An Investigation of Undergraduate Athletic Training Students' Learning Styles and Program Admission Success

OBJECTIVE: The phrase learning style refers to the method one uses to obtain and use information to learn. Personal learning styles can be assessed by specifically designed inventories. We conducted this study to determine if undergraduate athletic training students possess a dominant learning style, according to the Kolb Learning Style Inventory IIA (KLSI IIA), the newest version of the Kolb Learning Style Inventory (KLSI), and whether this style is related to education program admission success. DESIGN AND SETTING: A 1 x 4 factorial design was used. The independent variable was learning style type with 4 levels (converger, diverger, assimilator, or accommodator). The dependent variable was successful versus unsuccessful admission into selected programs. SUBJECTS: Forty undergraduate students (21 men, 19 women) from 3 institutions (mean +/- SD age, 20.7 +/- 1.7 years; mean +/- SD grade point average, 3.26 +/- 0.43) participated in this study. No subjects had previously taken the KLSI IIA, and none had a diagnosed learning disability. MEASUREMENTS: The KLSI IIA was administered to the participants at their respective institutions. We used 2 separate chi(2) analyses to determine if the observed distribution of learning styles differed from the expected distribution. Additionally, a Mann-Whitney U test was performed to determine if the learning style distributions of those subjects who were successfully admitted to the selected programs differed from those who were not. RESULTS: No significant differences existed between the observed distribution and the expected distribution for those admitted and those not admitted (chi2(3) = 3.8, P =.28; and chi2(3) = 3.1, P =.4, respectively). Also, no significant differences existed between the learning style distributions of the groups when compared with each other (Mann-Whitney U = 158, P =.5). CONCLUSIONS: Learning styles can be easily identified through the use of the KLSI IIA. We found no dominant learning style among undergraduate athletic training students and no particular learning style led to program admission.