Hispanic college students' learning styles, personality types, and gender differences: A collective case study of ten Hispanic college students exposed to the Myers Briggs type indicator.

摘要

The research body regarding learning styles has been abundant; however, research related to Separate and Connected learning styles has not been as copious. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the association between learning styles, personality types, and gender differences for Hispanic college students between the ages of 18-24 in California. The study was conducted in two phases. Phase I of the study was comprised of administering the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (Form M) to 20 Hispanic college students; ten of the student participants were male Hispanic college students, and ten of the student participants were female Hispanic college students. Phase II of the study consisted of giving 10 of the students who were exposed to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator face-to-face interviews using the Mansfield Clinchy Interview Protocol to determine whether their learning style preferences were Separate or Connected. The 10 potential interviewees were selected by a process of stratified sampling and included five males and five females. Four of the five males were actually interviewed, and five of the five females were essentially interviewed. The MBTI consisted of four polar dimensions, Extraversion-Introversion, Sensing-Intuition, Thinking-Feeling, and Perception-Judgment; however, this study focused on a singular dimension, Thinking-Feeling, as it related to Separate and Connected learning styles. Phase I of the study found that 11 Hispanic college students inventoried as Thinking personality types, and nine inventoried as Feeling personality types. Ten Hispanic college student males inventoried as Thinking personality types, and one Hispanic college student female inventoried as a Thinking personality type. Nine Hispanic college student females inventoried as Feeling personality types. Phase II of the study found that 4/4 Hispanic college student males preferred Separate learning styles and that 5/5 Hispanic college student females preferred Connected learning styles. The study concluded that Thinking and Feeling personality types did have an association with Separate and Connected learning styles respectively for Hispanic college students in California; the study also determined that Gender was associated with Thinking and Feeling personality types and Separate and Connected learning styles. The study also revealed a negative perception of the Separate learning style on the part of male and female Hispanic college students regardless of preferred styles.