Kolb's Learning Style Inventory-1985: Validity issues and relations with metacognitive knowledge about problem-solving strategies

This study aimed at investigating: (a) the psychometric properties of Kolb's LSI-1985 in a Greek sample of pre-service and in-service teachers (N=338), (b) group differences in their learning styles and (c) possible relations between the participants' learning styles and their metacognitive knowledge about the frequency of using various problem-solving strategies. To assess metacognitive knowledge, participants were asked to estimate how frequently they use five general problem-solving strategies (brainstorming, analogy, etc.) in three different settings (interpersonal, practical and study problems). The results of the present study extend the critique regarding the construct validity of the LSI-1985. Moreover, in most of the cases no significant differences in the learning modes were found between the pre-service and the in-service teachers. Finally, few and rather small significant correlations were found between the learning modes and the metacognitive knowledge regarding the use of strategies in problem solving. (c) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All fights reserved.