Learning and teaching styles: implications for teachers of family medicine

Much attention has been given to learning and teaching "styles" in adult education and in medical education. Since style refers to assumptions and beliefs about how adults learn, it affects what teachers do to facilitate learning. A synthesis of two models views the educational process as a cycle: "experience," followed by "reflection," "abstraction," and "experimentation." Four styles of learning or teaching are possible by combining experience with observation, observation with abstraction, abstraction with experimentation, and experimentation with experience. Students and residents could use this information to negotiate with faculty to best meet their educational needs, and faculty could use this information to tailor their teaching strategies to best suit each encounter.