Learning styles and preferences for students of computer education and instructional technologies

WOS: 000253957400001Problem Statement: Individual learning processes differ depending on many factors. Learning styles represent individuals' information-capturing and processing advantages and their preferences about them. Purpose of Study: Learning styles discussed by the Kolb and VARK models as information processing and information transformation in time are investigated in this research. The aim of the study is to find out participants' learning styles and preferences as identified by Kolb's Experiential Learning Style Model and VARK- "How can I learn best?" - and to discuss findings for more effective teaching and learning. Methods: The sample is of 94 female and 166 male preservice computer teachers (n=260) studying at Ege University's Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technologies (CEIT) in 2007. After stepping original data analysing procedures of these scales, numeric data are statistically analyzed through frequency, percentage, and chi-square. Findings and Results: The results showed no significant correlation between CEIT students' gender and their learning styles. Regarding Kolb's Learning Style Model, 63.8% of the preservice computer teachers are converger, 25.8% of them are assimilator, 6.2% of them are accomodator and 4.2% of them are diverger. It is assumed that convergers tend to have technical interests and quite often choose to specialize in the physical sciences; this makes it possible to explain why CEIT students mostly have the diverger learning style. The VARK questionnaire showed that 28.8% of the sample have single learning preferences (0.8% Visual, 5.5% Aural, 3.5% Read/Write, 19.3% Kinesthetic). 12.3% of them are bi-modal learners (0.8% VA, 3.4% AR, 1.6% VK, 3.9% AK, 2.7% RK); 18.1% of them are tri-modal learners and 40.8% of them are multimodals. The results also showed a significant difference between gender and the groups of VARK. However, VARK preferences showed no significant difference within grade levels. Finally, the distribution of the sample regarding the Kolb and VARK models showed that 66% of multimodals and 66.7% of kinesthetic learners are converger. Conclusions and Recommendations: It is concluded that the learning preferences such as visual, aural, read/write, and kinesthetic in the VARK model can be a part of Kolb's cycle of how to "grasp experience" (doing or watching) and "transform experience" (feeling or thinking)