Date of Award

1993

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Human Resource Education and Workforce Development

First Advisor

Betty C. Harrison

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to: (1) describe dislocated workers in Louisiana by learning styles and demographics; (2) compare learning style by demographics; and, (3) determine if learning style is independent of occupational area. A simple random sample of 235 dislocated worker participants was drawn from participants served in the Louisiana Job Link Center at Louisiana State University during FY89 through FY91. Data were collected using two instruments. The researcher designed recording form was used to enter the demographic variables gender, ethnicity, age, educational level, and occupational areas (DOT) codes. The Gregorc Style Delineator identified the preferred learning style channel of dislocated workers as either abstract random (AR), abstract sequential (AS), concrete sequential (CS), or concrete random (CR). The demographics consisted of: gender, 119 male and 116 female; ethnicity, 134 white, 96 black, 5 other; age, 19-71 years; education, 22 had less than high school; and, occupation (DOT), clerical and sales had 100. Learning style channel preferences: AR, 12.9%; AS, 11.4; CS, 61.7%; and, CR, 14%. The Chi-Square test of independence was used to compare the differences in learning style of dislocated workers by gender, ethnicity, age, educational level and last employed occupational area. Only the variables learning style and educational level were not independent. Male, female, and older dislocated workers tended to have concrete sequential learning styles, persons with higher levels of education tended to have a greater diversity of style, and no particular occupational area preferred any one style. The results suggest that further research studies need to be done using dislocated workers and learning styles since the variable learning style has not been previously addressed with this population. It is further recommended that additional research be conducted to ascertain if the research sample in this study was typical or atypical.

Pages

93

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_disstheses.5509

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