Chapter 4.1 - Student Learning Styles

In a student-centered teaching and learning environment, students' needs, potentials, and learning styles are considered crucial. Therefore, teachers need to understand what learning styles students prefer to teach effectively. In the current study, a quantitative research approach has been adopted in this study within it descriptive research designed was used. To determine the preferred learning styles of B.Ed. students, VARK (Visual, Aural, Read/Write, and Kinesthetic) learning style model has been used. Since the data was collected using the VARK questionnaire, simple random sampling techniques were used. The reliability of the instrument was calculated through Cronbach α= 0.75. The sample of the study consists of 140 Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) students of a Public Sector University located in Northern Sindh, Pakistan. The data were analyzed through descriptive statistics (percentages mean and standard deviation) to determine the most preferred style of learning of students. The results of the study revealed that 27.93% of the B.Ed. students have preferred aural learning style, 25.13% kinaesthetic learning style, 22.65% visual style of learning and 21.09% preferred read/write learning style respectively. To conclude that the majority of the B.Ed. students preferred aural learning style and the least preferred style of learning was read/write. Hence, B.Ed. students were driven towards an aural learning style. This study suggests that students learning styles are influenced by the teacher’s teaching style. Therefore, the teacher can determine his/her teaching style by using the score of the VARK questionnaire. The study recommends that another study can be conducted by the teachers to learn about the larger number of students’ preferred learning styles. The teacher can also address a mixture of learning styles. In the classroom, there are always diverse learners. In that case, the teacher can use integrated teaching style which can address all learners preferred teaching style.

Every student absorbs and processes knowledge in a different way, which distinguishes each from one another. Some students may have a combination of learning styles. In order to apply a variety of teaching strategies that are ideal to accommodate all types of learners in the classroom, it is crucial for a teacher to understand the learning preferences of his or her students. This study was carried out to investigate the students’ learning style and reading performance, and determine if there is a significant correlation between the two variables. The VAT learning style, which stands for visual, auditory, and tactile, was the only focus of this study. This study employs a descriptive-correlational analysis of variables to discover whether there is a significant relationship between the two variables and to describe the variables. There were 72 Grade 8 students from Libertad National High School, Libertad Misamis Oriental, Philippines who participated in this study. The Learning Style Survey Questionnaire was utilized to determine the students' preferred learning styles, and three reading passages with a total of 30-item questions were used to determine the students' reading performance. In this study, the percentage and chi-square test were both employed to obtain the results. The findings indicate that the majority of students’ response is auditory. Regarding their reading performance, most students are at the instructional level. As the p-value of 0.6086 is greater than the 0.05 level of significance, the results showed that the student's learning style is not significantly related to their reading performance. Thus, a student's preferred learning style has no relation to how well they read. This implies that being an auditory learner does not guarantee that a student would excel in reading and become an independent reader. Future studies may thus employ different grade levels or concentrate on the two learning preferences—visual and auditory—to see whether there is a significant relationship between them and the students’ reading proficiency.

It is crucial to study learning and teaching styles because some studies have shown that a match between teaching and learning styles helps to enhance the learning process. So, teachers should identify their own teaching styles as well as their learning styles to obtain better academic achievement in the classroom. This study focuses on the students’ learning styles, teachers’ teaching styles, and whether there is a match or mismatch between student and teacher teaching style preferences in King Abdullah Second School for Excellence in Jordan. The results show that most tenth grade students at King Abdullah Second School for Excellence in Jordan prefer to learn by using visual and individual styles. Also, the English teacher, Mr. Ashraf’s major teaching style preferences are visual and individual. Thus, there is a match between the teacher’s preferred teaching style and the students’ preferred learning style at King Abdullah Second School for Excellence, Irbid, Jordan.

The problem of this study was to determine whether learning styles of students affect their math achievement scores on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills Test. The research questions addressed relevant to this study were: 1. Is there a positive correlation between students' learning styles and their achievement test scores in mathematics? 2. Is there a positive correlation between specific sub group's (as deemed by the state of Texas) and gender's learning styles and their achievement test scores in mathematics? The Pearson Product Moment Correlation coefficient and the Point-biserial correlation analysis was applied to the data collected from 500 fifth grade students attending a North Texas Intermediate school. The significance level was established at the .05 level. Part of the data was the student's responses to the Learning Style Inventory by Dunn, Dunn and Price. The findings established that the learning style preferences of all students in the area of persistence significantly impacted their math achievement scores. Gender and ethnicity were mitigating factors in the findings. These learning style preferences significantly impacted achievement in the following ways: * Caucasian students' preference of a high level of persistence in completing a difficult task. * Hispanic students' preference for a warm learning environment and motivational factor of pleasing the teacher. * Afro-American students' preference for kinesthetic learning. * Female students' learning style preferences appear in: - the design of the learning environment - the need for intake of food and/or drink - a high level of responsibility - a high sense of self-motivation , of teacher and of parent motivation. * Male students' learning style preferences appear in: - a warm learning environment - a high level of responsibility - the need for intake of food and/or drink - a high sense of teacher and of parent motivation - a late morning learning In summary, the author suggests that supplying the teachers with information concerning students' learning style preferences will benefit student achievement.

<p><strong>Background:</strong><strong> </strong>Learning styles are the ways students learn, intake and process new information. The contribution of learning styles for educational quality is evident and have important implications to develop effective curricula. Teachers can effectively plan instructional activities if they know the learning styles of students. This study was conducted to find out the preferred learning styles of medical and physiotherapy students.<strong></strong></p><p><strong>Methods:</strong><strong> </strong>This cross sectional descriptive study was conducted at Azra Naheed Medical College Lahore from January to March 2014. Honey and Muffard Learning Style Questionnaire (LSQ) was used to assess the preferred learning styles. The medical students of 3rd year and 6th semester physiotherapy class were invited for the study. The collected data was organized and analyzed by the use of statistical tools.</p><p><strong>Results:</strong><strong> </strong>120 students participated in this study, out of which 60 (50 %) were students of MBBS class whereas 60 (50 %) were of physiotherapy class. 48 (40%) were male students and 72 (60%) were female students. Both the groups have reflector as dominating learning style with a minor difference of (40%) and (42.5%) for medical and physiotherapy respectively.</p><p><strong>Conclusion:</strong><strong> </strong>Students have different learning styles and require versatile instructional and assessment strategies. Preferred learning style of medical and physiotherapy students found in this study is reflector, however all the learning styles are present in both groups.<strong></strong></p>

“From the classroom to Dr. YouTube”: nursing students' experiences of learning and teaching styles in Jordan

Background: A learning style is the process by which a learner takes in, focuses on, understands, and retains information. This concept of learning style has got great interest among educators to recognize learning abilities of their student. It is essential to have knowledge of learning method preferred by students and identify them as, visual learner, kinesthetic learner, or aural or read-write type learner. If the information is delivered to student according to their preferred learning style, their learning would be much enhanced. Thus, as a medical educator, it is our task to assess and teach knowledge, attitudes, and skills considering the student interests. Aim and Objective: The purpose of our study was to determine preferred learning styles of physiology undergraduate students of a rural medical college of Maharashtra, India. Materials and Methods: Visual-aural-read/write-kinesthetic (VARK) questionnaire was given to 100 undergraduate medical students. The distributions of VARK preferences were calculated, and the learning style of each student was determined. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the variables. Results: About 76% of students showed multiple learning styles. Among multimodal learners, bimodal learners 56% were highest, trimodal 19%, and then quadmodal learners. The most preferred combination of learning style among bimodal students were auditory kinesthetic (33%). Conclusion: Physiology undergraduate student prefers multimodal learning styles.

This study aimed to investigate the preferred learning styles of sports students in higher education in Algeria. Using the Felder-Silverman model, which categorizes learning styles into four dimensions: active-reflective, visual-verbal, sensing-intuitive, and sequential-global, the research also examined differences in learning styles based on specialization, academic level, and diploma. The research involved 268 students from the Sports Institute in Setif, and the data were analyzed using SPSS version 28. The findings revealed a predominant preference for the visual learning style, followed by the sensing and sequential styles. No significant differences were found in learning styles according to specialization. However, significant differences were observed between groups based on academic level and diploma, and the study recommended creating training courses for teachers that adopt modern methods and encourage them to consider the learning styles of each student.

Identification of learning styles is one way of contributing to a more efficient teaching process, and it helps teachers choose an effective teaching strategy. This study reports a three-year process to explain the change in the learning styles of physical education students. It also involves an assessment of the overall academic achievement of physical education students based on their learning style preferences throughout this process. Forty-one physical education students, 41.5% of whom were female, comprised the sample. The study used a longitudinal study/panel study design to observe the time-dependent variation of learning styles. The data were collected using the Kolb Learning Style Inventory 3 and analysed using a Chi-Squared (χ2) test, Kruskal-Wallis H test, and Mann-Whitney U test. The results of the analysis showed that the curriculum of the PE teaching department did not lead to a change in the learning styles of students studying in this department. Additionally, the overall academic achievement of the physical education students did not vary for the first (Semester 3) and second measurements (Semester 5) based on their learning style preferences. However, for the third measurement (Semester 7), learning style preferences had differing effects on their academic achievement.
 Key Words: Study process, learning style, longitudinal study, teacher candidate

INTRODUCTION: Learning styles refer to the ways an individual processes and retain new information and skills. Knowledge about preferred learning styles can assist in developing effective pedagogies and enhance classroom–learning experiences. Optimal learning environments consider how students learn and utilize various teaching methods for curriculum delivery to match specified student learning preferences. METHODS: This cross-sectional study presents the findings of the preferred learning style of 97 physiotherapy students studying in JSS College of Physiotherapy, Mysuru, using a self-administered questionnaire developed by Victoria Chislett and Alan Chapman, 2005. Data were collected using the survey method through Google Forms. RESULTS: We found equal distribution of unimodal and multimodal learning style. Among the unimodal style of learning, 20.6% of participants had predominantly auditory learning style. 15.46% of participants had predominantly visual learning style. 10.3% of participants had predominantly kinesthetic learning style. In multimodal style of learning, 21.6% of participants had predominantly visual and auditory learning styles. 15.46% of participants had predominantly visual and kinesthetic learning style. 12.37% of participants had predominantly auditory and kinesthetic learning style and only 1% of participants had visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning style. CONCLUSION: The most preferred unimodal learning style among physiotherapy students was auditory followed by visual and kinesthetic. The most preferred multimodal style of learning was visual and auditory, followed by visual and kinesthetic.

A learning style indicates a person's preferred way of learning. Students do not learn in the same way and a number of different learning style preferences exist which can change according to experience, i.e. a student's learning style preference may change over time. For accounting students this experience varies according to the institution attended and the programme of study. This paper presents the results of a study of 410 students enrolled on an undergraduate accounting programme in 1998/1999 at two UK universities where students underwent different experiences. Their learning style preferences are analysed against background variables of gender, nationality and institution attended. Also the changes in learning style preferences of students enrolled on the first year in 1998/1999 and who completed their final year in 2000/2001 are analysed. The study shows that differences in learning style preferences exist and that learning style preferences change over time. The paper discusses the implications of these changes and calls for further work in the area.

BackgroundStudents may have different learning styles. It is unclear, however, whether tailoring instructional methods for a student’s preferred learning style improves educational outcomes when teaching procedures. The authors sought to examine whether teaching to a student’s self-perceived learning style improved the acquisition of intravenous (IV) catheter placement skills. The authors hypothesized that matching a medical student’s preferred learning style with the instructor’s teaching style would increase the success of placing an IV catheter.MethodsUsing the VARK model (i.e., visual [V], auditory [A], read/write [R] and kinesthetic [K]), third-year medical students reported their self-perceived learning style and were subsequently randomized to instructors who were trained to teach according to a specific learning format (i.e., visual, auditory). Success was gauged by: 1) the placement of an IV on the first attempt and 2) the number of attempts made until an IV line was successfully placed.ResultsThe average number of attempts in the matched learning style group was 1.53, compared to 1.64 in the unmatched learning style group; however, results were not statistically significant. Both matched and unmatched groups achieved a similar success rate (57 and 58 %, respectively). Additionally, a comparison of success between the unmatched and matched students within each learning style modality yielded no statistical significance.ConclusionsResults suggest that providing procedural instruction that is congruent with a student’s self-perceived learning style does not appear to improve outcomes when instructing students on IV catheter placement.

The aim of the study was to investigate the preferred learning styles of undergraduate Saudi students at King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia and to examine the influence of achievement level on the choice of learning styles. A total of 110 undergraduate students participated in the study. They were in their third year of study and were majoring in English. Data was collected by means of a questionnaire and by an English achievement test. Reid’s (1987) questionnaire was used to determine the students’ preferred learning styles. It identifies six learning styles referred to as perceptual learning styles; they are visual learners, auditory learners, kinesthetic learners, tactile learners, group learners and individual learners. An English achievement test was conducted to classify students according to their academic grade. The results showed the preferred learning styles used by undergraduate Saudi students at KKU. The order of the preferred learning styles based on sensory channels was as follows: visual, tactile, kinesthetic and finally the least frequent one was auditory, furthermore, the results revealed that students prefer individual learning more than group learning. Besides that, the findings also indicated that there was no statistically significant relationship between the learning styles and achievement level except with the group learning style which was used by students who got grade Excellent or Very Good. The study concluded by providing some possible implications of the study for English teachers.

Knowing students’ learning styles provides a good start for the design of effective instruction. The purpose of this research is to determine the preferred learning styles of undergraduate students and to determine the relationship between learning style preferences, gender, and educational majors. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among the first-year undergraduate students enrolling in the Languages Program at Chiang Rai Rajabhat University, Thailand. The VARK questionnaire in a printed form was distributed to 472 first-year undergraduate students in Languages Program at Chiang Rai Rajabhat University. The frequency of students’ learning styles was identified using descriptive statistics, and chi- square analyses were carried out to examine the relationship between students’ preferred learning styles, gender and academic majors. A total of 372 completed questionnaires received from the students, giving a response rate of 78.8%. The findings revealed that most language learners (64.0%) had multimodal learning style preferences. Only 36.0% of the students preferred a uni-modal learning style, and kinesthetic was the most preferred learning style. A statistically significant correlation between educational majors and learning styles was observed ( p = 0.02). However, no association was found between gender and student’s learning style preferences ( p =0.45). The findings of this study suggest that various teaching strategies need to be used in the classroom to accommodate learners with diverse learning styles, making learning more engaging and meaningful to students.

PurposeCurrently, the dental education system in Saudi Arabia is gender segregated. It is important to find out whether teaching methods must be altered to improve the learning experience for both genders throughout their years of study. This study aims to investigate the preferred learning styles for males and females studying dentistry at Taibah University, Madinah, Saudi Arabia and the effect of academic level on the learning style preference.Materials and MethodsA cross-sectional survey composed of the visual, aural, read/write, kinesthetic (VARK) questionnaire was distributed to 228 undergraduate dental students at Taibah University through emails during September/October 2020. Student learning styles were presented using descriptive statistics. Learning preferences between genders and academic years were compared using independent proportional t-test and Chi-square test.ResultsA total of 168 dental students completed the questionnaire. Both genders displayed a higher percentage of a unimodal learning preference (60% males, 50% females) with 41% of males preferring the kinesthetic learning style, followed by the aural (26%) then the visual (20%), and lastly read/write learning style (12.6%). Female students preferred the kinesthetic learning style (42%), followed by the visual (27%) then the aural (20%), and lastly read/write learning style (11%). All students throughout the 6 academic years preferred the unimodal learning approach with the kinesthetic style favored. The quadmodal was preferred mostly by interns.ConclusionBoth male and female students studying dentistry at Taibah University had a unimodal learning preference. Quadmodal learning was popular among interns. Both genders preferred the kinesthetic learning style, followed by the aural for males and visual for females. Teaching methods must be tailored to suit the learning style of each gender to promote motivation and thriving for a successful outcome.