The Relationship between Student and Faculty Learning Style Congruency and Perceptions of the Classroom Environment in Colleges of Teacher Education.

MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. *Classroom Environment; *Cognitive Style; Education Majors; Higher Education; Learning Processes; *Learning Strategies; Preservice Teacher Education; *Student Attitudes; *Teacher Attitudes; Teacher Education Programs; Teacher Educators; Teacher Influence; Teacher Student Relationship; *Thinking Skills; Undergraduate Students The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of congruence between teachers' and undergraduate education majors' learning styles in selected colleges and if the style congruence was related to student perceptions of the classroom learning environment. A related purpose was to identify needed changes in classroom environments based on the characteristics of the actual and ideal classroom environments as perceived by students, characteristics of the actual classroom environment as perceived by their teachers, and characteristics of the actual and ideal classroom environments as perceived by men and women students. A relationship of classroom environments was also examined. Kolb's Learning Style Inventory and the Adult Classroom Environment Scale were administered to 184 students and 10 teachers in selected colleges for teacher education that were members of the Tennessee Association of Colleges for Teacher Education during the Fall, 1994. Data analysis indicated that the predominant learning style for both students and teachers was Accommodator. The students preferred Diverger as their second dominant learning style while the teachers preferred Assimilator. The teachers incorporated logical thinking, systematic thinking, and intellectual thinking in their learning behavior, while the students preferred to learn by viewing situations from different points of view and to observe without taking action. Matching students' learning styles with those of teachers was not found to be related to the ratings of the classroom environment. Significant relationships were found to exist between all classroom dimensions except Task Orientation and Student Influence. Both teachers and students viewed Teacher Support as the most prevalent element of the actual classroom environment and Student Influence as the least noticeable element of the classroom environment. However, the teachers' views for the actual classroom environment were higher than students' views in all subscales except for Organization and Clarity. (Contains 17 references.) (Author/ND) PERMISSION TO RUHMLICI ANP DISSEMINATE THIS MATE IIAL HAS BEEN CHANTED DY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER ,ERIC, U.S DEPARTMENT Of EDUCATION Office ot Education. Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) C This document hill been reproduced 2S received born the Person or orgaruzation ()rooming it MinO, Chan 0e3 have been made to improve reproduction °rattly Pomt of view or ormons staled ntruscloc, menu do not necessarily represent °Iberia OERI position 01 001ICy The Relationship Between Student and Faculty Learning Style Congruency and Perceptions of the Classroom Environment in Colleges of Teacher Education Patrick N. Kariuki Milligan College Tennessee Pre4 /?(7u ce--( 01.U_ E (4-1 9 (7+Q 1 soLere, 6:964 ca-6..vpic4 c.4 Of SS 0 4 c,--,14 0,1 ( in 5 E.---(1Z 6 61 LOX/ 1171/sr/ ssi Pr°, 10 v-en. /99.: 2 BEST COPY AVAILABLE Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of congruence between teachers' and undergraduate education majors' learning styles in selected colleges of the Tennessee Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, and to determine if the style congruence was related to student perceptions of the classroom learning environment. A related purpose was to identify needed changes in classroom environments based on the characteristics of the actual and ideal classroom environments as perceived by students, characteristics of the actual classroom environment as perceived by their teachers, and characteristics of actual and ideal classroom environments as perceived by men and women students. A relationship of classroom environments was also examined. Kolb's Learning Style Inventory and the Adult Classroom Environment Scale were administered to students and teachers An selected colleges for teacher education that were members of the Tennessee Association of Colleges for Teacher Education during the Fall, 1994. Data were analyzed using measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion, ttests for dependent (correlated) means, t-tests for independent means, and Pearson Product Moment Correlations. Results indicated that the predominant learning style for both students and teachers was Accommodator. The students preferred Diverger as their second dominant learning style while the teachers preferred Assimilator. The teachers incorporated logical thinking, systematic thinking, and intellectual thinking in their learning behavior, while the students preferred to learn by viewing situations from different points of view and to observe without taking action. Matching students' learning styles with those of teachers was rot found to be related to the ratings of the classroom environment. Significant relationships were found to exist between all classroom dimensions except Task Orientation and Student Influence. Both teachers and students viewed Teacher Support as the most prevalent element of the actual classroom environment and Student Influence as the least noticeable element sf the classroom environment. However, the teachers' views for the actual classroom environment were higher than students' views in all subscales except for Organization and Clarity.The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of congruence between teachers' and undergraduate education majors' learning styles in selected colleges of the Tennessee Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, and to determine if the style congruence was related to student perceptions of the classroom learning environment. A related purpose was to identify needed changes in classroom environments based on the characteristics of the actual and ideal classroom environments as perceived by students, characteristics of the actual classroom environment as perceived by their teachers, and characteristics of actual and ideal classroom environments as perceived by men and women students. A relationship of classroom environments was also examined. Kolb's Learning Style Inventory and the Adult Classroom Environment Scale were administered to students and teachers An selected colleges for teacher education that were members of the Tennessee Association of Colleges for Teacher Education during the Fall, 1994. Data were analyzed using measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion, ttests for dependent (correlated) means, t-tests for independent means, and Pearson Product Moment Correlations. Results indicated that the predominant learning style for both students and teachers was Accommodator. The students preferred Diverger as their second dominant learning style while the teachers preferred Assimilator. The teachers incorporated logical thinking, systematic thinking, and intellectual thinking in their learning behavior, while the students preferred to learn by viewing situations from different points of view and to observe without taking action. Matching students' learning styles with those of teachers was rot found to be related to the ratings of the classroom environment. Significant relationships were found to exist between all classroom dimensions except Task Orientation and Student Influence. Both teachers and students viewed Teacher Support as the most prevalent element of the actual classroom environment and Student Influence as the least noticeable element sf the classroom environment. However, the teachers' views for the actual classroom environment were higher than students' views in all subscales except for Organization and Clarity. Introduction The classroom environment is a useful construct in predicting academic growth, achievement, and school set.isfaction (Galluzi, Kirby & Zuchner, 1987; Moos, 1987; Wright & Cohen, 1982i. Ransinki (1990) observed that the classroom was the place where students spend a majority of their days for nine months a year. Therefore, from this perspective, he argued that classroom environment was a vital part of the student's life and should offer opportunities that would facilitate learning. Emphasizing the importance of the classroom environment, Covington and Omelich (1984) pointed out that different classroom environments and structures elicit qualitatively different motivational goals among students. Along the same lines, Cronbach and Snow (1977) noted that classroom environments and structures may produce differential effects on different. segments of the student population. While a positive classroom environment is an important factor in predicting the students' academic growth and achievement, research indicates that it is influenced by several factors (Fraser & O'Brien, 1985), According to Smith and Renzulli (1990), matching teaching methods to learning style preferences helps to eliminate harriers to learning which arise when individuals fail to address the affective responses various teaching modalities elicit from students. Additionally, the researchers contended that