The Composite of Students' Characteristic and Cognitive Dimension in Vocational Education

Abstract

Objective- This study conducted to identify how learning styles influenced students' academic achievement based on cognitive dimension and vocational elements in Building Construction involving the students and teachers from Vocational Colleges. Methodology/Technique- Felder and Silverman Learning Styles Model comprise four learning styles dimensions: processing, perception, input and understanding, as a method to identify students' learning styles. The cognitive elements and vocational elements which consist of the aspects of knowledge, skills and problem solving were taken into account in constructing the question items for Student Perception in Cognitive Learning and the students' achievement test for Cognitive Mastery Achievement Test. Stratified sampling procedure was applied in the selection of 128 students as research respondents. Findings- The study discovered that students tend to be visual learners. This study also analyzed the differences between the four dimensions of Felder Silverman LS with the vocational elements in Building Construction. The discussions with teachers revealed that most teachers accommodate students learning styles with cognitive mastery by using visual approach to increase students' academic achievement. Novelty- The paper could act as a guideline for teachers to facilitate students to learn more effectively and to boost the academic achievement in vocational education. Type of Paper: Empirical paper Keywords: , Learning styles, knowledge, skills and problem solving