Kolb's Learning Style Inventory: a review of its applications in nursing research

This article reviews the application of the Kolb Learning Style Inventory (LSI) in the examination of learning styles among nursing students, as reported in the current literature. In general, a lack of significant relationships between learning style and other variables was revealed in the research on nursing students. In addition, studies undertaken specifically to investigate the measurement properties of the LSI reported major criticisms which seem to have been ignored. In spite of numerous charges of serious instrument weakness, the Kolb LSI has become the most frequently used method of measuring learning styles among nursing students. Continued use of the Kolb LSI in nursing research or as an experiential technique is not recommended. There has been a veritable deluge of research on learning styles among health professionals in recent years. Upon examination of the learning style literature, one finds a sometimes puzzling array of research. Not only are the terms "learning styles" and "cognitive styles" used almost indiscriminately, but also the sheer numbers of instruments used to measure these constructs are baffling. Nursing students are among the most frequently studied groups of health professionals with regard to the learning style construct. Unfortunately, the innumerable instruments used to measure this construct are strikingly dissimilar. Not only are the instruments' designs grossly disparate, but the theoretical constructs upon which they are based contain tenuous connections to one another (Ferrell, 1983; Partridge, 1983). Each instrument yields a predominant learning style or several strong modes of learning, but the categories for the most part are not similar. The Kolb's LSI was the instrument used most frequently for measuring the learning styles of nursing students.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)