Vark Learning Styles Towards Academic Performance Among Students of Private University in Selangor

Abstract

The objectives of this study are twofold: (a) to examine the influence of students’ learning styles on their academic performance; and (b) to identifies the preferred learning styles of students between high/low achievers, gender, and different clusters. By using VARK standard questionnaire, 433 undergraduate students from four faculties at the Private University in Selangor are used as observations for this study. The study finds that all students were unimodal learners and Kinesthetic (K) type of learning style is the learner type with the most number of students. High achievers are preferred Kinesthetic (K) learning style while Read/Write (R) learning style is more practiced by students with low achievement. Male students are more preferred Kinesthetic (K) learning style, but female students had a preference for Visual (V) learning style. Social science students are more preferred an Aural (A) as compared to the pure science students which are more preferred Read/Write (R) learning style. Further, this study confirms that Visual (V) and Kinesthetic (K) learning style preferences are positively and significantly influence students’ academic performance. This indicates that different subjects required different kinds of learning styles and instructions to optimally potentiate and benefit the students. This result is consistent with the “Meshing Hypothesis” which states that the learning outcomes could be highly achieved if learning was matched with a predominant learning style of the learner. This study gives a better representation of the current situation in the learning preferences among undergraduate students in Malaysia.

Investigation of the Relationship between Teacher Candidates' E-Learning Styles, Academic Achievements and Educational Technology Self-Efficiency Perceptions

“…It was seen that the e-learning styles and educational technology standards of the teacher candidates are related to their academic achievement. Zain, et al, (2019) stated that learning environments should be designed according to students' dominant learning styles so that students can perform better. Akturk& Ozturk (2019) states that teachers' techno-pedagogical field levels and students' academic, social and emotional self-efficacy explain 12% of students' academic success.…”

“…It is thought that there is a connection between the learning styles of individuals and their success levels of their lessons (Alsan&Alsan, 2009;Sapanci, 2014;Wilkinson et. al., 2014;Zain et. al.…”

The Impact of Learning Style and Learning Strategy Towards Accounting Students’ Academic Achievement

“…For example, Albeta et al [18] found that visual and kinesthetic learning styles have lower performance than aural learning styles. In comparison, Zain et al [10] concluded that students who obtained high academic scores were those who used kinesthetic learning styles based on their research on students in Selangor. The results differences are most likely due to differences in external factors that affect student learning styles, such as geographic location, learning environment, characteristics of the research subject itself, and many other factors.…”

“…For example, research results from [7] found that the audio-visual learning style is the most effective in improving students' academic achievement. Meanwhile, [10] found that the most effective learning style to improve students' academic achievement is the Kinesthetic (K) learning style. From the two research results mentioned above, our research results differ in the most effective learning style and the quantity of learning styles that each student adopts.…”

The Preferred Learning Styles Among the Undergraduate Dental Students at Foundation University College of Dentistry, Islamabad

“…This is because it does not address certain important parameters, for example level of interest and motivation, learners' socioeconomic status race and culture. 11,12 Many studies have used the VARK questionnaire to determine students learning preference. The results from these studies show a various variance and lie on both ends of the spectrum.…”