Nursing students' learning styles and attitudes towards learning: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Learning is a different process for each person. Individual differences can be explained as each student uses different learning cycle stages. The main objectives of nursing education are to graduate competent nurses who have cognitive, social, affective, and psychomotor skills, can provide holistic care to individuals, and have lifelong learning skills. In order to achieve these objectives, it is crucial building an education process focused on the learning style of the students rather than providing only classical education methods. Having knowledge about students' learning styles contributes positively learning skills and attitudes towards learning. A cross-sectional research design was used to examine nursing students' learning styles and attitudes towards learning. A total of 444 undergraduate nursing students at a public university participated in this study. Data were collected using the Socio-Demographic Characteristics Forms, Learning Styles Inventory, and The Scale of Attitudes Towards Learning with an online questionnaire on 2021-2022 academic year. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the Mann-Whitney U test. Of the nursing students, 59.2% had a learning style by doing, 83.4% by feeling, 85.6% by visual, and 63.7% by sequential. The mean score of the Attitudes towards Learning Scale was determined to be 153.26±11.16. Nursing students' attitudes and expectations towards learning were positive. Students with thinking and verbal learning styles have more positive attitudes toward learning. It is recommended to determine students' learning styles and use learning methods suitable for students in nursing education. It is thought that the more effective use of verbal learning resources in facilitating the learning of nursing students will positively affect the students' learning processes.