The Relationship Between Latino Students' Learning Styles and Their Academic Performance

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between Latino Students' learning styles and their academic performance. Students' academic performance was measured using their overall grade point average (GPA). A group of 229 Latino students who were enrolled at an urban community college in New York City participated in the study. Two questionnaires were used to identify Students' learning styles; the Learning Style Inventory (LSI) developed by Kolb (2000), and the Productivity Environmental Preference Survey (PEPS) developed by Dunn, Dunn, and Price (2003). The results of the LSI showed no relationship between Students' learning styles and their GPA. Results of the PEPS showed a relationship between four of the PEPS' elements and the Students' GPA. The elements of Responsible (r = .174, p = .015) and Design (r = .162, p = .009) positively correlated with participants' GPA. Conversely, the elements of Needs Mobility (r = −.137, p = .008) and Afternoon (r = −.175, p = .039) negatively correlated with the participants' GPA. This study reinforced the premise that Latino Students' learning styles must be taken into consideration when developing educational approaches geared to support their academic performance. Findings of the study clearly indicated that Students' academic performance is related to the way they learn.