| Field Independent Students: |
Field Dependent Students |
| Independent projects, working alone |
Group projects, sharing, discussions |
| Hypothesis-testing approaches |
Personal examples, anecdotes, stories |
| Solving problems |
Relating learning to own experiences |
| A focus on details, moving from specific to general (phonics, structured rules in
spelling and mathematics) |
A focus on the big picture, an overview moving from the general to the specific
(whole-word, language experience, reasons for rules) |
| Clear grading criteria with specific feedback |
Praise, assurance, working to please others, frequent interaction with
teachers |
| Teacher-centered environment |
Student-centered environment |
| (Adapted from Howard, Bessie C. Learning to
Persist/Persisting to Learn. Mid-Atlantic Center for Race Equity, The American
University: Washington D.C., 1987.) |