Learning style preferences of public health students

Abstract

The authors suggest that public health instructors employ a variety of teaching methods and evaluative opportunities when class composition is initially assessed as having diverse learning styles. This "instructional pluralism' is necessary to facilitate learning, maximize participation, and permit multiple pathways for students to demonstrate educational performance.

Factors predictive of successful learning in postgraduate medical education

“…From this study it appears that a particular learning style (accommodator) seems to influence the retention of knowledge. This may be comparable with the results of a study involving public health students, where assimilators scored significantly higher in theoretical examinations than did students with other learning styles 9,13 . Contradictory findings about learning styles in general practitioners (GPs) have been reported.…”

“…The contextual factor was present employer (occupational health service). We used the learning style inventory developed by Kolb, which is used widely, especially in medical education 12–15 . Kolb describes experiential learning as a cyclical process involving 4 stages, as follows:…”

“…This may be comparable with the results of a study involving public health students, where assimilators scored significantly higher in theoretical examinations than did students with other learning styles. 9,13 Contradictory findings about learning styles in general practitioners (GPs) have been reported. In some studies, GPs have been found to have a predominantly active ⁄ concrete learning style (accommodator), and in others GPs were reported to have reflector ⁄ theorist styles (assimilator).…”

Learning styles and approaches: Can reflective strategies encourage deep learning?

“…22 Learning styles are utilized in education as a tool to implement or refine teaching methods and modules. [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] However, a preferred learning style may not indicate students' level of understanding of the content or context. 22 There are no "good" or "bad" learning styles; rather, one learning style may suit an individual's learning context better than another.…”

Learning Style and Academic Achievement among Students at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran

“…The target population of this study consists of all undergraduate students and medical, dentistry and pharmacy students who enrolled at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in 2014 (N = 645). The distribution of students in each discipline are listed as follows: medicine (106), dentistry (59), pharmacy (59), nursing (39), midwifery (30), occupational health (28), environmental health (26), public health (21), nutrition (24), information technology (27), anesthetics (30), radiology (44), management of health services (21), speech therapy (20), physiotherapy (22), occupational therapy (20), and operating room (26). The inclusion criteria were: age under 25 years, enrolled students, enrolled in a bachelor's degree or a medical, dentistry or pharmacy program, willingness to participate, and willingness to take part in the follow up.…”