PRE-SERVICE ICT TEACHERS’ LEARNING STYLES, ABILITIES, INTERESTS AND CURRENT CAREER ASPIRATIONS

Kolb speculates that individuals are attracted to particular disciplines because they perceive similarities between the learning demands of disciplinary environments and their personal learning orientations. He further maintains that when individuals’ learning styles are not congruent with environmental press, individuals either change their styles or leave the fields. According to Holland, people tend to be happy in occupations and stay in positions longer when job skills match personal traits. Studies have shown that when learning style matches the demands of a given field of study or career specialization, higher performance results. In addition, there is empirical evidence that learning styles are highly related to work preference. Therefore, in this study, the following research question was addressed: Are there relationships among the Turkish pre-service ICT teachers’ learning styles, abilities, interests, and current career aspirations? Participants were 115 pre-service ICT teachers from Ankara University, Turkey. Two instruments were used in this study. Pre-service ICT teachers’ learning styles were measured using Kolb’s Learning Styles Inventory-Turkish Version (LSI-TV). Participants’ abilities and interests were measured using ability and interest sub-scales of Kuzgun’s Self-Evaluation Inventory (SEI). Kuzgun’s SEI designed as a self-assessment inventory to measure individuals’ abilities, and career-related interests and values. In addition, personal information of the participants such as age, gender, and current career aspirations were measured using open-ended questions. Results showed that the most common learning style among pre-service ICT teachers was Converging. In terms of ability scores, the participants obtained the highest scores on Numerical Ability and Verbal Ability categories. In terms of interest scores, the participants obtained the highest scores on Job Detail and Persuasion categories. The first three careers which emerged from the analysis of pre-service ICT teachers’ responses to the current career aspiration question were computer engineering, ICT teaching, and doctor of medicine. ANOVA results showed that the only statistically significant relationship among the pre-service ICT teachers’ learning styles, ability and interest scores was on the Mechanical interest category. According to post hoc analysis, Convergers have higher interest scores on Mechanical interest category than Accommodators. ANOVA results also showed that male and female pre-service ICT teachers’ ability scores did not differ statistically significantly. However, in terms of their interest scores there were significant differences between male and female participants on five different interest categories. Namely, male pre-service ICT teachers have higher interest scores on Mechanical interest category than female counterparts; similarly male pre-service ICT teachers have higher interest scores on Commerce interest category than female counterparts, whereas female pre-service ICT teachers have higher interest scores on Literature interest category than male counterparts; again female pre-service ICT teachers have higher interest scores on Fine Arts interest category than male counterparts; and finally female pre-service ICT teachers have higher interest scores on Social Works interest category than male counterparts. Implications are discussed.