Learning styles and perceptions of the value of various learning modalities before and after a 2nd-year course in microbiology and infectious diseases.
BACKGROUND
The authors' 4-week course in microbiology and infectious diseases consists of lectures, small-group sessions, interactive computer-assisted learning (CAL), and textbook readings.


OBJECTIVE
To determine how individual learning style influenced learners' value assessment of these teaching modalities.


METHODS
A Kolb Learning Style Inventory and questionnaire to assess enthusiasm for each teaching modality were administered before the course. At course end, a 2nd questionnaire assessed the perceived usefulness of each teaching modality.


RESULTS
Learners with a relative preference for experiential learning rather than abstraction initially favored small groups (R2 = .06, p = .004) and CAL (R2 = .06, p = .005). Similarly, learners with a preference for reflective observation rather than active experimentation favored lectures (R2 = .05, p = .01). However, at course end, Kolb learning style did not predict the value assessment of any modality.


CONCLUSIONS
Kolb learning style influenced the initial attractiveness but not the retrospective assessment of learning modalities; hence, quality and content superseded learning style as determinants of value after course completion.
Engleberg
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NC
Departments of Internal Medicine and Microbiology & Immunology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. cengleb@umich.edu
Schwenk
T
T
Gruppen
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LD
D001290:Attitude; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D016014:Linear Models; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*