Most students enrolled in a Physician Assistant program perform well, but some lack certain critical learning skills needed for highly successful outcomes. Learning skills determine the mastery of target content. Many of these skills can be estimated by direct observation or self-reporting responses to specific queries and the patterns and preferences derived from those metrics comprise the construct of students' dominant learning style. The purpose for this study was to determine if a well-validated, proprietary instrument assessed learning skills of students as predictive of academic outcomes. Relationships between Learning Skill Inventory scores and academic outcomes were examined. A convenience sample was obtained of ninety-three graduate students consecutively enrolled over three years. It was concluded most students had not yet achieved a convergent learning style; that select item-components of the instrument are potentially better predictors of academic outcomes and a new model might identify students at risk for academic difficulties.

Degree granted by the School of Education. Thesis chair: Denise McDonald, Ed. D.