Purpose: To determine the preferred learning styles that exist among students in a two-year, entry-level master's problem-based learning (PBL) physical therapy curriculum using David Kolb's theory of experiential learning. Subjects: 93 second year physical therapy students. Method: This study used a repeated measures design to continue a previous study performed by an NSU graduate, Stacy Asmus. A pre and post-test design was used in both studies. The data obtained from my study was compared to the data obtained in Asmus's study. The participants were asked to complete the Learning Style Inventory (LSI-IIA) twice during the first semester of the first year (Asmus's study) and twice during the first semester of the second year (my study). Results: No significant differences were found in the students' preferred learning styles (p=.383). However, there was a continual increase in the number of students who preferred the converger learning style, which focuses on problem-solving skills for learning. Conclusions: Although the results of this study did not reveal any significant differences in students' preferred learning styles, it did reveal that a PBL curriculum can influence students to change their preferred learning styles to using problem-solving skills over the other skills in Kolb's theory.
| Date of Award | Jan 1 1998 |
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| Original language | English |
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