Author/s: Francesco Sofo, Michelle Berzins, Cinzia Colapinto and Salvatore Ammirato
Edition: Volume 49, Number 2, July 2009
Summary: There are economic and socio-cultural differences that characterise the north and south of Italy. A stereotype is that university students from rural southern Italy are more disadvantaged and isolated than those from the urban north. Past research has hypothesised that differences in socio-economic status impact on student learning, which is a factor of thinking style. This study set out to explore if university students from a northern and a southern Italian university report markedly different thinking style preferences. Samples of 170 students from the University of Calabria and 263 students from the University of Milan were surveyed using Sofo’s (2005) Thinking Style Inventory. If economic and socio‑cultural differences impact on preferred ways of thinking of university students, the impacts may very well be mediated through various pedagogical or informational methods and communication technology. The results of the study did not produce all the expected differences.
Keywords: Italy, north, south, isolated, socio-economic status, learning, impact, thinking style
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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 49_2. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.