Mapping Kolb's Learning Style to Roles in Software Development Team

The effective transfer and acquisition of necessary knowledge, methods, and attitudes pose significant challenges for Software Engineering Education. Furthermore, training in software development skills and knowledge currently lacks a clear set of techniques to link learning styles and preferences with development team roles. This paper characterizes the learning style of four traditional roles in software development (Analyst, Architect, Developer, and Project Manager) using Kolb's Learning Styles Inventory. Kolb's Learning Styles Test was administered to 110 software development practitioners (15 analysts, 18 architects, 50 developers, and 27 project managers). The test results show that, with some differences, architects and analysts have the Deciding style, while developers and project managers exhibit the Thinking style. Finally, in alignment with Kolb's learning strengths and challenges, this work provides a set of teaching strategies for each role based on their inferred learning styles.