Quality Reform: Personality

type, preferred
learning style and majors in a
business school
Introduction
Educational Production function
Academic achievement as a function
problem based learning (PBL) is
recommended
In educational psychology it is acknowledged
that different people learn differently
Personality type is an important explanatory
variable in student performance in economic
courses both at the principles and at the
upper levels.
 Personality types may be significant for
(1) the selection of a major area of
study in a business school
(2) how well the traditional differences in
teaching load and other student learning
activities between electives will
correspond to the students learning
preferences.
Personality types
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to
evaluate the effect of personality types on
educational outcomes.
It reveals the personality type
It is based on Jungs treatise Psychological
Types
Important aspects of Jungs psychological
type theory are attitudes and mental
processes
 There is little current research on how
personality types affect the selection of
optional courses, majors and learning
styles in business schools. However, there
is a voluminous amount of research into
how personality types affect the learning
in general.
Personality Type, Learning
Style, and Preferred Major
Four combinations are sensing and
perceiving (SP), sensing and judging (SJ),
intuition and thinking (NT), and intuition and
feeling (NF).
SP- People having the combination of sensing
and perceiving (SPs) hate to be tied down to
routine, are risk-lovers, and have a strong
play ethic.
SJ- The combination of sensing and judgment
(SJ) include people whose temperament is
almost total opposites of the SPs.
 NT- People having an intuitive and thinking
temperament (NT) are well suited for a
scientific career. They value logic and reason,
and they do very well in formal education,
especially in the fields of abstract reasoning.
NF- fourth temperaments is the intuitive and
feeling person (NF), who is on a never-ending
search of himself / herself. The intuitive and
feeling temperament is fully consistent with
being visible, and, hence, that person doesnt
like to be one of many in a large lecture class if
there are no possibilities of appearing in front
of the others.
The Four Temperaments, Learning
Styles, and Preferred Majors in a
Business School
SP:The sensing and perceiving student
SP students prefer physical involvement in the learning
process and want to be able to try things themselves
through hands-on experience. SPs tend to be competitive
and do often respond well to group projects, This student
requires a great deal of variety in the learning process, and
will be bored by a standard class lecture SPs will prefer
optional courses and majors with problem based learning
(PBL).
SJ:The sensing and judging student
SJ students prefer the traditional learning style with a
lecture-based classroom. . They do best when the tasks are
well-defined and are given to them and having clear direction.
SJs are supposed to prefer majors in Accounting, Auditing,
Economics, and Finance as these courses require minimum
improvisation and creativity.
 NT:The intuitive and thinking student
NT students tend to be independent learners and are
often self-sufficient in the classroom. NTs prefer
theoretical, logical and didactical presentation and need
few examples to follow up. NTs are supposed to prefer
majors with freedom to choose their own paper topics
and their own subject matter of the course. They pick
majors in Marketing.
NF:The intuitive and feeling student
NF students prefer a democratically run classroom
with other students and the professor. They enjoy group
work being cooperative rather than being competitive.
NF students are motivated by personal recognition and
approval on papers or tests rather than good grades.
These students will probably prefer majors in Human
Resource Management.
Hypotheses
H1: Business students are more likely to have a sensing and
judging (SJ) personality / temperament rather than a sensing and
perceiving (SP) and an intuitive and feeling (NF) one.
H2: Optional business courses using a PBL approach will be more
likely to attract sensing and perceiving sensing and perceiving (SP),
intuitive and thinking (NT), and intuitive and feeling (NF) students
rather than sensing and judging (SJ) students.
H3: Optional business courses using a standard lecture class
approach will more likely attract sensing and judging (SJ) students
rather than sensing and perceiving (SP), intuitive and thinking (NT)
and intuitive and feeling (NF) students.
H4: Optional majors in which the distinctive character of the
subject is based on facts, procedures, and sequential presentation
will more likely attract sensing and judging (SJ) students rather
than sensing and perceiving (SP), intuitive and thinking (NT) and
intuitive and feeling (NF) students.
H5: Optional majors in which the distinctive character of the
subject is emphasizing people and human relations, are more likely
to attract sensing and perceiving (SP), intuitive and thinking (NT)
and intuitive and feeling (NF) students rather than sensing and
judging (SJ) students.
 Research Method
The resent study was carried out as a quasi-experiment with
a simple comparison group design.
According to the comparison groups looked at design
groups (classes) using either standard lecturing or a PBL
approach within Trondheim Business School.
The sample comprised students in the compulsory class of
the principle of macroeconomics in the autumn semester of
their second year.
The students answered questionnaires based on MBTI to
reveal which of the non-equivalent personality temperament
groups they belong to and at the end of the following spring
term and what majors they had selected in their third
academic year.
The sample included 148 participating students. There were
69 female students (46.6 %) among the respondents.
 Does Personality / Temperament Matter?
Students personality temperaments in a business school
Tempera SP SJ NT NF Total
ment
N 15 95 25 11 147
Percent 10.2 65.3 17 7.5 100
Missing 1
The sensing and judging temperament dominates among
the business students since 65.3 % of the students
belong to this personality category. This is what was
expected according to H1
.
There were only 38 % sensing and judging people in the
general population in the US. The 65.3 % sensing and
judging category among the Norwegian business students,
in contrast to the percentages in the USA, may be an
indication of the attractiveness of business curriculum
among students having a sensing and judging temperament.
Cross tabulation of electives learning style and
students personality temperament
Learning style SJ SP, NT, and NF Total
Count 45 16 61
Expected count 40.2 20.8 61
Standard 70.3 48.5 62.9
lecture (Column
percent)
class approach
Count 19 17 36
Expected count 23.8 12.2 36
(Column 29.7 51.5 37.1
PBL approach percent)
Count 64 33 97
Expected count 64 33 97
Total (Column 100 100 100
percent)

Most of the sensing and judging students (70.3 %) were enrolled in a standard
lecture-based elective, with only 29.7 % enrolled on a PBL-based elective which
proves H3 and with a lower percentage (29.7 % ) enrolled on a PBL-based
elective proves H2.
Cross tabulation of optional majors is based on facts,
procedures, and sequential presentation and
students personality temperament
Type of
majors:

Count 63 23 86
Majors based on
facts, procedures,
Expected
count 57.8 28.7 86
and sequential (Row 73.3 26.7 100
percent)
presentation 77.3 53.5 66.7
(Column
percent)

Count 23 20 43
Majors
emphasizing
Expected
count 28.7 14.3 43
people (Row 53.5 46.5 100
and human percent)
(Column 26.7 46.5 53.3
Relations percent)

Count 86 43 129
Expected
count 86 43 129
(Row 66.7 33.3 100
percent)
100 100 100
 Most (73.3 %) of the sensing and judging students
enrolled majors based on facts, procedures, and
sequential presentation, while only 26.7 % of them
enrolled a major emphasizing people and human
relations and this proves H4.
Majors where the distinctive character of the
subject is emphasizing people and human relations
are more likely to attract students having sensing
and perceiving , intuitive and thinking and intuitive
and feeling temperaments. Of students having
these temperaments 46.6 % enrolled on these
majors, and while only 26.7 % of sensing and
judging students did the same and this proves H5.
Key points and Learning's

There is a relation between the relationship

between personality / temperament and learning
style among business students.
Personality type counts when it comes to a
preferred selection of majors as well.
Sensing and judging students are the dominant
group and they prefer traditional and classroom
learning more effective and useful as compared to
PBL.
If there is a strong desire to introduce more PBL
approaches for the sensing and judging students,
these modes of learning should not replace
lecturing, but should be a supplement.