Colleges use it for myriad purposes, from matching roommates to training student leaders to assessing learning styles. Based on a Jungian model, the MBTI measures student preferences on four bipolar dimensions which yield sixteen personality types, each with differing learning preferences. Without delving too deeply into the details of the MBTI , we can say that three of its four scales are directly relevant to how students learn.
Faculty tend to like to work independently, conceptually, analytically.
Students like them tend to do very well in their classes, which depend primarily on lecturing and homework. For students whose styles differ from those of their teachers, different approaches are needed. For extraverts, more classroom discussion and collaborative learning assignments and fewer lectures will help. For sensers, more structure and direction, mixed with practical application and concrete examples will help. For feelers, again more classroom discussion and small group work, as well as clearly drawn connections to human uses and consequences will help.