How do Medical Students Learn at Ibn Sina National College for Medical Studies in Jeddah, KSA? Assessment of Student’s Learning Styles

Abstract

Background: An important preliminary step in learning and teaching planning is the understanding of your learner. This understanding will help in the allocation of instructional methods and curriculum development. Understanding the learner enfolds the understanding of different learner characteristics. One of these characteristics to be is the learning styles. Aim: This study aims to explore learning styles of medical students at Ibn Sina National College for Medical Studies (ISNC) and determine the effect of related factors as gender, as well as making recommendations to improve teaching and learning at the College. Subjects and Methods: Barsch Learning Styles Inventory was used to assess the learning styles of the MBBS students at ISNC. A sample size of 550 students has been targeted. The overall response rate was 82.7% (n = 455). Scores have been manually calculated for each student and his/her learning style is indicated based on the inventory manual. Descriptive statistics were applied, and statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: Visual Learning Style is the common style among the studies sample of students. However, participants were found to use more than one learning styles (two or three styles) for taking in information. There were minor differences between males and females in styles’ prevalence. Those differences were not statistically significant. Conclusion: The most prevalent learning style is the visual one, which is in agreement with the literature on learning styles. The prevalence of different styles is similar in both males and females.