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Session 2150

Relationships between Student Learning Styles and Methods of Presentation for Engineering Technology Students

Harold L. Broberg, Paul I-Hai Lin ECET Department, Indiana-Purdue University, Fort Wayne, IN

I. Introduction Many studies of student learning styles and personality types have been conducted that apply to engineering students. These studies were validated using large numbers of students and are used to empirically formulate a hypothesis concerning the principal learning styles1 and personality types of engineering technology students. As an educator, you probably have an opinion of the learning styles used by the majority of your students. For instance, are your students primarily Active or Reflective, Sensing or Intuitive, Visual or Verbal, Sequential or Global learners? If you are not familiar with this terminology, you can test your own learning style at the North Carolina State web site2. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI ®) purports to determine a person’s personality type among sixteen possibilities. This instrument has also been heavily used and reported in the literature in relation to teaching methods for engineering students. Literature and experience are used to formulate differences in personality types between engineering and engineering technology students. Suggestions are made with respect to teaching methods that should be used more in engineering technology education to provide enhanced learning for our students.

II. Learning Styles and Personality Types of Engineering Students

The 1988 seminal paper, with a 2002 author’s preface, by Felder and Silverman1 provides definitions of learning styles. Modifications have been made to these definitions and to the original categories since the original paper. For instance, Felder 3, provided recommendations on methods of teaching with respect to student learning styles in college science education. Felder4 also provided a look at four commonly used learning style models and their applications, including the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®)5, which is widely used, in Industrial Human Resources departments to determine personality types. The MBTI ® instrument, according to CPP Inc.6, which owns the rights to the instrument, is used throughout the world and by 84 of the Fortune 100 companies. Montgomery and Groat7 further developed the link between student learning styles and the MBTI ®. Rosati8 also provided correlation data between learning styles and personality types. Felder, et al9, discussed the results of a study of engineering student performance and MBTI® personality types.

Learning styles, as defined and modified by Felder and Silverman1 can be summarized as shown in Table 110.

“Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright 2003, American Society for Engineering Education”

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Lin, P., & Broberg, H. (2003, June), Relationships Between Student Learning Styles And Methods Of Presentation Of Internet Courses Paper presented at 2003 Annual Conference, Nashville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--12513