Content area
Abstract
This study examined the association between communication apprehension and learning style preference. The review of literature highlighted communication apprehension and its academic consequences and the impact of learning style preferences on academic achievement. It also pointed out the need for more study of the relationship between communication apprehension and learning style preference.
The subjects included 446 students enrolled in a fundamentals of public speaking course. They ranged in age from 18 to 59 and in year in college from freshman to graduate students. Within the first two weeks of a spring semester, the students completed McCroskey's Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA-24), McCarthy's Learning Type Measure (LTM), and demographic items. Respondent's answers were statistically analyzed using ANOVA's and Pearson product-moment correlational matrices. Each of the scales were factor analyzed and reliability coefficients were determined.
The results indicated: (1) Trait communication apprehension is significantly correlated with learning style preference for women, but not for men. Highly communication apprehensive women prefer a learning style of reflective observation and thoughtful evaluation or guided active experimentation and practical application. (2) Context-based communication apprehension is significantly correlated with learning style preference for women, but not for men. (3) Communication apprehension is not correlated with age, sex, self-reported grade-point average (GPA) or academic year in college for the entire sample. (4) Learning style preference is correlated with sex, GPA, academic year in college and age. (5) The obtained reliability for the PRCA-24 scale was high while the obtained reliabilities for the LTM scales were only moderate. (6) A factor analysis of the PRCA-24 scale demonstrated that all items loaded on a single factor, while a factor analysis for the LTM, Part A scale failed to converge. In order to test validity of the LTM items, a Likert-type scale would be preferred to an ipsative scale.
