Houle has proposed a typology of professionals' modes of continuing learning. Three modes are hypothesized: inquiry, instruction, and performance. The purpose of the study was to test the adequacy of this typology with a population of staff nurses in a community hospital. A 47-item instrument that has been shown to be a valid and reliable measure of the universe of nurses' continuing learning activities was used. The survey was administered to the same population twice, one year apart. Oblique factor analysis produced a four-factor solution for the data collected in each year. The four factors were labelled Inquiry, Performance, Group Instruction, and Self-instruction. A revised typology is proposed and an explanatory framework for the new typology is given.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Cervero et al. (1987) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched one closely related paper. Consider it for comparative context: