Learning styles and personality types of computer science students at a South African university

This research investigates the learning styles and personality types of Computer Science students at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa using the Kolb Learning Style Inventory and the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, respectively. Students were found to be predominantly abstract intheir learning, and they did not show strong preferences on the reflective/active dimension hence they had either a Converger or Assimilator learning style which is consistent with prior research. Across the three years of undergraduate study, learning styles became more balanced in terms of the reflective/activedimension. Students were predominantly ISTJ, ISFJ, ESTJ or ESFJ in their personality types showing a strong presence of the SJ temperament which is associated with organisation, planning and decision-making. This result is less consistent with prior research. There were no significant differences over the three years in personality type.