ERIC Number: ED252159
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1984-Nov-14
Pages: 9
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Learning Styles: Do They Affect Faculty Evaluation?
Toppins, Anne Davis; Dunlap, William R.
The effect of differences in student and faculty learning styles on student evaluation of faculty was studied at the University of Alabama's College of Education. It was assumed that the professor's learning style influenced teaching behavior. In the final week of the spring semester, the Productivity Environmental Preference Survey (PEPS) was administered to 311 students in 20 graduate and upper-level classes. The professor of each class also completed the survey. In addition, students completed the university's regular evaluation form, the NCS Student Survey of Course/Instructor. A significant relationship between learning style and student evaluation of faculty was found. Seven of the 21 PEPS elements significantly contributed to the relationship between learning style and faculty evaluation: light, design, persistence, self-orientation, kinesthetic perceptual preference, and time of day (late morning or afternoon). The element ranked as most important by student and faculty was kinesthetic preferences. Persistence was another highly-rated variable: both students and faculty saw themselves as preferring to work on long-term assignments. The most significant of the variables was desire for light; students and faculty expressed high need for light. Both students and faculty expressed less perference for afternoon learning. (SW)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Alabama Univ., University.
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midsouth Educational Research Association (13th, New Orleans, LA, November 14-16, 1984).