A comparative analysis of learning styles of black and white college freshmen

Scope and method of study. This study provides a comparative analysis of the learning styles of black and white college freshmen (N = 198) from universities in the south central part of the United States. The independent measures were race, gender, grade point average, size of high school. The depen...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Johnson, Wanda Marie
Format:	Dissertation
Language:	English
Published:	ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-1989
Subjects:	Developmental psychology Higher education Social psychology
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	Scope and method of study. This study provides a comparative analysis of the learning styles of black and white college freshmen (N = 198) from universities in the south central part of the United States. The independent measures were race, gender, grade point average, size of high school. The dependent measures were the two subscales of Kolb's (1985) Learning Style Inventory (LSI), and four subscales of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Personality Inventory (MBTI). A Multivariate Analysis of Covariance was used to determine if differences existed among the variables. Scores on the ACT were the covariate. Findings and conclusions. Significant differences were found in the learning styles of blacks and whites on both the LSI and the MBTI. On the MBTI, blacks were significantly more "sensing" and "thinking" than their white counterparts. On the LSI, blacks as a group used the "assimilator" mode of processing information as compared to whites who used the "diverger" learning modality to a greater extent. The mean score for whites on the LSI placed them closer to the middle of the grid indicating a more balanced learning style. Females and males were found to differ significantly on the sensing/tuition subscale of the LSI with females being more "sensing" than males. Blacks also tended to prefer "thinking" over "feeling" on the MBTI significantly more than whites. No significant differences in learning styles, as measured in this study, were found between students graduating from small, medium or large high schools. The race gender interactions were also not significant. Both educational and research recommendations are made.
ISBN:	9798206748116