Can we generalize about the learning style characteristics of high academic achievers?

In 1980 Dunn and Price used their Learning Style Inventory (Dunn, Dunn & Price, 1975) to investigate differences between the learning style preferences of high academic achieving students and the preferences expressed by same‐age students with average or below average academic achievement. The purpose of the study described in this article was to determine if and how the learning style preferences of a different group of high academic achieving students, inventoried at a later date, but with the same instrument, differed from those identified in the original study. A discriminant function analysis analyzed the learning styles data obtained from 500 students in grades 4 ‐ 8. While significant differences (p < .001) in the preferences distinguished between the average and above average achieving students groups, there was minimal overlap with the preferences identified in original investigation. The authors conclude that the differences within an achievement group may be as great as between groups, and that it is improper to prescribe instructional methods or categorize groups of learners by presuming that they have similar style preferences.