The relationship between personal epistemology and learning style in adult learners

This study investigated the relationship between learning style and epistemological beliefs in adult learners. Differences in personal epistemological beliefs among four learning style types (Feeler, Thinker, Sensor, and Intuiter) were explored.; Volunteers were recruited to complete two surveys: the Learning Styles Assessment, and the Epistemic Beliefs Inventory. Multivariate analysis of variance was employed to test for statistical differences in epistemological beliefs among the four style types.; The results of the study indicated that the four style types differed significantly in their epistemological beliefs. Univariate analysis of variance determined that there were significant differences among style groups on the Omniscient Authority and Simple Knowledge subscales. Discriminant analysis resulted in two discriminant functions that significantly differentiated between the four style groups: the Authority function, and the Knowledge Structure function.; The study also revealed that the majority of the differences found in epistemological beliefs between the style groups appear to follow the structure of the Herrmann Brain Dominance learning style model. For four of the five epistemological subscales, the style types that correspond to Herrmann's cerebral quadrants (Thinker and Intuiter) scored more subjectivist than the style types that correspond to Herrmann's limbic quadrants (Feeler and Sensor).; The significance of this study is twofold: it includes a heightened awareness of the role of learning style in personal epistemological beliefs, and it suggests that those differences may be a result of an individual's cerebral/limbic brain dominance as described by the Herrmann Brain Dominance learning style model.