THE EFFECT OF PERCEPTUAL LEARNING STYLES ON THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF STUDENTS IN DEBRE MARKOS PREPARATORY AND HIGHER EDUCATION SCHOOL, ETHIOPIA

The purpose of this study was to investigate if there are significant relationships and gender differences among perceptual learning styles preferences, and academic achievement of students. The target population was 1884 in Debre Markos preparatory school in 2005. A sample size of 210 participants was selected using stratified and simple random sampling technique from the population based on the roster of record office. A self-report questionnaire was used to collect data on perceptual learning styles preferences while current semester examination scores were used to determine the average academic achievement for each participant. The instruments were administered after piloting to determine their suitability, validity and reliability. The Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient after piloting was 0.892. The questionnaire was revised to improve the reliability coefficient. The data collected from the sample size were analyzed by Pearson product movement correlation coefficient and independent sample t-test. The hypotheses were tested at a = 0.05.The findings indicated a significant positive relationship between students' perceptual learning styles preferences, and academic achievement. The findings also indicated that there were significant gender differences in perceptual learning styles preferences and academic achievement scores of students. It was recommended that providing welcome orientations, counseling services, short-term training and selecting classroom models are some of the solutions need to be given a due attention from teachers and school counselors