Are the Learning Styles of Elementary School Students Related to Their Academic Success? A Study of Mixed Research Methods

Abstract

The aim of this study is to point out the relationship between learning styles and the academic. The purpose of this study is to show the relationship between learning styles and academic achievement of 4th grade elementary students. The study was designed according to the convergent parallel design, one of the mixed research designs in which quantitative and qualitative research methods are used together. While the quantitative and qualitative data are collected together in accordance with the convergent parallel design, the data analysis is presented separately in the results section. The study group of the research consists of 163 grade 4 primary school students, 74 girls (n=74) and 89 (n=89) boys, taught in a government primary school in Istanbul Turkey. To find out whether learning styles predict academic achievement, linear regression analysis was conducted. On the other hand, descriptive analysis and content analysis were used in the qualitative data analysis. In this study, it was found that learning styles predict academic achievement. It was also found that students tend to discover their own learning methods, and depending on which method they prefer, the academic area in which they succeed differs.