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The impact of learning styles on volunteering for church activities
Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to determine the relationship between learning style preference and volunteering for church activities. It was hypothesized that people with certain learning styles would be more likely to participate in certain volunteer jobs and that learning style preference would be related to overall propensity to volunteer. A survey instrument containing the How I Like to Learn Survey and a list of volunteer jobs available in churches was distributed to adults over the age of 40 in 14 protestant churches across the United States. A total of 511 subjects answered the questionnaire. A factor analysis established that there were four learning style preferences: the personalizing collaborator (learns through small groups and discussion), the analytic evaluator (learns by evaluating information and being thorough), the hands-on experimenter (learns by experimenting), and the innovative explorer (learns by taking risks and adapting to change). Factor analysis also indicated four categories of volunteer jobs: people-oriented jobs, detail-oriented jobs, hands-on jobs, and heading-up jobs. Multiple regression analyses revealed some statistically significant findings. The innovative explorer and personalizing collaborator learning style preferences had the highest overall propensity to volunteer and were the two learning styles most likely to volunteer for people-oriented jobs. The hands-on experimenter and personalizing collaborator learning style preferences were the most likely to volunteer for hands-on volunteer jobs. The analytic evaluator and hands-on experimenter learning style preferences were the most likely to volunteer for detail oriented jobs. Finally, volunteer jobs involved with heading up a program or event were most likely to be done by people with the innovative explorer learning style preference. Males were more likely to volunteer for hands-on jobs and head jobs, whereas females were more likely to volunteer for detail oriented jobs and people oriented jobs. Additionally, females had a higher overall propensity to volunteer than males. Findings also indicated that age has an inverse effect on volunteering in that as age increases propensity to volunteer decreases.
Subject Area
Gerontology|Religion|Continuing education
Recommended Citation
Hanson, Amy Marie, "The impact of learning styles on volunteering for church activities" (2006). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI3213440.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI3213440