Learning Styles in Students of Medical Sciences

INTRODUCTION: learning is a human’s natural tendencies; therefore, the identification of factors affecting it, is very important in fixing problems and deficiencies in educational systems. One of the factors contributing to students’ academic achievement and increased learning outcome is to identify their learning styles leading to better and more satisfying learning. The aim of the present study was to examine learning styles in students of Medical Sciences.

METHODOLOGY: The present descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 417 students of Medical Sciences selected based on cluster random sampling method in the academic year 2015-2016. The data were collected through a two-part questionnaire. The first part was consisting students’ demographic characteristics. The second part was validated VARK questionnaire to categorize learning styles in the students. The collected data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, Fisher’s exact test, Chi-square test and ANOVA in SPSS version 19.0

RESULTS: The results showed the following average scores for students’ learning styles: read/write learning style (7.21±1.52), kinesthetic learning style (6.59±0.97), visual learning style (6.23±1.00), auditory learning style (6.00±0.84) and multiple learning styles (5.25±1.00). The results showed no significant relationship between students’ demographic characteristics and their learning styles (p>0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results of this study, the most preferred learning style by medical students was the read/write style. Most university teachers believe that the cause of students’ academic failure is lack of studying; however, this failure may be due to a mismatch between students’ learning styles and teachers’ teaching styles. In view of that, one of the requirements for appropriate education is to examine students’ learning styles at the beginning of each educational year and apply appropriate teaching styles accordingly.