A Comparison of the Learning Styles of Graduate Athletic Training Students and Their Demographic Characteristics

Using the Productivity Environmental Preference Survey (PEPS) and a self­ designed demographic survey, this study assessed the learning styles of students enrolled in a NATA approved graduate athletic training education program and compared the relationship between learning style preferences and the demographic characteristics of the graduate students. The PEPS survey is a 100-item Likert scale learning style inventory relating to 20 learning style elements of 4 domains: environmental, emotional, sociological, and physical. As part of the demographic research, participants completed measures assessing geographic, family, educational, and personal information. Participants were 163 (55 men, 108 women) graduate athletic training students from eleven of the thirteen CAAHEP-accredited graduate athletic training programs. The demographic survey and PEPS survey were mailed to the program directors of the various institutions with specific directions for distribution to the students. Correlations were calculated between learning styles and demographic data using Pearson Chi-Square, one-way ANOVA, and t-tests. The learning style preferred most on the PEPS included structure (59.11 ± 6.96) and afternoon learning (58.05 ± 10.73). Some significant (p<0.05) cross-tabulations included persistence with race (p=0.01), reputation (p=0.008), application status (p=0.02), region lived most (p=0.002), and undergraduate school region (p=0.004); late morning with type of program (p=0.01) and location (p=0.03);alone/peers with class level (p=0.005); authority figures with class level (p=0.002); several ways with class level (p=0.01); time of day with class level (p=0.01); structure with money (p=0.006), certification status (p=0.03), and curriculum (p=0.008); and kinesthetic with reputation (p=0.04). Both undergraduate (F2,20=3.010, p=0.05) and graduate (F2,20=4.819, p=0.009) GPA's were influenced by light. The results of this study demonstrate that some of the demographic characteristics influence learning style preferences of graduate athletic training students. While some of the results are unexplainable, two consistent findings regarding athletic training education are the preference for a structured learning environment and the preference for afternoon learning, specifically for first-year graduate athletic training students. In general, more research needs to be conducted about the demographic characteristics of graduate athletic training students, and further research should investigate how athletic training improves when educators teach according to student learning style preferences.