LEARNING STYLES OF GEOLOGICAL, PETROLEUM, AND GEOPHYSICAL ENGINEERS

As part of a multidisciplinary design course for senior year geological engineering, petroleum engineering, and geophysical engineering students at the Colorado School of Mines, the Myers Briggs Type Indicator™ (MBTI) is used to assist students in understanding interactions among team members and identifying strengths of individuals in team settings toward completion of the assigned project. The Kolb Learning Style Inventory™ (LSI) was also made available to the students in the Spring Semester of 1995 and the Spring Semester of 2008, to identify learning styles.

MBTI results for the two semesters indicated are reasonably typical for students of this institution compared with the data of other years. NT (Intuitive/Thinking) and ST (Sensing/Thinking), representing the dominant and auxiliary functions, are the clear majority for these students. LSI data places the aggregate score in the Assimilating Quadrant for these engineering students for both semesters. The basic strengths of the Assimilating learning style are planning, creating models, defining problems, and developing theories. Furthermore, the aggregate LSI scores fall within the area indicating a balance of experiencing, thinking, reflection, and action. Educators are able to use a variety of learning activities with a reasonable expectation of success in the classroom for these students.