Learning styles of first-year undergraduate nursing and midwifery students: A cross-sectional survey utilising the Kolb Learning Style Inventory

2012 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 506-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelo D'Amore ◽  
Santhamma James ◽  
Eleanor K.L. Mitchell
Author(s):  
Abdolghani Abdollahimohammad ◽  
Rogayah Ja’afar

Purpose: Learning-style instruments assist students in developing their own learning strategies and outcomes, in eliminating learning barriers, and in acknowledging peer diversity. Only a few psychometrically validated learning-style instruments are available. This study aimed to develop a valid and reliable learning-style instrument for nursing students. Methods: A cross-sectional survey study was conducted in two nursing schools in two countries. A purposive sample of 156 undergraduate nursing students participated in the study. Face and content validity was obtained from an expert panel. The LSS construct was established using principal axis factoring (PAF) with oblimin rotation, a scree plot test, and parallel analysis (PA). The reliability of LSS was tested using Cronbach’s α, corrected item-total correlation, and test-retest. Results: Factor analysis revealed five components, confirmed by PA and a relatively clear curve on the scree plot. Component strength and interpretability were also confirmed. The factors were labeled as perceptive, solitary, analytic, competitive, and imaginative learning styles. Cronbach’s α was > 0.70 for all subscales in both study populations. The corrected item-total correlations were > 0.30 for the items in each component. Conclusion: The LSS is a valid and reliable inventory for evaluating learning style preferences in nursing students in various multicultural environments.


2009 ◽  
Vol 16 (02) ◽  
pp. 162-168
Author(s):  
KHALID FAROOQ DANISH ◽  
AZRA SAEED AWAN

O b j e c t i v e s : 1. To study the prevalence of learning styles in intermediate level students in Rawalpindi according to Kolb'sLearning Style Inventory. 2. To study the correlation of learning styles with career choices of intermediate level students in Rawalpindi. 3.To compare the results of the study with the learning styles of clinical students of a medical college. D e s i g n : Cross sectional. Descriptive.M e t h o d s : The study was done on the intermediate level students of Government Colleges in Rawalpindi. It included the Pre-Medical, Pre-Engineering and Humanities students. All students were given a questionnaire based on Kolb's learning style inventory, and responsescollected. Instructions to fill the questionnaire were given verbally to all students. Each student was also instructed to present three careerchoices in order of priority. Data was collected. Results: Prevalence of different learning styles in medical students and intermediate levelstudents is shown in table-l and table-ll respectively. C o n c l u s i o n s : The prevalence and pattern of learning styles of intermediate levellearners and medical students is different. Majority of intermediate level learners have the converger learning styles in contrast with themedical students in whom accommodators are in overwhelming majority. Most learners choosing "Doctor" as their preferred career amongintermediate level learners were of assimilator style, followed by convergers. Accommodators were on third place in choosing "Doctor" aspreferred career. The most preferred career among intermediate level learner was "Teacher".


2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephney Whillier ◽  
Reidar P. Lystad ◽  
David Abi-Arrage ◽  
Christopher McPhie ◽  
Samara Johnston ◽  
...  

Objective The aims of our study were to measure the learning style preferences of chiropractic students and to assess whether they differ across the 5 years of chiropractic study. Methods A total of 407 (41.4% females) full-degree, undergraduate, and postgraduate students enrolled in an Australian chiropractic program agreed to participate in a cross-sectional survey comprised of basic demographic information and the Visual, Aural, Read/Write, Kinesthetic (VARK) questionnaire, which identifies learning preferences on four different subscales: visual, aural, reading/writing, and kinesthetic. Multivariate analysis of variance and the χ2 test were used to check for differences in continuous (VARK scores) and categorical (VARK category preference) outcome variables. Results The majority of chiropractic students (56.0%) were found to be multimodal learners. Compared to the other learning styles preferences, kinesthetic learning was preferred by a significantly greater proportion of students (65.4%, p < .001) and received a significantly greater mean VARK score (5.66 ± 2.47, p < .001). Conclusions To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time chiropractic students have been shown to be largely multimodal learners with a preference for kinesthetic learning. While this knowledge may be beneficial in the structuring of future curricula, more thorough research must be conducted to show any beneficial relationship between learning style preferences and teaching methods.


Author(s):  
Benita Olivier ◽  
Lizelle Jacobs ◽  
Vaneshveri Naidoo ◽  
Nikolas Pautz ◽  
Rulaine Smith ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Learning styles of health care professionals are unique and tend to be profession- specific. This study aimed to compare the learning styles of undergraduate occupational therapy and physiotherapy students and to determine the relationship between preferred learning styles, demographic factors, and academic performance METHOD: The study design was a cross-sectional, descriptive study. Undergraduate occupational therapy and physiotherapy students completed a self-developed questionnaire and the Grasha-Reichmann Learning Style Inventory RESULTS: A total of 313 students with a mean age of 19.6±1.58 years participated in this study. The results showed that students preferred the collaborative (75%) learning style, with the first-year students scoring significantly higher in the collaborative style (3.97±0.48; p<0.001). The male students (2.67±0.65) scored higher in the competitive learning style than female students (2.20±0.62; p=0.001, d=0.757). The competitive learning style, when controlling for sociodemographic variables, is a significant predictor of an increase in academic performance in English language (B=2.28, [0.60-3.96]), physics (B=3.62, [0.22-7.02]) and overall academic performance (B=2.12, [0.34-3.90 CONCLUSION: The predominant preferred learning styles are the collaborative and participant styles. The application in the teaching space should be carefully considered for the selection of teaching approaches and activities. This study points to the Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy programmes need to align to the collaborative style and respond with a variety of teaching methods. The associations shown between preferred learning styles and demographic variables point to the need to pay attention to diversity when selecting teaching approaches and activities Keywords: Grasha-Reichmann Learning Style Inventory, learning styles, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, undergraduate students


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 46-51
Author(s):  
Kaitlin S. Boehm ◽  
Connor McGuire ◽  
Osama A. Samargandi ◽  
Sarah Al Youha ◽  
David T. Tang

Objectives: The transition to competency-based education and restraints on trainee work hours necessitates re-evaluation of resident education. The role of learning style in plastic surgery residency training has not been investigated. The objective of this study was to identify the learning styles of plastic surgeons and trainees in Canadian Plastic Surgery programs. Methods: A cross-sectional electronic survey was distributed to all members of the Canadian Society of Plastic Surgeons and through program directors at Canadian training programs. Basic demographics were captured. The Kolb Learning Style Inventory was used to identify each individual’s learning style (converging, accommodative, assimilative, or divergent).  Results: There were a total of 98 respondents (15% response rate), including 62 staff plastic surgeons (63%) and 36 trainees (37%). All regions of Canada and age categories were well represented. The most dominant learning styles were convergent (47%) and accommodative (29%). No significant difference in dominant learning styles existed between age groups; while males were more commonly convergent learners, females were accommodative learners.   Conclusions: The majority of plastic surgery trainees and staff have learning styles that rely heavily on practical application and experiential learning. Accounting for this propensity towards convergent and accommodative learning styles should be incorporated into training programs to maximize efficacy of learning.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Homood A. Alharbi ◽  
Adel F. Almutairi ◽  
Eyad M. Alhelih ◽  
Abdualrahman S. Alshehry

Objective.The present study aimed to identify the most common learning preferences among the nursing students in Saudi Arabia and to investigate the associations of certain demographic variables with the learning preferences.Methods.All the undergraduate nursing students in the nursing college were requested to participate in this descriptive cross-sectional study. An Arabic version of the Felder-Silverman learning style model (FSLSM) questionnaire was used to examine the learning preferences among undergraduate nursing students.Results.A total of 56 (43%) completed questionnaires were included in the final analysis. Results of the present study indicate that the most common learning preferences among the nursing students were visual (67.9%), followed by active (50%) and sequential (37.5%) learning preferences. The verbal style was the least common learning preference (3.6%) among the nursing students. There was no association between gender and learning preferences (p>.05).Conclusion.The present study concluded that the visual, active, and sequential styles are the commonest learning preferences among the nursing students. The nursing educators should emphasize the use of this information in their teaching methods to improve learning skills among the nursing students.


2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Vipula Rasanga Bataduwaarachchi ◽  
Muditha Madhuwanthi Dissanayake ◽  
Sharmila Thillainathan ◽  
Rohan Wass Jayasekara

2018 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Cortés Barré ◽  
Javier Francisco Gullén Olaya

<strong>Introduction: </strong>According to the experiential learning theory, each person develops a learning style that characterizes his/her preferred way to acquire and transform experiences to create knowledge. The objective of this study was to identify the learning styles of undergraduate medical students. <strong>Methods: </strong>The Kolb Learning Style Inventory was applied to first-year medical students at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Bogotá, Colombia) during the second period of 2009. <strong>Results: </strong>204 students completed the questionnaire (the average age was 18.5 years; 55% were women). Students preferred the abstract styles of learning, including assimilating (47%) and converging (27%) styles. <strong>Conclusions: </strong>Having information about medical students learning style preferences can help educators to design teaching strategies that promote a more effective learning. Teachers should provide a variety of learning contexts to stimulate the strengthening of their abilities.


Author(s):  
Sumana Panja ◽  
Pratibha Rao Lahiri ◽  
Aditi Lahiri

Background: Learning is the act of acquiring, modifying and reinforcing existing knowledge, behavior, skills and values. This phenomenon of learning is dominated by an individual’s learning style. Learning style is a popular concept in psychology and education, and it refers to how a person learns best. This study aims to identify the Learning Styles of the first year MBBS and BDS students at NBMC by administering the questionnaire of the VARK model.Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed in the Department of Physiology at North Bengal Medical College, West Bengal after. The VARK questionnaire 7.8 version was administered to 180 first year MBBS and BDS students from the 2017-2018 batch who had volunteered for the study. The Questionnaire consisted of 16 questions, along with a scoring chart. Students were allowed to choose more than one option. If in majority of the questions they opted for a single sensory modality they were considered as unimodal learners and if they chose multiple options, they were recognized as multimodal learners.Results: The study showed 57% of the students to be multimodal learners and 43% to be unimodal learners. Read/Write was the most preferred (31.22%) sensory modality followed by kinesthetic mode (29.57%).Conclusions: As majority of our students are multimodal learners teachers should incorporate active teaching and learning strategies to cater to all types of learners. Also, as the most preferred method is Read/Write which includes googling and the use of internet to browse for information, we must try and incorporate e-learning into our curriculum.


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