Learning Style Dimensions and Professional Characteristics of Academic Librarians

Abstract

Do librarians with different characteristics, such as type of work responsibilities or age, have different learning styles? The authors analyzed results from over 1,500 responses to a version of the Index of Learning Styles (ILS) questionnaire based on the Felder-Silverman Learning Styles model. This model consists of eight dimensions paired on four scales: Active/Reflective; Sensing/Intuitive; Visual/Verbal; and Sequential/ Global. In addition to their scores on the ILS questionnaire, respondents were also asked about demographic and professional characteristics. Statistically significant differences in learning style scores were found to exist between librarians with different types of position responsibilities. In particular, for three out of four scales, catalogers have statistically different learning styles than other librarian groups. Recognition of different learning styles and thoughtful integration of appropriate teaching styles may improve workplace interpersonal communication, enhance professional development and staff training, and strengthen teaching.he study and assessment of learning styles have been significant components of educational theory and practice for decades. Contemporary research of how the cognitive differences of students affect their ability to learn and retain new knowledge gained prominence in the late 1970s and became a major focus within many academic disciplines in the 1980s as several major theories and schools of thought were established.1 Although theories about learning styles are not without controversy, some key studies have shown learning styles do have a place within learning environments when tested in a valid way and used in conjunction with other established pedagogical theories and practices. In light of continued interest and study of learning styles, a group of academic librarians developed a research project to explore the learning styles of academic librarians. The key question of the project was: Do librarians of different professional groups, such as type of work responsibilities, have different learning styles? The instrument used for this research was the Index of Learning Styles (ILS) questionnaire created by

Setting the Stage for Success: Developing an Orientation Program for Academic Library Faculty

“…Librarians in different types of positions have different learning styles, implying that a variety of learning methods should be included in an orientation program. 41 Flexibility is an important factor for the success of orientation programs for new academic librarians. 42 Peer support groups, orientation programs, and writing groups "clearly can be used effectively to mitigate some of the issues that new librarians experience.…”

ILS Validity Analysis for Secondary Grade through Factor Analysis and Internal Consistency Reliability

“…Index of the learning style is a concise and comprehensive tool, freely available online to assess learning style. Thus, it is widely used to explore learning styles of engineering students [17,35,43,47] and higher education students from other fields of studies [17,43,45,47,54,55]. Every year several educators and students use free of cost web-based version of ILS [43].…”

“…Rinehart, Sharkey, and Kahl [54] examined the association of learning styles and responsibilities and professional positions of librarians. Their result showed the statistical significance in terms of the relationship between the learning styles of librarians and their responsibilities [54], but the instrument was not developed to assess the learning styles of librarians but explicitly for engineers [36] and it is vital to assess the validity of tool before interpreting the findings of the study when the study is contextually sensitive [48]. Similarly, another study carried out on higher education students of mathematics, interpret their findings without reporting the validity of the tool for the said sample [55].…”

“…When a tool is used in a new context or population its reliability and validity report is required. The authors in [54] mentioned that respondents (librarians) do not find the ILS appropriate in their context as it has various items designed for understanding the learning preferences of students in a classroom. In these studies, ref.…”