A Comparative Study of the Learning Styles of Southeast Asian and American Caucasian College Students on Two Seventh-day Adventist Campuses

Abstract

Problem. While much research has been conducted on learning style in the United States, no known empirical study has been done to compare the learning styles of Asian and Caucasian students on Seventh-day Adventist campuses. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in learning-style preferences between a group of Asian students at Southeast Asia Union College in Singapore and Caucasian students at Andrews University in Michigan. Method. This study employed the Productivity Environmental Preference Scale to measure the learning styles of the two groups. The data which were computed and analyzed to test seven null hypotheses were provided by a total of 309 undergraduate students (143 Asiansand 166 Caucasians). Findings. (1) Caucasians appear to have a higher preference for warmth, responsibility, intake, learning in the morning, and mobility. They exhibit a lower preference for auditory and visual learning than the Asians. (2) Males as compared to females have a higher preference for noise, tactile learning experiences, intake, responsibility, and warmth; they have a lower preference for learning in several ways, peer-oriented learning, and persistence. (3) Caucasian males, as compared to Asian males, appear to have a stronger preference for warmth, responsibility, persistence, and intake, and a lower preference for auditory learningand learning in the late morning. (4) Caucasian females have a higher preference for responsibility, warmth, mobility, learning in the morning, and intake than the Asian females; and they have a lower preference for visual and auditory learning experiences. Conclusions. From an analysis of the findings, it appears that culture is a determinant of learning style as Asians are significantly different from Caucasians in their preferences. Sex appears to be a contributing factor as well.

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