Allied Health Students' Learning-Styles Identified with Two Different Assessments

Abstract

This research identified and compared the learning styles of 154 ethnically diverse, upper division undergraduate and graduate students in Allied Health utilizing the Building Excellence (BE) (Rundle & Dunn, 2000) and the Productivity Environmental Preference Survey (PEPS) (Dunn, Dunn, & Price, 1996). Relationships among age, class standing, ethnicity, gender, and learning style also were examined. Correlation analyses indicated relationships between students' learning-style elements ( p < .001), with large effect sizes for Sound, Light, Temperature, Seating Design, Intake, Time-of-day and Mobility, Auditory, Tactile, and Kinesthetic preferences. Gender related learning-style characteristics revealed female preferences for learning by listening and male preferences for cooler temperatures, frequent movement, and learning in a pair or team during instruction. Analyses of variance and follow-up post hoc tests revealed significant age-related learning-style differences for Structure, Intake, Mobility, Early-Morning and Afternoon, and Auditory preferences.