The Relationship Between Student and Faculty Learning Style Congruency and Perceptions of the Classroom Environment in Colleges of Teacher Education

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of congruence between teachers\u27 and undergraduate education majors\u27 learning styles in selected colleges of the Tennessee Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, and to determine if the style congruence was related to student perceptions of the classroom learning environment. A related purpose was to identify needed changes in classroom environments based on the characteristics of the actual and ideal classroom environments as perceived by students, characteristics of the actual classroom environment as perceived by their teachers, and characteristics of actual and ideal classroom environments as perceived by men and women students. A relationship of classroom environments was also examined. Kolb\u27s Learning Style Inventory and the Adult Classroom Environment Scale were administered to students and teachers in selected colleges for teacher education that were members of the Tennessee Association of Colleges for Teacher Education during the Fall, 1994. Data were analyzed using measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion, t-tests for dependent (correlated) means, t-tests for independent means, and Pearson Product Moment Correlations. Results indicated that the predominant learning style for both students and teachers was Accommodator. The students preferred Diverger as their second dominant learning style while the teachers preferred Assimilator. The teachers incorporated logical thinking, systematic thinking, and intellectual thinking in their learning behavior, while the students preferred to learn by viewing situations from different points of view and to observe without taking action. Matching students\u27 learning styles with those of teachers was not found to be related to the ratings of the classroom environment. Significant relationships were found to exist between all classroom dimensions except Task Orientation and Student Influence. Both teachers and students viewed Teacher Support as the most prevalent element of the actual classroom environment and Student Influence as the least noticeable element of the classroom environment. However, the teachers\u27 views for the actual classroom environment were higher than students\u27 views in all subscales except for Organization and Clarity