By Nathaniel Wadsworth
Students studying dietetics have a broader range of learning styles than the educators who teach them, according to research by a dietetics faculty member at BYU.
Ann Mitchell, assistant teaching professor in dietetics, conducted a survey of dietetics students and faculty nationwide to determine their learning styles trends.
'We wanted to see if there was a learning style match between dietetics educators and students,' Mitchell said.
Individuals are classified by four learning styles: accommodator - those who learn from hands-on experience; diverger - those who prefer observation to action; assimilator - people who are good at consolidating information into logical categories, and converger - people good at finding practical ways to use ideas and theories.
Mitchell said most dietetics educators fall under accommodator and diverger learning styles while students are spread evenly throughout all four.
Though an individual may use all four types of learning styles, one style dominates the others, she said.
A reason for the difference between students and educators might be related to changes in the field of dietetics, Mitchell said. People had a more narrow idea of what a dietician was a few years ago. Today dieticians have many more career options.
The survey Mitchell used for the study was filled out by faculty and senior dietetics students at 33 dietetics programs nationwide. The participants filled out the survey, which asked about interests and learning methods. Mitchell tallied the results of the surveys and classified the individuals into the different learning styles. She then returned the individual results to the study participants.
Mitchell said when students have an understanding of their learning style and of study strategies for using their style, they can hopefully study and learn more effectively.
Kelly Buhler, a senior majoring in dietetics, recently took the survey Mitchell used and discovered she is a converger. She said knowing her learning style is helpful.
'It (the survey) has helped me know what my learning style is, but more than that it has helped me understand my interactions with classmates,' said Buhler, 21, from Wendell, Idaho. 'Understanding the way others learn, and the strengths and weaknesses of each method help put things into perspective.'
On the other hand, Lorie Bond, 22, a senior from Valencia, Calif., majoring in dietetics, said knowing this her learning style has done little for her.
She was categorized as a diverger.
'Personally, knowing my learning style hasn''t helped me learn better at all,' she said. 'I haven''t even given much thought to it after I took it (the survey).'
Mitchell is currently working on a paper reporting her study and said she wants to have it published soon.