Learning Styles in the Workplace:A Study in the Aviation Industry

While the debate continues regarding the importance of learning styles in the classroom, this study addresses using them in the workplace as a possible training aid. Not only is this use of learning styles somewhat novel, the study focuses on a large but under-represented work population: the aviation maintenance technician. This study introduces the population as an addition to existing populations for learning style inventories based on Felder and Soloman's Index of Learning Styles (ILS). The study also proposes that this population will assist workplace psychologists in understanding the learning styles of technically oriented workgroups and allow training managers to tailor their development strategies to specific learning styles. Quantitative methods are used to determine which learning style is most preferred by this specialized workgroup. To calculate these statistics, the results of the ILS are used along with descriptive statistics and a chi-squared analysis. A discussion of the research question and the statistically significant results, indicating a preference for the visual/sensing learning style combination, is presented. Recommendations for future research, including additional research into the relationship of learning styles to academic performance, training effectiveness, and customer/student satisfaction, are also discussed.