At Northern Maine Technical College (NMTC), the mean age of students increased from 19.7 years in 1978 to 28.6 in 1991. In an effort to evaluate NMTC's nursing programs as perceived by traditional students (under 22 years of age) and nontraditional students (22 years of age or older), questionnaires were administered to 59 practical nursing students and 18 associate degree nursing students. An additional survey was developed and administered to 3 associate degree faculty and 10 faculty in the practical nursing program. The study sought to evaluate differences in teaching techniques by type of program, in teaching style by years of teaching experience, and in students' opinion of instruction by student age and cognitive style. While faculty in the associate degree program did not complete surveys, information on their years of teaching experience and instructional methods were obtained from data files and course syllabi. Study findings included the following: (1) no differences were found in the traditional teaching methods employed by practical and associate degree nursing faculty; (2) years of teaching experience did not correlate with teaching methods; (3) the preferred learning methods of traditional students did not differ from those of nontraditional students; (4) students' cognitive style (the means of processing information) did not correlate with preferred learning styles; and (5) the learning modality preferences of the two student groups were more similar than different. A literature review, data tables, the test instruments, and a 48-item bibliography are included. (PAA)