History of the Institute for Learning Styles Research

The Early Days

     In the early 1970’s, Dr. Russell French of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville formulated a framework of perceptual learning styles. Daryl Gilley, a graduate student of Dr. French, tested students from a classroom within this framework. Another graduate student of Dr. French, Edwin Cherry, revised the framework and then tested others within this refined perceptual learning styles paradigm. The result of this early work in perceptual learning styles was the creation and development of the Multi-Modal Paired Associates Learning Test (MMPALT.)
     Leonard Schaiper, added yet another study to the body of research on MMPALT, and the instrument and procedures were further refined through research studies conducted at the University of Tennessee, Oklahoma State University, and the University of South Florida over a period of 20 years. In July 1995, a number of researchers and a couple of graduate students met to discuss the MMPALT and the perceptual learning styles framework. This group was represented by a number of researchers who had worked with the MMPALT and who had graduate students who had completed research using the MMPALT. By 1995, about 20 graduate students had completed dissertations