Learning styles of students and faculty in selected health care professions.
The purposes of this study were to determine if students and faculty in nursing and allied health demonstrate a predominant learning style, if there is an association between a specific learning style (converger, diverger, accommodator, or assimilator) and self-directed learning readiness for these groups, if these learning characteristics can predict academic success, and if a discipline-specific learning style can be identified. Marshall and Merritt's (1986) Learning Style Questionnaire and Guglielmino's (1978) Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS) were administered to 301 generic BSN students, 188 RN-BSN students, 110 allied health students, and 30 nursing faculty from one southwestern university. There were no significant differences in learning style between students and faculty; the converger style was the predominant learning style for all subjects. Faculty were more self-directed than students; although, overall, students scored high on the SDLRS. Self-directed learning readiness appears to affect learning style. Convergers were significantly more self-directed than either the accommodators, assimilators, or divergers. Academic success, as determined by program completion, could not be predicted on the basis of learning style or self-direction.
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University of Texas School of Nursing at Galveston, USA.
D000328:Adult; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate; D004518:Education, Professional, Retraining; D005181:Faculty, Nursing; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D013677:Medical Laboratory Science / Q000193:education*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017145:Models, Educational; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009788:Occupational Therapy / Q000193:education*; D010551:Personality; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities / Q000193:education*; D010823:Physician Assistants / Q000193:education*; D012659:Semantic Differential; D013336:Students, Health Occupations / Q000523:psychology*; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires