Returns to different ‘learning styles’: Evidence from a course in microeconomics

Abstract

An extant literature suggests students learn differently. Previous studies in Economics courses have used the Myers-Briggs Personality Type indicator to proxy for preferred learning style. The four dichotomous personality characteristics yield 16 potential personality types. Previous studies found some personality types are more successful in economics classes than other types. However, evidence on the impact on student learning of a student's personality type matching their professor's type has been mixed. We use a continuous measure of learning style (left hemisphere/right hemisphere thinking preference) and find that for most instructors, after controlling for student inputs, the students' final grades do not seem to be mediated by the deviations in the students' hemispheric preference from that of the instructors'. We also attempt to adjudicate the inconsistent results of previous research in terms of students learning and matching their instructor's type.

Keywords:

• learning styles
• microeconomics
• hemispheric preference
• matching

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Nicole Gullekson, Ryan Sullivan, John Nunley, James Murray and Lisa Giddings and two anonymous referees for their useful comments. Any remaining errors are the sole responsibility of the authors.

Notes

1. Variable definitions available in Appendix 1. Hemispheric Preference Questionnaire available in Appendix 2.

2. At UW-L, a final letter grade A, A/B, B, B/C, C, D, or F is awarded to each student for the class. This grade is then translated into 4, 3.5, 3, 2.5, 2, 1, or 0 respectively for the student's GPA calculation.

3. The ACT is a standardized test for high school students in the United States to assess their ability to complete college-level work. It has two parts. The required multiple-choice tests cover four skill areas: English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science. The optional writing test measures skill in writing.

4. The Test of Understanding in College Economics (TUCE) is a nationally normed, standardized test given at the undergraduate level in the United States to measure student understanding in introductory economics courses.

5. While we expect TERMGPANET, PERRNK, and ACT math will be correlated as they measure similar things, they are sufficiently distinct to not jeopardize our estimates with large standard errors. TERMGPANET measures current effort, while PERRNK measures past effort in high school relative to their peers, and ACT math is more closely aligned with an innate measure of math ability.