Running head: ANALYSIS OF ATHLETE LEARNING STYLES 1

A Critical Analysis: Learning styles favoured by professional,

amateur, and recreational athletes in different sports
Tina Indalecio
California State University Monterey Bay

IST520 Learning Theory

Professor Lockwood
February 3, 2015

ANALYSIS OF ATHLETE LEARNING STYLES 2

A Critical Analysis: Learning styles favoured by professional,
amateur, and recreational athletes in different sports
Introduction
The study was non-experimental in nature and included descriptive, correlational and
qualitative data collection and analysis. The purpose was to characterize the learning styles of
different groups of athletes categorized by sport and level of performance (Gonzlez-Haro,
Calleja-Gonzlez & Calleja-Gonzlez, 2010). The hypotheses are vague and limited due to the
fact that research in this area is limited. The authors are operating under a previously formed
definition that sport training involves a complex pedagogical process and that coaches act as
educators during the learning process. Therefore, understanding the different learning styles of
athletes may be beneficial for coaches and athletic trainers.
There was a cultural bias with this study in that it was only examining Spanish athletes.
In addition there was a gender bias due to the fact that only males were included in the study.
Therefore it limits any generalization to athletes as a whole because the sample was both small
and non-inclusive to other genders and races. Due to the nature of the study age and education
were not a factor. Although the research in this area is limited the reasoning behind the study did
appear to be valid and beneficial to helping coaches and athletic trainers understand athletes
learning preferences to better motivate and train them.
Research Procedures (Methods)
The study entailed both quantitative and qualitative methods. In total there were 71 male
athletes involved in the study from soccer, basketball, cycling and recreational sports. The group
was comprised of both professional and amateur athletes. Data was collected using the Honey-

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Alonzo Learning Styles Questionnaire, which categorizes learning styles into four areas: active,
reflexive, theoretic and pragmatic.
According to Gonzlez-Haro, Calleja-Gonzlez and Calleja-Gonzlez (2010) the
characteristics of the Honey-Alonso learning styles are as follows:

Active learning style: Individuals who seek new experiences. They have
an open mind, are very active, and they approach new tasks

enthusiastically.
Reflexive learning style: Observant individuals who consider their
experiences from different angles. They analyze carefully before coming

to a conclusion and are prudent.

Theoretic learning style: Individuals who are rational and objective, and
dislike anything that is ambiguous and subjective. Logical thought

predominates and they are perfectionists.

Pragmatic learning style: Individuals who are practical in their application
of ideas. They act with care and like to experience the positive aspects of
new ideas.

The results were then converted using the Kolb Model of Experiential Learning, which
explains how the learner passes through four phases that include experimentation, reflection,
thought and action (Gonzlez-Haro, Calleja-Gonzlez & Calleja-Gonzlez, 2010). The study did
a comparison between the groups and performed a qualitative study to determine the Kolb
learning styles using a chi-square test. In addition some data that could not undergo a chi-test
was expressed in percentages.
Given the data collection and analysis methods it is unclear if results could be replicated.
Considering that the study includes personal preferences from a small sample of athletes it could
be assumed that future studies on a larger population may yield different results. In addition

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female athletes learning style preference may vary from male preference. Without ruling out
gender differences, it would not be valid to generalize this studys results to all athletes in those
sports. Considering they large amount of women in professional and amateur sports, this is a
serious flaw in this study not to include a balanced sample. In addition, there was no reasoning
explained as to why women were excluded.
Research Results
The study found no significant differences in learning style preferences with the HoneyAlonzo Learning Styles Questionnaire among the athletes or sport categories. Of all the learning
styles, the reflexive one was most common then theoretic came in second for all sport groups
except cyclists who preferred the pragmatic style second to reflexive. With the Kolb conversion
data it was found that the preferred learning style was the accommodating style. In general the
preference for learning style were similar among the groups. The only significant difference was
that the pragmatic style was the professional athletes least favorite style. There was no
correlation found between learning styles and number of years participating in the sport.
Discussion of Results
According to Gonzlez-Haro, Calleja-Gonzlez and Calleja-Gonzlez (2010), Given the
results of the present study and the absence of other published studies, it cannot be concluded
that athletes have a predominant learning style. Nevertheless, (p. 863). In addition the study
does admit that there is limited research on this topic and that it would be difficult to compare
this study to others. The authors acknowledge they did not take into consideration education
level, and felt that was the only possible limitation to the study. However they explained that
previous research hypothesizes that education level does not make a difference in learning style

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preference. It was recommended at the end of the study to continue doing research in this area
with broader samples of athletes, in effort to confirm learning style preferences.
This study was not constructed in an unbiased manner, nor did it draw any
significant conclusion as to learning style preferences among athletes, even within the sample
used for the study. While the assumption that understanding learning style preferences could be
beneficial to coaches and athletic trainers, seems sound and valid, this study does not appear to
bring any solid answers to help scholars understand athletes learning preferences.

References

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Escanero, J., Gonzlez-Haro, C., & Calleja-Gonzlez, J. (2010). Learning styles favoured by
professional, amateur, and recreational athletes in different sports. Journal of Sports
Sciences, 28(8), 859-866.