About the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

You may be wondering why the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator ("MBTI"), a kind of personality survey, is being administered in General Chemistry.

Our goal is to improve the General Chemistry Laboratory experience for all students, and we’ve received National Science Foundation funding to do so. We realized right away that an "improvement" for one person may not be an improvement for another, so we looked for a reliable way of determining what preferences students are likely to have. Surveys designed for this purpose are called "type indicators," and we hope that the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator that we chose will help us to see which approaches to the laboratory program are most successful or enjoyable for which personality "types." We hope that many of the most successful approaches will be included in the final version of the General Chemistry laboratory program at Kutztown University.

The MBTI is a well-established survey that indicates personality features which may impact on learning. We’ll offer you the opportunity to complete the survey, and you may choose to attend one of several optional evening sessions where we will provide you with information on the results and what they mean. The MBTI will be completely confidential. None of the instructors will see your survey results, which will be tabulated by an outside consultant. Only the outside testing consultant will be able to associate a score with your name, and the files will be confidential. The scores will help us to understand, in general, who we’re helping with various course improvements.

We believe that the MBTI may also be interesting to you personally for several reasons, so you could view it as a real "bonus." The Myers-Briggs test is used in career planning, in marital counseling, in self-help or personal development, and in teamwork development in many businesses. A book about the MBTI, "Introduction to Type^® in College," by John K. Di Tiberio and Allen L. Hammer, will be placed on reserve for you to read at the library. The summary claims that the book might help you...

"Survive college by applying MBTI type concepts to improve study techniques and resolve roommate conflicts High school and college students can prepare for the rigorous academic and social aspects of university life with "Introduction to Type in College." This 32-page booklet describes how a student's MBTI type can affect learning styles, study habits, test taking, roommate and personal relationships, and stress in the college environment. It explains all 16 MBTI types and gives suggestions to overcome typical college environment problems using easy language and entertaining cartoons from "Calvin and Hobbes" and "The Far Side."

The Consulting Psychologists Press, publishers of the MBTI, maintain a Web page that is mostly commercial, but may have some interesting information for you. It includes a "Personal Development page," hyperlinks to "Other Career Information on the Web," and information about books about personal growth, career exploration, and analyzing personality dynamics to strengthen relationships. The URL is http://www.cpp-db.com/cpp4.htm.