A Comparison of Learning Styles and Study Strategies Scores of Brunei Secondary School Students by Test Anxiety, Success Attributions, and Failure Attributions: Implications for Teaching At-risk and Vulnerable Students

Abstract

The survey assessed the learning styles and study strategies of 135 randomly selected Brunei secondary school students according to their test anxiety levels, internal-external attributions for success, and internal-external attributions for failing. Four significant differences were obtained on learning styles but only one was found on study strategies. Highly anxious students scored higher on the social-individual learning style than their less anxious peers. Learners who internalize success attributions scored higher on the social-group learning style than counterparts who externalize. Participants with internal attributions for failing scored higher on both the visual-language and expressive-written learning styles than those who externalize reasons for failing. Paradoxically, females were the most affected by test anxiety and yet they outperformed males in mathematics achievement. We discuss plausible explanations for these findings and suggest psychological and educational interventions to address the observed deficiencies. Further mixed-methods research is recommended to gain additional insights into the issues investigated.