scholarly journals Learning Style Scales: a valid and reliable questionnaire

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.

Author(s):  
Tonderai Washington Shumba ◽  
Scholastika Ndatinda Iipinge

This study sought to synthesise evidence from published literature on the various learning style preferences of undergraduate nursing students and to determine the extent they can play in promoting academic success in nursing education of Namibia. A comprehensive literature search was conducted on electronic databases as a part of the systematic review. Although, kinaesthetic, visual and auditory learning styles were found to be the most dominant learning style preferences, most studies (nine) indicated that undergraduate nursing students have varied learning styles. Studies investigating associations of certain demographic variables with the learning preferences indicated no significant association. On the other hand, three studies investigating association between learning styles and academic performance found a significant association. Three studies concluded that indeed learning styles change over time and with academic levels. The more nurse educators in Namibia are aware of their learning styles and those of their students, the greater the potential for increased academic performance.


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.


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.


2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (5) ◽  
pp. 1279-1287
Author(s):  
Cleina de Fátima Carvalho ◽  
Maria Amélia Zanon Ponce ◽  
Reinaldo Antonio da Silva-Sobrinho ◽  
Roberto Della Rosa Mendez ◽  
Mariana Alvina dos Santos ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Objective: To analyze the knowledge about tuberculosis among nursing undergraduate students of a Federal Higher Education Institution. Method: Descriptive cross-sectional study, with quantitative approach. Data were collected through a questionnaire based on the WHO’s guide to developing evaluation instruments on knowledge, attitudes and practices related to TB. Students were classified as “with knowledge” and “with little knowledge” based on the mean percentage of correct responses to the variables analyzed. Descriptive statistics techniques were used. Results: 60 nursing students were interviewed. “with little knowledge” was observed among students who were studying at the university for less time and who had no previous contact with the subject, and “with knowledge” was observed among those whose knowledge about tuberculosis was acquired in the health services. Conclusion: Knowledge gaps among undergraduate nursing students were identified, suggesting the need to rethink teaching-learning strategies on the subject.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 01-11
Author(s):  
R.E. Esewe ◽  
M. E. Ogunleye

Nursing previously a female-dominated profession is beginning to see a handful of male entrants. Students often ask questions in class concerning their learning styles. This study investigated learning style preferences based on gender. A descriptive cross-sectional survey research design with the aid of a self-administered questionnaire was applied to investigate 206 nursing students from 2 institutions in Edo State, Nigeria. The instrument used for the study, the questionnaire was validated by extensive literature search based on study objectives and consultation with 2 experts; 1 in measurement and evaluation in educational studies and another in nursing science with expertise in mental health nursing. Reliability was through the use of an adapted instrument by Kolb. Data were analyzed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 in tables and percentages.  Chi-square statistical technique was used to analyse the non-parametric data at a significance level of 0.05. Findings revealed that 52(36.1%) of the respondents were female convergers while 12(27.1%) were male divergers. There are 8(16.7%) male assimilators and 28(19.4%) female accommodators respectively. The females scored more on concrete experience such as watching videos or fieldwork, with a mean and Standard Deviation of 40.15±5.80 while the males had 9.24±5.98, with a p-value of 0.026 indicating that this was statistically significant. The only concrete experience was significant while reflective observation, abstract conceptualization and active experimentation were not significant. The study concludes that students have their own preferred way to recognize, retain and retrieve information irrespective of gender. It, therefore, recommends the development of comprehensive, up-to-date resources for learning such as a departmental library with internet facilities and the use of blended learning by nurse lecturers.


Author(s):  
Suvashri Sasmal ◽  
Moitreyee Roy

Background: The education system has faced severe trouble worldwide in COVID-19 pandemic since the beginning of 2020. In this context every educational institute including nursing colleges has adopted E-learning for smooth continuation of teaching learning process. Keeping this in mind this descriptive survey study aimed to identify the perception of the undergraduate nursing students towards E-learning during COVID 19 phase.Methods: A cross sectional web-based survey has been conducted through Google form with in west Bengal. By using snowball sampling, 327 sample were selected as study participants and they were received the structured questionnaire and submitted after giving their responses. Data were extracted and analysed with the help of different descriptive statistics, such as frequency, percentage, mean, median, standard deviation and inferential statistics in terms of chi-square by using SPSS 20.0 (IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 20.0).Results: In this article 327 participants were enrolled among them 70.95% had indifferent perception, whereas only 14.07% possessed unfavourable perception towards E-learning. Compared with the indifferent percentage the participants with favourable perception was very less i.e. only 14.98%. We also found perception of E learning has no association with demographic variables but significant association is there between gadgets used to attend E learning.Conclusions: Nursing faculties need to address the student’s perception towards e-learning so that efforts can be directed towards improving their learning experience.


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