Learning Styles and Perceptions of the Value of Various Learning Modalities Before and After a 2nd-Year Course in Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
- 1 October 2001
- journal article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Teaching and Learning in Medicine
- Vol. 13 (4), 253-257
- https://doi.org/10.1207/s15328015tlm1304_07
Abstract
The authors' 4-week course in microbiology and infectious diseases consists of lectures, small-group sessions, interactive computer-assisted learning (CAL), and textbook readings. To determine how individual learning style influenced learners' value assessment of these teaching modalities. 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. 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. 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the initial attractiveness but not the retrospective assessment of learning modalities; hence, quality and content superseded learning style as determinants of value after course completion.Keywords
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