Learning style preferences and academic performance of undergraduate physiotherapy students

Abstract

Abstract: University level education of physiotherapy is fairly new in Sri Lanka. Hence students’ satisfaction of the curriculum and learning environment has not been thoroughly studied. Different learning preferences have been reported among various undergraduate populations. understanding of various learning preferences can be used to enhance their learning experiences. Cross sectional study was conducted among physiotherapy undergraduates from the Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka .This study aimed to; ⅰ. Identify the different learning preference among physiotherapy undergraduates, ⅱ. Assess the variations of learning preferences according to the gender and academic year, ⅲ. Find out whether there is any relationship between learning preferences and academic performances. Learning preferences were assessed by Honey and Mumford’s learning style questionnaire (LSQ). Academic performances were measured by semester cumulative grade point average (CGPA). Chisquare test was used to assess the association between categorical variables. Relationship between learning preferences and academic performances was measured using Pearson correlation coefficient. Eighty six undergraduates successfully responded to the questionnaire. Majority (51.2%) of the physiotherapy undergraduates preferred activist learning style. Chi-square value for the associations of learning preferences with gender (χ=5.961) and academic year (χ=14.399) were insignificant. Undergraduates who reported multiple preferred learning styles had relatively high CGPA. However, there was no significant different of mean CGPA among undergraduates with different preferred learning styles. Pragmatist learning preference strength was significantly and negatively correlated with the CGPA (r = 0.381). Encouraging pragmatists to improve their preferences to other styles and including more learning activities related to pragmatists may improve their academic performance. Teaching and learning activities with wide variety may improve the overall academic performances of undergraduates.