Reviewing the Structure of Kolb's Learning Style Inventory from Factor Analysis and Thurstonian Item Response Theory (IRT) Model Approaches

Kolb's Learning Style Inventory (LSI) continues to generate a great debate among researchers, given the contradictory evidence resulting from its psychometric properties. One primary criticism focuses on the artificiality of the results derived from its internal structure because of the ipsative nature of the forced-choice format. This study seeks to contribute to the resolution of this debate. A short version of Kolb's LSI with a forced-choice format and an additional inventory scored on a Likert scale was completed by a sample of students of the University Católica del Norte in Antofagasta, Chile. The data obtained from the two forms of the reduced version of the LSI were compared using principal component analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and the Thurstonian Item Response Theory model. The results support the hypothesis of the existence of four learning mode dimensions. However, they do not support the existence of the learning styles as proposed by Kolb, indicating that said reports are the product of the artificial structure generated by the ipsative forced-choice format.