Teaching Methods, Learning Styles and Academic Excellence of University Students after the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The primary objective of this research is to investigate the relationships among teaching methods, learning styles, and the academic performance of pre-university students amidst the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. This non-experimental quantitative study relies on a meticulously crafted questionnaire as its sole data collection instrument, aiming to elucidate the correlations existing among the various factors examined in this study. Our sample consists of 152 pre-university students hailing from diverse Malaysia universities, including Universiti Malaya, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Mara, and Universiti Pertahanan Malaysia, carefully selected through the Simple Random Sampling method. To unravel the connections between the independent variables, namely teaching methods and learning styles, and the dependent variable, which is academic excellence, we employed Descriptive Statistics and Pearson Correlation analysis using IBM SPSS Version 26. Our analysis, conducted on this sample size of 152 participants, revealed a weak correlation between teaching methods and learning styles (r=0.445, p=0.000). Notably, our findings did not yield any significant correlations between teaching methods and academic excellence, nor did they indicate a significant relationship between learning styles and teaching methods. These results provide valuable insights into the multifaceted dynamics of education in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, shedding light on the intricate connections between instructional approaches, learning preferences, and academic outcomes for university students.