scholarly journals Learning styles in Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy students: an exploratory study

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

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".


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Noushin Kouhan ◽  
Maryam Janatolmakan ◽  
Mansour Rezaei ◽  
Alireza Khatony

Background. The lack of attention of nursing professors to students’ learning styles can cause academic failure. The results of studies on the relationship between students’ learning style and academic achievement are contradictory. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the relationship between VARK learning styles and academic performance among virtual nursing students. Methods. In this cross-sectional study, 237 virtual nursing students were enrolled by the convenience sampling method. The VARK learning styles questionnaire was used for data collection. The basis for determining academic performance was the grade point average(s) (GPA) of the previous semester(s). Students were divided into two groups based on their GPA, including strong (GPA ≥15) and weak (GPA ≤14.99) groups. Results. In both strong and weak groups, most of the subjects were unimodal (with a frequency of 92.9% and 78.5%, respectively), and the rest were multimodal. The most common learning styles in strong and weak students were kinesthetic (57.1%) and auditory (37.2%), respectively. The results of chi-square test did not show statistically significant differences between learning styles and academic performance of strong and weak students. Conclusion. There was no significant relationship between the dominant learning styles and academic performance of strong and weak students. However, nursing professors need to adapt their teaching methods to the students’ learning styles. More studies are recommended to shed more light on this area of research.


Author(s):  
Rahila Nizami ◽  
Muhammad Zahid Latif ◽  
Gohar Wajid

<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>


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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Zafar Iqbal Hydrie ◽  
Syed Muhammad Zulfiqar Hyder Naqvi ◽  
Shams Nadeem Alam ◽  
Syed Imtiaz Ahmed Jafry

Objectives: To assess learning styles and the association of various teaching methodologies of medical students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out amongst 523 medical students of Baqai Medical College, Baqai Medical University, Karachi, from July 2019 to October 2019. All students from first to final year, who attended the undergraduate MBBS program were included. The study instrument was a questionnaire containing students’ demographic details, David Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory 4.0 and traditional and PBL teaching methodologies were asked. The association of various learning styles and preferred teaching methodologies with year of study was also assessed by using Pearson’s chi-square test. Results: Out of 523 students, 518 returned the completed questionnaire. A majority of the students had either imagining or experiencing learning style. No change in learning style was observed between years of study. A significant association between the teaching methodologies and year of study was found in the imagining (p=0.033) and experiencing (p=0.044) learning style groups. Conclusion: Students from different years of study at medical school did not have significantly different learning styles though the student’s preferences to teaching methodologies seem to change over time in the respective learning style groups. Longitudinal studies are necessary to identify the factors influencing such change and explore the association between learning styles over time on teaching methodologies in medical education. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.1.2275 How to cite this:Hydrie MZI, Naqvi SMZH, Alam SN, Jafry SIA. Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory 4.0 and its association with traditional and problem based learning teaching methodologies in medical students. Pak J Med Sci. 2021;37(1):146-150.  doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.1.2275 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


Author(s):  
Najmeh Akhlaghi ◽  
Hosein Mirkazemi ◽  
Mehdi Jafarzade ◽  
Narjes Akhlaghi

Purpose: The present study aimed to identify the learning preferences of dental students and to characterize their relationship with academic performance at a dental school in Isfahan, Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study included 200 undergraduate dental students from October to November 2016. Data were collected using a 2-part questionnaire. The first part included demographic data, and the second part was a Persian-language version of the visual, aural, read/write, and kinesthetic questionnaire. Data analysis was conducted with the chi-square test, 1-way analysis of variance, and multiple linear regression. Results: The response rate was 86.6%. Approximately half of the students (51.5%) had multimodal learning preferences. Among the unimodal group (48.5%), the most common mode was aural (24.0%), followed by kinesthetic (15.5%), reading-writing (8.0%), and visual (1.0%). There was a significant association between academic performance and the reading/writing learning style preference (P< 0.01). Conclusion: Multimodal learning styles were the most preferred. Among single-mode learning styles, the aural style was most common, followed by the kinesthetic style. Students with a reading/writing preference had better academic performance. The results of this study provide useful information for preparing a more problem-based curriculum with active learning strategies.


Author(s):  
M. D. Omeodu

The objective of the study was to determine the academic performance of students in physics based on their learning style. The population of the study was all science students (SS2) in Rivers state secondary schools. Sampling was done using cluster random technique. The total sample size of the study was one hundred and twenty (120) SS2 students. There were two instruments used in carrying out this study which were Kolbs’ learning style inventory/questionnaire developed by David Kolb (1984) and Physics Achievement Test (PAT) which was developed by the researcher. Percentage, Mean and standard deviation was used to analyze the data collected through the Physics achievement test. Analysis of variance was the statistical tool used to test hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Findings of the study showed that convergers and assimilators are high academic achievers in Physics than other kinds of learning styles. The study recommended that Physics teachers should strive to understand the learning styles that is more common in his/her class and design physics lessons in that direction so as to aid understanding of the majority in the class.


Author(s):  
Arnold Salcedo

The general objective of this research is to determine the learning style of accounting major students of a university in Central Luzon, Philippines, and the corresponding teaching strategy for the identified learning style. By conducting a cross-sectional descriptive research design on learning styles among three hundred fifty-three (353) accounting major students, the combination of learning styles that best describe the accounting major students using Kolb Learning Style Inventory Model is said to be ‘reflector’ style using the diverging strategies which are watching and feeling, following a combination of concrete experiences and reflective observation. The proposed teaching strategies will aid teachers in adjusting their teaching methods that suited for the learning style of accounting major students versus the current teaching methods being received by accounting students today.


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