CHAPTER 5
 SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION

 This chapter summarizes the study and provides conclusions, implications, and

recommendations derived from the results of this study. The first section of this chapter

presents a summary of the problem statement, purpose and objectives, methodology and

findings. The second section presents conclusions and discussion specific to each

objective. The end of the chapter provides recommendations as a result of this study.

 Summary of Problem Statement

 Trends in undergraduate education are moving from teacher-centered classrooms

to student-centered classrooms for the improvement of student engagement (Acharya,

2002). However, twenty percent of freshman and seniors in colleges and universities

across the nation were still identified as disengaged (Kuh, 2003). Even though

instructional techniques of faculty members have improved, student engagement in

college classrooms still seems to be at a low level. In the search for variables to explain

student engagement, researchers have examined the cognitive level of instructional

discourse (Whittington, 1998), but few have examined the cognitive style of the

instructor. That is, does a dissimilar learning style between student and faculty member

contribute to explaining why some students are not engaged in the classroom?

 Kirton's (2003) measure of learning style is independent of learning capability

and motivation towards learning; this theoretical view is different than many other

measures of learning style (Coffield, Moseley, Hall & Ecclestone, 2004). The separation

of learning style from learning level is warranted to allow for the distinguished