Evaluation of different learning styles and their effect on academic performance among undergraduate dental students

Abstract

Introduction: Every individual has own way of perceiving, processing and retaining the information and has a unique learning style. The current study was aimed at evaluating the learning styles preferences and their influence on the academic performance of undergraduate dental students. Materials and Methods: 322 undergraduate dental students were involved in this cross-sectional questionnaire-based study. The VARK questionnaire (Version 7.8) was used in this study. Statistical analysis used: Independent samples’ t-test was carried out to evaluate the differences in the mean scores of learning style categories between the female and male students and also between the preclinical and clinical students. Pearson’s correlation coefficient test was utilized to determine whether there is a relationship between the academic performance and the mean scores of different learning styles. Results: There were no statistically significant differences noted between the female and the male students in regards to the mean scores of visual (t(296) =-.796, p=0.426), auditory (t(296) = .061, p=0.952) and kinesthetic (t(296) =-1.681, p=0.094) types of learning styles. A very weak positive correlation value was obtained between the academic performance and the reading type of learning style (r = 0.125, p= 0.03). Conclusions: The male students showed more predilections towards the kinesthetic type of learning style and visual learners are predominant among females. A very weak positive correlation was observed between the academic performance and the reading type of learning style.