English

Abstract

Learning process varies from student to student. In a related research, it is argued that one of the basic elements for this variation is due to student’s distinct learning styles. Planning learning situations based on the knowledge of learners’ learning styles can be more effective and efficient. With the learning-teaching process designed in accordance with the learning styles of students, it is possible to develop positive attitudes towards the courses and to increase academic success. Pre-service teachers' awareness of their own learning styles can be effective both for their own development during their pre-service training and for the development of their students during their in-service professional career. The purpose of the current study is to determine the learning styles of the pre-service basic education teachers and to examine the relationships between their learning styles and gender, age, program type, grade level and grade point average. In data collection, the Kolb Learning Style Inventory was used. The current study was conducted on 493 pre-service teachers randomly selected from among the 1st, 2nd and 3rd year students attending the Basic Education Departments of Classroom Teaching and Pre-school Teacher Education in the Education Faculty of Necmettin Erbakan University, in 2017/2018 academic year. In the analysis of the collected data, SPSS 24 program package was used. The pre-service teachers’ learning styles are presented through descriptive statistics, frequencies (f) and percentages (%). Whether the pre-service teachers’ learning styles vary significantly depending on the variables of gender, age, program type, grade level and grade point average was tested with Chi-Square Test. Of the participating pre-service teachers, 398 (80.7%) are females and 95 (19.3%) are males; 250 (50.7%) are from the department of classroom teaching and 243 (49.3%) are from the department of pre-school teacher education. The results of the current study have revealed that the participating pre-service teachers have adopted the “Diverging” learning style to the greatest extent and the “Converging” learning style to the smallest extent.   Key words: Basic education, student, learning styles, variables, evaluation.