A comparison between the learning styles of high achieving and low achieving pupils in a primary school

This study examines the learning style preferences of 126 lower primary students, 63 high achievers and 63 low achievers, in a neighbourhood school. It attempts to identify their learning styles and investigate whether significant differences exist between the learning styles of the two groups of students. A questionnaire inventory modified from the Learning Style Inventory: Primary (1991) by Janet Perrin was used to identify their learning style preferences. The findings from this study suggest that high achievers and low achievers have similar learning style preferences. They like learning in a quiet, bright, and formally designed environment. They see themselves as responsible, persistent and self motivated learners. They disliked learning with adults. They prefer their learning to be minimally structured and dislike learning in the evenings. It also suggests that learning styles discriminate between the two groups of learners. Overall, 8 out of the 18 elements were significantly different. They are temperature, learning with an adult, visual, auditory, tactual perceptual strengths, intake, mobility and time of the day.Master of Arts (Applied Psychology