Learning styles are crucial and central in the teaching and learning experiences.
A learning style has direct impact on academic success.
Therefore as a student knowing about the best learning style that works for you is crucial for your academic success.
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Learning Styles Overview
1. The Avoidant Learning Style: The lower end of the grade distribution is typically where avoidant kids are located. They frequently miss class, organize their work poorly, and assume little accountability for their learning.
2. Participative Learning Style: Students who are engaged in class exhibit good peer relationships and are willing to take ownership of their learning.
3. Competitive Learning Style: Students that are competitive are characterized as being wary of their peers, which fuels competition for honors and recognition.
4. Collaborative Learning Style: Collaborative students take pleasure in getting along with their classmates.
5. Dependent Learning Style: Dependent pupils frequently grow dissatisfied when they encounter new difficulties that aren’t specifically addressed in the classroom.
6. Independent Learning Style: Independent students prefer to work alone and don’t need much guidance from the teacher.
Most People Are Either Visual Or Auditory Learners
The concept of learning styles has transformed education since it first came to light 30 years ago.
The Association for Psychological Science has conducted research on the topic and found that most people are either visual or auditory learners.
This can affect everything from the way you study to the way you learn. Fortunately, there are some effective ways to improve your learning style so that you can get the best results in school.
The Collaborative Learning Style
One theory is that collaborative learning influences student performance in academic classes. However, the research is mixed. In some studies, groupwork is more beneficial than individual work, but others suggest that students perform worse in groups than when working alone.
Regardless, the evidence that collaborative learning is beneficial is compelling. Here are some of the benefits and drawbacks of collaborating in a classroom. Hopefully, the findings from this study will be useful to you.
The study was conducted with students in Turkish physiotherapy schools. Students who had a Collaborative learning style were significantly more likely to achieve high grades than those in the Avoidant and Converging learning styles. Thus, increasing participation in class through teaching strategies that target the Collaborative learning style might be a practical way to boost student performance in physiotherapy programs.
Some strategies for increasing participation include the use of interactive teaching strategies, such as more discussion in class, homework, and case study presentations.
Benefits of the Collaborative Learning Style
Students with a collaborative learning style may benefit from peer-based learning, especially when the group works on the same project. In this way, students may feel more satisfied and more engaged.
Additionally, the students may have access to the notes of other students. This is helpful for their development and their future career opportunities. But collaborative learning is not for everyone. Some students are better at participating in a collaborative group, while others may be more inclined to work individually.
A positive interdependence theory helps explain how students work in teams. The theory explains how students contribute to a team and what makes a group work.
A collaborative learning style encourages students to share knowledge and expertise with each other. Students who learn in groups have a greater sense of accountability and pride. They will value the process more than grades, so it is important that collaborative learning in higher education is designed to offer challenging tasks.
The study found a moderate positive correlation between the two types of learning styles. Academic performance was higher in students who learn in collaborative settings. The opposite was true for students with avoidant learning styles.
Students with avoidant learning styles, on the other hand, tend to focus on passive learning rather than actively participating in educational processes. Ultimately, academic success depends on the student’s learning style. In order to achieve success, a student should have both a participative and collaborative learning style.
The Participant Learning Style
Students with a Participant learning style have significantly higher academic performance than students with other styles. Students with this learning style report high levels of interest in class activities, participation, and discussions.
As a result, more time should be allocated for these activities and discussions in the classroom. Increasing the number of in-class discussions may also help students with this style improve their performance. The table below shows the characteristics of students with a Participant learning style.
The authors conducted a study of 612 medical students. The results revealed that first-year medical students had the lowest participation, while third-year medical students had the highest. The students with the highest participation rates had higher scores in aural and visual learning styles than those with low participation rates.
The study also found a strong association between students’ preferences for kinesthetic learning and their course grades. While this study only analyzed the preferences of medical students, it suggests that a more personalized approach may be the best way to educate medical students.
Students with this style benefit most from lectures and group discussions. They enjoy speaking and listening to other people, which makes them the most active participants in class. Their learning style can be complimented by online learning environments.
Although most information is presented visually, collaborative activities can be accomplished through online forums or synchronous web conferencing. In addition, a multimodal learning environment may be beneficial for students with auditory or kinesthetic learning styles.
Study participants with the Collaborative and Participant learning styles had significantly higher academic performance than those with other learning styles. This suggests that teaching strategies based on Participant learning styles may be beneficial to students.
This approach involves more discussion and in-class activities and may lead to increased academic performance. It also suggests that teaching strategies tailored to these learning styles may help students with both types of learning. These strategies may improve the quality of the course content and student behavior.
Theorist Learning Style
Theorist students are characterized by their ability to conceptualize and explore relationships between concepts. They seek shortcuts when possible but are not afraid to explore deeper problems.
Their learning style is reflective and they tend to focus on solving specific problems rather than generalizing them. Theorist students are generally very good communicators and are likely to be successful in the workplace. However, they do tend to be more prone to being misunderstood or underachieving.
One study looked at how theorists performed in end-of-year exams. It found that theorist students had higher scores than non-theorists. Another study examined medical students and their learning styles and found a strong association between theorists and good results on end-of-year exams.
But more research is needed to determine the impact of learning style on academic performance. Fortunately, there are ways to recognize whether theorist learning style is best for you.
A study at Queen’s University Belfast looked at the effects of learning style on academic performance. The medical and dental curricula were designed according to Guided Discovery, an outcomes-driven approach to learning. The curriculum also incorporates clinical case scenarios to emphasize the integration of theoretical concepts with the workplace. This means that a pragmatist is likely to perform well in a module requiring a large practical component.
Why You Should Know Your Learning Style
Researchers have found that knowing your own learning style may be helpful in improving the way you teach. Adapting your study style can help you apply information more efficiently, retain more information, and have a more positive attitude after a course.
In addition, a teacher can use these insights to adjust the material they use to teach their students. By adjusting your materials to match your individual needs, you can improve the benefits of learning for low and middle-level students.