Learning style preferences among clinical year physiotherapy students in Ghana

Abstract

Background. Learning style is the manner by which one learns. Every student has a different and unique learning style. However, the educational implication of learning style preferences has been a source of controversy among researchers and educators.Objectives. To determine the learning style preferences of clinical year physiotherapy students.Methods. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 82 undergraduate physiotherapy students from two universities in Ghana. A data-capturing form was used to obtain participants’ sociodemographic information, while the Kolb learning style questionnaire was used to determine the learning style preferences of the students. The χ2 statistic was used to determine the association between gender and learning style preferences, as well as between level of study and learning style preferences. Results. The participants comprised 43 (52.4%) male students and 39 (47.6%) female students. Eight (9.8%) students preferred the accommodating learning style, 46 (56.0%) preferred the diverging learning style, 15 (18.3%) preferred the assimilating learning style and 13 (15.9%) preferred the converging learning style. There was a significant association between gender and preferred learning style (p=0.027), but no significant association between level of study and preferred learning style (p=0.179). Conclusion. This study revealed that the diverging learning style was the most preferred style, followed by the assimilating learning style. However, there was no association between gender and learning style preferences, as well as level of study and learning style preferences. Further research should be conducted to find the association between the learning environments and the learning style preferences.