A Factor Analytic Test of Houle's Typology of Professionals' Modes of Learning

Abstract

Houle has proposed a typology of professionals' modes of continuing learning. Three modes are hypothesized: inquiry, instruction, and performance. The purpose of the study was to test the adequacy of this typology with a population of staff nurses in a community hospital. A 47-item instrument that has been shown to be a valid and reliable measure of the universe of nurses' continuing learning activities was used. The survey was administered to the same population twice, one year apart. Oblique factor analysis produced a four-factor solution for the data collected in each year. The four factors were labelled Inquiry, Performance, Group Instruction, and Self-instruction. A revised typology is proposed and an explanatory framework for the new typology is given.