Learning Styles, Culture and Inclusive Instruction in the Multicultural Classroom: A Business and Management Perspective

Abstract

This article examines the learning style profile exhibited by students in a multicultural class of international business management, and how cultural conditioning is reflected in the learning style preferences of home and international students. Using the Felder and Soloman's Index of Learning Styles , this study finds that each learning style dimension measured by the instrument is amply represented and that the scores reported by international students on all but one learning style dimension show much wider measures of dispersion compared to those of home students suggesting that greater variations in learning preferences are likely to co-exist in culturally heterogeneous cohorts. Suggestions on how to move toward a multistyle teaching approach to business management education so as to enfranchise all students in the multicultural classroom are then put forward. Finally, a discussion of the implications of these findings with respect to the business management curriculum design is provided.