Variances in Learning Styles of Full-Time Undergraduate Students Based on Demographic Variables (Published)
The study, which was based on the VAK Learning Style Model, examined the learning style preferences and variances in the learning style of full-time undergraduate students in the Department of Basic Education, University of Education, Winneba (UEW), Ghana. Using the simple random sampling technique, 621 students were involved in the study. With the use of a questionnaire, quantitative data were obtained and analysed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test, and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The study revealed that the students made use of all the three learning styles even though they dominantly preferred and used visual learning style as compared to auditory and kinaesthetic learning styles. At a significance of 0.01, the study found statistically significant differences in the learning style preferences of male and female full-time undergraduate students. There were also no statistically significant differences in the learning style preferences of the students based on age, level of study and residential status. Among the recommendations is that lecturers in the Department should adopt a variety of appropriate instructional practices and strategies that may optimise the diverse learning style preferences of the students.
Keywords: Age, learning style preferences, level of study, residential status, sex
Learning Style Preferences as Determinants of Academic Achievement among Public Junior High School Pupils in the Effutu Municipality (Published)
The study sought to investigate the learning style preferences and how it affects the academic achievement among students in public junior high schools in the Effutu Municipality in the Central Region of Ghana. The study was grounded in Fleming’s (1995) VAK learning style theory. The descriptive survey design was used and was aligned with positivist paradigm where 532 public junior high school pupils were chosen through the stratified random sampling technique. A reliability coefficient of not less than 0.70 was realized for all the various constructs. The data gathered through questionnaire were analysed using both descriptive (mean, standard deviation) and inferential (Pearson Moment Correlation) statistics. The study revealed that the visual learning style was most dominantly preferred (M = 3.88, SD = 0.62), followed by kinesthetic (M = 3.67, SD = 0.72), and auditory (M = 3.58, SD = 0.66) learning styles. Besides, it was established that generally there was a strong and statistically significant positive relationship between learning styles preferences of pupils’ and academic achievement (r = 0.861, p = 0.000, 2-tailed). Therefore, it was recommended that the Effutu Municipal Education Directorate should collaborate with school guidance and counseling coordinators to plan and execute academic programmes such as workshops and seminars to expose teachers to adopt and practice instructional pedagogies to meet the varied learning style preferences of pupils so as to boost their academic achievement.
Keywords: Academic Achievement, instructional pedagogies, junior high school pupils, learning style preferences