An exploratory study of the relationship between age and learning styles among students in different nursing programs in Taiwan

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between learning styles and age among nursing students in a two-year, a five-year associate degree of nursing (ADN) program, and a two-year bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) program in Taiwan. The Chinese version of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Form M was used to measure individual preferences in four dichotomous dimensions of Jungian theory: extraversion/introversion, sensing/intuition, thinking/feeling, and judging/perceiving. The study sample included 331 nursing students. The analysis of the data revealed that the most common learning styles were introversion, sensing, thinking, and judging (ISTJ) and introversion, sensing, feeling, and judging (ISFJ). The findings indicated that the SJs comprised 43.0% of the participating nursing students. SJs are highly preferred in the field of nursing. However, the ages of nursing students were not significantly related to their learning styles. The findings suggested that the participating nursing students were homogeneous. We recommend the use of a large sample for further studies. The awareness and understanding of individual differences is of great importance in tailoring each learning style to benefit educators and learners, thereby enhancing nursing education.