The Six Hats as a Learning Styles Model

It is important to note that the roles of the 6-Hats are not normally considered to be descriptions of thinkers or categories of thinkers. It is assumed that each thinker should be able to use any hat, but it is clear that some people are better at some hats than others. Each hat is usually taken as a direction and focus for thinking, but we can also think of each of the hats as representing different dimensions of a new learning preferences or styles model.

Most researchers agree that learning preferences are merely strengths of an individual, but not absolute indicators of individual abilities. This is a very important point to underscore, the objective of using the 6-Hats technique as a learning preferences model is definitely not to label the student as being a learner in one particular preference, e.g. a red hat learner or a green hat learner. The objective is rather to understand that the six hats are six directions for thinking, and each hat is of equal importance to help create a rounded thinker, so this research hopes to help the student become comfortable in using each of the six hats.

• Introduction

• Instructional Design

• Learning Styles