Meanings
- not comparableeducationThat concentrates on forming an overview of the topic.
Pask suggests that these strategies reflect basic learning styles; holist strategies reflect a comprehension learning style and serialist strategies an operation learning style.
2000, Francis M. Quinn, The Principles and Practice of Nurse Education, page 342 more examples
Pask described the two strategies as 'holist' and 'serialist'.[…]Learners who adopt a holist strategy (described as comprehension learners) like to get an overview of a topic.
2001, Howard Hills, Team-based Learning, page 87The serialist/holist cognitive style is a measure of a bipolar information-processing strategy that describes the way that learners select and represent information (Pask, 1976; Pask & Scott, 1972).
2012, David H. Jonassen, Barbara L. Grabowski, Handbook of Individual Differences Learning and Instruction, page 209
plural holists
- A believer in, or practitioner of, holism; one who believes that a topic of study cannot be fully understood by studying the parts, or who studies by considering the whole.
The holists generally claimed that the variety of the clinical pictures was not intrinsic to aphasia, although it was recognized that aphasic patients differ in many respects, not only the severity of the language disorder.
2003, Anna Basso, Aphasia and Its Therapy, page 21 - human sciencesOne who advocates studying society as a whole, and who consistently interprets the actions of individuals in that context.
By contrast, the holists, like Emile Durkheim, regard individual action as only a reaction to pressures exerted by society as a whole: they are right in stressing the social embeddedness of individual action.
2006, Mario Bunge, “1: A systemic perspective on crime”, in Per-Olof H. Wikström, Robert J. Sampson, editors, The Explanation of Crime: Context, Mechanisms and Development, page 91 more example
Holism is more eclectic in its methods; for most holists, rigor means reconstructing the meaning of an action in the subject's own terms, and interpreting it in light of a richly detailed cultural, social, and historical context.
1991, Jack Snyder, “5: Science and Sovietology: Bridging the Methods Gap in Soviet Foreign Policy Studies”, in Erik P. Hoffmann, Robbin Frederick Laird, Frederic J. Fleron, editors, Soviet Foreign Policy, published 2009, page 132 - educationOne who prefers to learn by forming an overview of the topic.
They^([serialists]) learn rules, methods and details more readily than the holists.
2001, Howard Hills, Team-based Learning, page 872 more examples
Those subjects using a serialist strategy tended to proceed in a step-by-step manner, whereas the holists adopted a more global approach to what was to be learned.
2000, Francis M. Quinn, The Principles and Practice of Nurse Education, page 34Holists use a global, thematic approach to learning by concentrating first on building broad descriptions.[…]The holist then uses complex links to relate mutileveled information.
2012, David H. Jonassen, Barbara L. Grabowski, Handbook of Individual Differences Learning and Instruction, page 209
Origin
Translations
Czech holista
- holistabeliever in, or practitioner of, holism
French holiste
- holistebeliever in, or practitioner of, holism
Cite this entry
holist. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/holist
“holist.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/holist. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “holist,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/holist.
Source: holist on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.