scholarly journals Differences in medical student performance on examinations: exploring score variance between Kolb's Learning Style Inventory classifications

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Quentin J. Reynolds ◽  
Kurt O. Gilliland ◽  
Katie Smith ◽  
Joshua A. Walker ◽  
Gary L. Beck Dallaghan
Keyword(s):  
Medical Student ◽  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Learning Styles ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Learning Style ◽  
Public University ◽  
National Board ◽  
Learning Style Inventory ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Medical Examiners

Abstract Background Kolb’s Cycle of Learning Theory acts as a foundational framework for the evolution of knowledge gained by learners throughout their education. Through Kolb’s cycle of experiential learning, one’s preferred way of learning could impact academic achievement in the pre-clinical years of medical education. Methods The medical student classes of 2020 and 2021 at a public university in the southeastern U.S. were invited to complete Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory (LSI). For those participants completing the LSI, examination results for their pre-clinical blocks were obtained and matched to the LSI results. Examination scores (locally-developed examinations and customized National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) final examinations) were compared by LSI classification for each examination using Kruskal-Wallis Test. Results Out of 360 possible participants, 314 (87.2%) completed the Learning Style Inventory. Convergers and Assimilators made up 84.1% [Convergers (n = 177, 56.4%), Assimilators (n = 87, 27.7%)]. Accommodators (n = 25, 7.9%) and Divergers (n = 25, 7.9%) made up the remaining sample. Accomodators’ scores were significantly lower on locally-developed examinations in Principles of Medicine, Hematology, and Gastrointestinal System. The only NBME examination that demonstrated a significant difference across learning styles was from the Cardiovascular block. Conclusions Upon reviewing Kolb’s LSI, our study indicated that performance on the customized NBME examinations minimized the variance in performance compared to locally-developed examinations. The lack of variance across learning styles for all but one NBME final examination appears to provide a more equitable assessment strategy.

scholarly journals The Role of Learning Style in the Changing Landscape of Medical Education: The Canadian Plastic Surgery Experience

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 46-51
Author(s):  
Kaitlin S. Boehm ◽  
Connor McGuire ◽  
Osama A. Samargandi ◽  
Sarah Al Youha ◽  
David T. Tang
Keyword(s):  
Learning Styles ◽  
Plastic Surgery ◽  
Learning Style ◽  
Training Programs ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Learning Style Inventory ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Competency Based

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.

scholarly journals A Study on Learning Styles of Individuals Receiving Vocational Music Education

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. 108
Author(s):  
Koray Çelenk ◽  
Emrah Lehimler
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Learning Styles ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Learning Style ◽  
Team Work ◽  
University Faculty ◽  
Learning Style Inventory ◽  
Class Level ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Visual Materials

The aim of this study is to examine the learning styles of the students who take vocational music education and to determine whether the learning styles differ according to gender, age, high school, university, faculty, and class level and instrument variables. This research is a descriptive study conducted in a survey model. In this context, the conceptual infrastructure has been formed by searching the literature, studies on learning styles have been examined and Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory III has been used as a data collection tool. The study group consists of 423 students who study in faculties and conservatories which give vocational music education of 9 universities in Turkey. The results show that the students receiving vocational music education are mostly in the “Diverger” category, while the distribution of students in the “Assimilator”, “Accommodator”, and “Converger” categories is less. In this study, it has been found that the learning styles of the students receiving vocational music education have not differred according to gender, age, university, faculty, and class level and instrument variables. A significant difference has been found in the high school variable. Basing on Kolb’s learning approach, it can be said that providing education in accordance with the students’ preferred instructional approaches (using question-answer, using metaphor, discussion, expression, team work, project preparation, using visual materials, conducting individual research, collecting information from mass media, organizing seminars, utilization from experts etc.) in Diverger and Assimilator categories will have a positive effect on the complete and meaningful learning of the students.

Investigating Learning Styles on Different Hypertext Environments: Hierarchical-like and Network-like Structures

1996 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 313-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gloria E. Melara
Keyword(s):  
Learning Styles ◽  
Learning Style ◽  
Hierarchical Structures ◽  
Shortest Path Algorithm ◽  
Related Concept ◽  
Learner Performance ◽  
Learning Style Inventory ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
Based Instruction

This article examines the effect of learning style on learner performance within two different hypertext structures. Each instructional environment is modeled by a Computer-Based Instruction (CBI) on the Shortest Path Algorithm. Both CBI applications have the same information but different structures for accessing the information. One CBI application with a hierarchical structure provides access to a concept only when all the subordinated concepts have been accessed. The other CBI application with a network structure provides access to any related concept with no limitations. Learning style was categorized using Kolb's Learning Style Inventory (LSI). An experimental study conducted with forty students revealed that both applications were equally effective, and were able to accommodate learners with different learning styles. The study also found that learners using network structures completed the instruction sooner than learners using hierarchical structures, and there was no significant difference in their achievements.

The Effect of Educational Game Method on Learning Achievements of Seventh-grade Students with Different Learning Styles

2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 88-95
Author(s):  
Emre Yıldız ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Learning Styles ◽  
Learning Style ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Educational Game ◽  
Seventh Grade ◽  
Learning Style Inventory ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
One Way Anova

This research aimed to investigate the effect of the educational game method on the learning achievements of seventh-grade students with different learning styles. A case study was used in the research. The study group of the study consisted of 120 secondary school seventh-grade students studying in the central and rural areas of Erzurum. The Kolb Learning Style Inventory and the achievement test developed by the researcher were used as data collection tools. Descriptive statistics, dependent groups t-test, and one-way ANOVA were used in data analysis. As a result of the research, it was determined that the students in this study have the most diverging, least accommodating learning style. It was determined that the educational game method significantly increased learning achievement in all learning styles. It was determined that there was no statistically significant difference among the learning achievements of students with different learning styles applied educational game method. The effects of the educational game method can be evaluated by applying for a longer period of time in teaching different subjects.

scholarly journals The Effects of Culture on Learning Styles: The Sample of Ondokuz Mayıs University

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 54-69
Author(s):  
Fatih Diken ◽  
Nevin Ozdemir
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Learning Styles ◽  
Learning Style ◽  
Cultural Dimensions ◽  
Experiential Learning Theory ◽  
Data Collection Tool ◽  
Learning Style Inventory ◽  
Concrete Experience ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Learning Styles Inventory

This study examines the effect of culture on learning styles. The study sample consisted of undergraduate and graduate students, most of whom are foreign nationals, studying in different departments of Ondokuz Mayıs University in Samsun, Turkey. Based on the experiential learning theory (ELT), Kolb's Learning Styles Inventory (KLSI) was used as a data collection tool to define individual learning styles. By examining previous studies such as the Global Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness (GLOBE), the study focused on categorizing cultural differences. 193 participants from 35 different nationalities were included in one of three cultural clusters (The Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia). In the first part of the study, the dominant learning styles of each cultural cluster were evaluated based on Kolb's traditional 4 learning styles (diverging, converging, assimilating, and accommodating) and the new 9 learning styles (experiencing, imagining, reflecting, analysing, thinking, deciding, acting, balancing) defined in KLSI 3.2 and KLSI 4. It was analysed whether there was a statistically significant difference in the dominant learning styles among the cultural clusters. The results of the analysis showed that there was no significant difference among the cultural clusters according to 4 learning style classifications, whereas there were significant differences among the cultural clusters according to Kolb’s 9 learning style classifications. In the second part of the study, it was evaluated whether there was a significant difference among the cultural clusters according to the modes of grasping experience – concrete experience (CE) and abstract conceptualization (AC) – and two dialectically related modes of transforming experience—reflective observation defined in the ELT model. Keywords: learning style, Kolb learning style inventory (KLSI), culture, cultural dimensions, cultural clusters, higher education

scholarly journals Influence Of Fleming’s Vark Learning Styles On Student Radiographers’ Competency In Lumbar Spine Imaging

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derick Seyram Sule ◽  
Kofi Adesi Kyei ◽  
Salim Abdul-Razak Abubakar
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Lumbar Spine ◽  
Learning Styles ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Learning Style ◽  
Learning Preferences ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Spine Imaging ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Background: The relationship between student learning styles and academic achievement has been investigated within different academic contexts. However, the relationship between learning styles and students' performance in the professional context of radiography hasn’t received the needed attention and is very much evident based on the absence of an established study approach that ensures achievement of clinical competences. A cross-sectional experimental study design was initially employed to determine students’ learning preferences. A multi-modal teaching approach of a clinical procedure (specifically lumbar spine imaging) was then taught to all the students by a qualified clinical tutor via their disclosed learning preferences. Finally, the students were examined clinically by a clinical supervisor who was blinded to the learning preferences of these students and the results were analyzed to conclude on the best approach to learning the clinical practice.Results: Among the respondents, 58.1% preferred the multimodal (dual, trimodal and quadrimodal) learning styles while 41.9% preferred one dominant learning style: Kinesthetic (K), Read and Write (R), Auditory (A) and Visual (V). The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) revealed no significant difference between different learning styles and student performance in clinical practice. Thus, there was no significant correlation between the clinical competencies of the different learning style groupings. Conclusion: The study provided evidence that multimodal learners had more flexible learning approaches than those with single preferences, thus informing radiography educators on the importance of using varied and flexible pedagogy for effective integration of theory and practice.

scholarly journals Profiling sports therapy students' preferred learning styles within a clinical education context

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Holland ◽  
Claire D Mills
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Learning Styles ◽  
Learning Style ◽  
Clinical Education ◽  
Group Analysis ◽  
Gender Comparison ◽  
Learning Style Inventory ◽  
Practice Experience ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Style Preferences

The aim of this study was to report the learning style preferences of final year Sports Therapy students within the context of clinical education, with a further specific focus on differences between male and female learning styles. A total of n = 32 BSc. (Hons) Sports Therapy degree students ( x̄ ± s; age = 21.8 ± 4.8 years, male:female = 14:18) were recruited from the University of Gloucestershire whilst completing a 24 week clinical practice module. Data collection involved the Kolb learning style inventory (version 3.1) being administered to all participants with reference to their clinical practice experience. Data analysis, involving mean scores for these learning style orientations, were then used to determine the group preference for abstractness over concreteness (AC-CE) and action over reflection (AE-RO). Group analysis revealed a preference for the converging learning style (AC-CE = 5.3, AE-RO = 5.2) and was in contrast to the favoured individual learning styles of Accommodator (34%) and Diverger (31%). These individual findings are consistent with Kolb & Kolb’s (2005) belief that individuals involved in human-related professions are person orientated and likely to adopt concrete learning styles. Gender comparison revealed a statistically significant difference between the AC-CE scores (P = 0.03), possibly leading to the assumption that male Sports Therapy students have a predilection for more abstract modes of experiential learning (8.6), whereas females have a slight preference for more concrete means (2.7), suggesting a more balanced learning style. The findings of this study indicate that learning activities could be tailored in order to optimise potential learning within a clinical Sports Therapy context.

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