Because students learn in different ways, teachers adapt curricula to diverse learning styles. This book presents state-of-the-art research and information on how to use learning-style based instruction in teaching and professional development for nurse and allied health educators.

"The purpose of this study was to determine: (1) if a predominate learning style and learning preference existed for a select group of junior and senior baccalaureate degree nursing students, and (2) if there were differences between the two groups in their predominant learning styles and learning preferences. A total of 49 junior and 80 senior nursing students completed the Gregorc Style Delineator, the Wells' Learning Preference Survey and a demographic questionnaire. Though there were no reported statistical significance between the two groups of nursing students in their learning style preferences, the junior students preferred the Concrete Sequential (n=20, 42.6%) and Abstract Random (n=18, 38.3%) learning styles, while the senior students preferred the Abstract Random (n=29, 39.7%)and Concrete Sequential (n=25, 34.2%) learning styles. The learning methods preferred by the entire group of nursing students were drill and practice (n=106, 82.2%), television/movies (n=103, 79.8%), group discussion (n=95, 73.7%), and short lecture with question and answer (n=95, 73.7%). There was a statistically significant difference between junior and senior students on four of the twelve learning preferences. Juniors showed a significantly higher preference over the seniors for learning through groups with discussion (Tau=.20, p=.02), lectures (Tau=.16, p=.04) and slide/filmstrips with audiotapes (Tau=.21, p=.01). The seniors demonstrated a significantly higher preference over juniors for games as a method of learning (Tau=.21, p=.02). Suggestions for further study include a longitudinal study design which could incorporate manipulation of teaching strategies"--Document.