered perspective. By identifying distinct and stable cognitive style configurations, it shows that the interplay among creating, knowing, and planning dimensions offers a richer explanation of learning behavior than examining each factor separately. The findings demonstrate how individual differences can be better understood through configurations rather than isolated traits. In an educational landscape increasingly emphasizing adaptive and personalized learning, this study offers timely insights. It provides a framework for understanding how different cognitive style patterns relate to learning effectiveness and how educators can leverage these insights to support diverse learners. The person-centered approach thus opens new avenues for studying and enhancing learning processes in higher education.