Measuring the Effects of Learning Styles: Is a Little Knowledge Dangerous for Excellence in Management Education?

Abstract

This is an experimental group/control group inquiry into the use of the Kolb Learning Style Inventory as a learning tool as well as a diagnostic tool. The idea is to assess whether it is possible to alter the perception of learners on the divergence of learning styles through an appropriate conditioning process so as to improve learning. One group was conditioned through tying the nature and objective of classroom learning exercises to the four-stage learning cycle of Kolb as a way of using the Kolb Learning Style Inventory experience as a strategy to improve learning; the other was not. Postexercise testing revealed results contrary to expectations. Furthermore, implications for teaching and learning are discussed.