Comparison of high school students' learning styles and attitudes toward an adventure unit and a fitness unit

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to compare selected high school students' learning styles and attitudes towards an adventure education unit and a fitness unit. The sample included 34 male and female students from a Midwest high school. The subjects were divided into two groups. Group one (N= 21) participated in a ten class adventure unit followed by a ten class fitness unit. Group two (N= 13) participated in a ten class fitness unit followed by a ten class adventure unit. All of the participants completed Kolb's learning style inventory and a pre-treatment attitude instrument. Upon completion of each treatment, the students' attitudes were assessed via a modified attitude instrument specific to each treatment. The attitude instrument was a modified version of the Adam's Scale survey (Adams, 1963). A one-way ANOVA yielded no significant difference between learning style and student's attitude toward an adventure unit (P=.840) or a fitness unit (P=.617). Teachers should consider ways for all students to develop positive attitudes toward the content being taught in high school physical education classes regardless of individual learning styles. Further research is suggested to support the use of learning styles in the physical education setting.