A reexamination of accounting student learning styles

This paper provides additional empirical evidence concerning accounting student learning styles as indicated by the revised Learning Style Inventory (LSI-1985; Kolb, 1985b). Subjects were 536 upper-level undergraduate business students, of which 142 were junior and senior accounting majors. Two versions of the LSI-1985 were administered, standard and scrambled. In addition, 91 accounting majors completed the LSI a second time, after a 5-week interval. Results indicate (a) little evidence that accounting majors exhibit characteristic learning styles different from those of other undergraduate business majors; (b) equivocal evidence that a dominant indicated learning style exists among accounting as well as other undergraduate business majors; (c) that the LSI yields rather unstable learning style classifications over time; and (d) that learning style classifications, as well as classification stability over time, are affected by the format of the LSI administered (standard vs. scrambled). Much of this evidence contrasts to that reported previously in the literature based on the original LSI (Kolb, 1976). In view of these results, caution on the further use of the LSI for predictive and classification purposes in accounting education is called for.