Document Type : Original Article
Authors
Department of Nursing, Saveh University of Medical Sciences, Saveh, Iran
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIM: There is a growing interest in learning styles of undergraduate health‑care
professional students; however, the evidences about learning styles over time during undergraduate
programs are rare. In this study, the learning styles of undergraduate health‑care professional
students from the beginning to the completion of the program were examined to determine changes
in learning style over time.
METHODOLOGY: This is a longitudinal descriptive study from 2015 to 2018. A total of 101 health‑care
professional students were selected by census method. Learning styles were evaluated using the
Perceptual Learning‑Style Preference Questionnaire three times in the study at the beginning (T1),
the middle (T2), and the end of the educational course (T3). The data were analyzed using repeated
measures ANOVA.
RESULTS: In T1, auditory (mean = 13.99) and visual (mean = 13.54) styles were preferred as major
learning styles, whereas at T2, visual style (mean = 13.6) was the only preferred major learning
style. At T3, the major learning styles were kinesthetic (mean = 14.32), tactile (mean = 13.98), and
visual (mean = 13.58). There were statistically significant differences in auditory, kinesthetic, tactile
and group scale scores between the three time points (P < 0.05). Group learning style was in the
negative type at all three time points.
CONCLUSIONS: Learning styles can change depending on the context, environment, teaching
method, and the subject of learning material and are probably a flexible changing feature rather than
a fixed inherent feature a student possesses.
Keywords
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