Assessment of learning style preferences of medical undergraduate students: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Context: As doctors who are also teachers we must be aware of the various learning styles used by our students. Each style is unique in how a student takes in knowledge. Thus to maximize output, we need to facilitate their learning process as teachers. Aims: This study was undertaken to assess the predominant learning style of 2 nd year medical students and to compare the learning modality used with the academic performance. Settings and Design: Cross-sectional study undertaken in a Government Medical college of Bangalore, Karnataka, India. Materials and Methods: A total of 210 second year medical undergraduates in a Government Medical College, Bangalore were asked to fill a pre tested and pre validated visual, auditory, read/write, kinesthetic questionnaire, version 7.3 developed by Neil Fleming. The students were then scored to assess the predominant learning modality used. Statistical Analysis Used: Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, Fisher's test and unpaired (two sample) t -test were used to study the variables. Results: Majority of the students were multimodal (61%). Kinesthetic was the predominant modality used, both among unimodal (56.8%) and multimodal (31.8%) learners. There was no significant difference in the learning modalities of male and female students. There was also no difference in academic performance of uni- and multi-modal learners. Conclusions: Current teaching styles do not support the student fraternity that is predominantly multimodal. Various workshops must be conducted to train teachers to adapt their teaching styles. Multiple methods must be used simultaneously deliver knowledge and information to the students to improve their acceptance.