The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between learners' personality types and their performance in computer-mediated distance education. Although the field of distance education has grown rapidly and many programs are available, learners' learning experiences and learning outcomes may be different depending on their personality types. As there are different learners with different personality types and learning styles in face-to-face learning situations, so are there in distance education. It is important to know about learners to teach and learn, especially in distance education when there are fewer cues than in face-to-face learning situations.
Two different analyses were conducted using subjects enrolled in a graduate-level education course conducted via computer-mediated distance education. A Pearson's correlation study was conducted to quantitatively measure the relationship between subjects' personality types, as measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and six performance variables--grade, participation frequency, perceived knowledge gained, level of satisfaction, level of small group collaboration, and level of leadership influence. A phenomenological qualitative study was conducted to examine the online experiences and learning outcomes of two learners with opposing personality types. These learners were purposely selected to specifically confirm or disconfirm Atman's (1988) claim that ENTJ types have advantages in distance education. Descriptive cases were developed for these two individuals to compare their experiences.
The study found that (1) perceiving types participated less frequently in online discussions, (2) perceiving types tended to use more words in their postings, (3) judging types tended to use fewer words in their postings, (4) sensing types tended to be more satisfied with computer-mediated distance education, (5) feeling types tended to perceive that they had gained more knowledge, (6) the online experiences of two opposing learners were different in some aspects and the same in others, and (7) Atman's claims were confirmed for participation frequency, level of satisfaction, and level of small group collaboration variables but not for grade, average number of words used in email posting, perceived knowledge gained, and level of leadership influence.
