Gregorc Style Delineator


Anthony Gregorc, expanding the work of Jung, developed a learning style instrument designed to identify differences of learning. It represents a blend of theories of the psychological sciences of behavioral, psychoanalytic, humanistic, and transpersonal. The Gregorc Style Delineator (GSD) is a ten-item self-report questionnaire in which the respondent rank orders four words in each item in the sam manner as the Kolb inventory.

Vance (1991) reports that the GSD was developed as a self-assessment consisting of ten sets of four words. Individuas rank the words which are most and least descriptive of themselves with four indicating the most descriptive and one being the elast. Category scores range from 10 to 40 and are based on the sum of the ranking of the 10 words. The GSD yields scores in four categories: Concrete Random, Concrete Sequential, Abstract Sequential, and Abstract Random. Gregorc, 1982) believes that learning style consists of distinctive, observable behaviors that provide clues to the functioning of perople's minds and how they relate to the world. The GSD implies that people learn in combinations of dualities.

The GSD sorts people into four distinctive clusters which are used to represent the manner in which people comprehend and organize their perceptions of themselves and the world around them. The Concrete Sequential style (CS) reflected a preference for order; precision; schedules; physical hands-on experiences; and a product-based effort. Teachers with this predominant style developed projects for students, relied on worksheets to reinforce content, stressed practical lessons, worked under strict time limitations and were oriented to results.

By contrast, the Abstract Random (AR) style reflected a preference for emotional sensitivity, physically pelasing environments, strong relationships with others and flexibility in time, activity and demands. AR teachers offered a personalized class; stressed high morale, humor, and self-expression; tended to use a thematic approach to adress content; and liked to use media and discussion as their primary teaching tools.

The Abstract Sequential style (AS) reflected yet another view of the world. The AS style prefered intellectual and vicarious experiences and valued logical, rational, theoretical, and analytical approaches to the world. As teachers, they tought from a base of content expertise and enjoyed a forum for intellectual debate. They relied almost exclusively on lecture format and extensive reading assignments, documented evidence, and evaluation by formal testing.

Concrete Random (CR) style looked to the physical world as the opportunity to develop and utilize creative and original problem-solving talents. This person looked for and gave out options, demanded independence, and wanted to invent new ideas or products-to create the unexpected. As teachers, the CR's used a problem-solving approach to the curriculum that often included games, simulations, critical issues, discovery, and experiments. They stressed the need for students to challenge, to probe, to ask "why?" They insisted that students think for themselves' and often replied to a student's question by saying, "What do you think?" or "What do you want to do?" (Schultz, 1985).

Casey (1993) notes that the GSD focuses on two mediation abilities of the mind-perception and ordering. These abilities are theoretically bipolar and intertwining. According to Gregorc's model, these abilities influence how individuals perceive themselves and their world and how they are perceived by others. Sewall (1986) concludes that the validity and reliability information rpovided is so limited and methodplogically flawed that no firm conclusions can be drawn from any of the information provided. For these reasons, it does not appear appropriate to use this instrument.


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    Peter L. Heineman
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