Determination of Learning Styles in an Introductory Food Science Course

Student learning styles and preferred instructor type were determined in an introductory food science course to facilitate curricular planning and provide direction for implementation of teaching techniques. The predominant learning styles in the course were common sense and analytical learners. Students indicated that the preferred instructor type was an interactive instructor. Student perceptions of study skills and ability to remain attentive in class ranked higher for common sense and analytical learners than for dynamic learners (p 0.05), while student perception of time management skills, note-taking skills, making classroom contributions, and academic aptitude were not different among learning styles (p>0.05). No differences were identified for any of these categories among preferred instructor type (p>0.05).