ABSTRACT
I ndividual differences among learners have beenused to explain the ways in which students learn,to describe groups of students, and to provide guidance to educators in planning instruction for learners to maximize achievement outcomes. They have also been used to group students who fall at the extreme ends of the population distribution as gifted or in need of special education services. While there are obvious physical differences among children and adults (height, weight, manual dexterity, speed, agility, etc.), the focus on individual differences in the classroom is generally in the realm of cognitive differences and sometimes crosses over into behavioral domains that may impair the learning process. The cognitive differences that have been measured and used in decisionmaking in classrooms range from global concepts, such as general intellectual ability (IQ), to very specific differences in learning styles and interests.
