An ANOVA Analysis of the Relationships Between Business Students’ Learning Styles and Effectiveness of Web-Based Instruction, Annotated Bibliography Example

Annotated Bibliography

Kozub, R. M. (2010). An ANOVA Analysis of the Relationships Between Business Students’ Learning Styles and Effectiveness Of Web-Based Instruction. American Journal of Business Education, 3(3), 89-98.

This study utilized data from an online Taxes and Personal Finance course at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to test the relationship between student learning styles and web-based instruction (WBI) design. Students were assigned to one of two groups that differed only on user interaction capabilities and various enhancements that were meant to affect some types of learners, but not others. It was theorized that student achievement in the course would be related to their learning style, as demonstrated in relation to WBI design. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted using the students’ final scores as the dependent variable. The independent variables were different learning styles (accomodator, diverger, converger, assimilator) as determined by Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory (LSI), as well as the WBI design (2 types). In total, 159 students completed the LSI-IIa inventory prior to the beginning of classes, as well as other survey information (to obtain demographic data and satisfaction measures), following the course. The results do not give support to the relationship between learning style and instruction design, as subjects scored similarly regardless of WBI format. Additionally, there was no significant effect of learning style on final score. This research suggests that course performance is not affected by learning-style influenced instruction designs, and that learning-style many not be an influential factor on class success in the first place. However, the reporting of non-significant results is not a strong source of evidence for or against any theory, and the findings may be the result of many factors other than a lack of effect.