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University students’ learning styles across eight fields of study. Angeliki Psaltou-Joycey Zoe Kantaridou Aristotle University University of Macedonia Thessaloniki, GREECE. Definitions of learning styles.
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University students’ learning styles across eight fields of study Angeliki Psaltou-Joycey Zoe Kantaridou Aristotle University University of Macedonia Thessaloniki, GREECE
Definitions of learning styles • The overall patterns that give general direction to learning behaviour(Cornett, 1983) • “…the biologically and developmentally imposed set of characteristics that make the same teaching method wonderful for some and terrible for others” (Dunn & Griggs, 1988) • “… the characteristic cognitive, affective and physiological behaviours that serve as relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive, interact with and respond to the learning environment …(Keefe, 1979) • “Language learning styles are general approaches to language learning” (Cohen 2003)
Types of learning styles examined sensory • visual, auditory, and hands-on personality • extroverted vs introverted, intuitive-random vs concrete-sequential, and closure-oriented vs open cognitive • global/analytic
Previous studies • Moody(1988) • Ehrman and Oxford (1989) • Reid (1987) • Carell et al. (1996) • Hendry et al. (2005) • Hyland (1993) • Dippelhofer-Stiem (1989)
Aim of study • to illustrate the learning style profile of the Greek university students across fields of study • to identify potential differences among them
Participants 1616 students, 416 males (26.7%) 1142 females (73.3%) Mean age: 19.5years From: Aristotle University The University of Macedonia Thessaloniki, GREECE
INSTRUMENTStyle Analysis Survey (SAS) • Use of senses during study: visual (V), auditory (Au), hands-on (H) • Relationship with other people: extroverted (EX), introverted(IN) • Handling of possibilities: intuitive-random (IR), concrete-sequential (CS) • Approach to activities: closure-oriented (CL), open (O) • Use of ideas: global(G), analytic (A)
SAS It combines elements of • sensory preferences • Personality / psychological type • desired degree of generality which are “among those most strongly associated with L2 learning” (Oxford 2006)
Data Analysis • a) descriptive statistics, in order to calculate the frequencies and percentages of learning styles in the various fields of study, and • b) a series of analyses of variance to compare the differences in learning styles among the various fields
Profile of a Greek university student • visual • extroverted • intuitive-random • closure-oriented • global
Significant differences among fields • Visual: Economics with Humanities (p=.010) and Foreign Languages (p=.012) • Auditory: Computer Science with Humanities (p=.007), Medicine (p=.003), Economics (p=.000), Foreign Languages (p=.003) • Hands-on: Foreign Languages with Engineering (p=.040), Computer Science (p=.042) • Extroverted: Computer Science with Humanities (p=.034), Engineering (p=.033), Foreign Languages (p=.003) • Concrete-sequential: Humanities with Education (p=.027)
Teaching suggestions 1 • Take advantage of visual and hands-on styles for use of computers • Use activities enhancing cooperation among teacher and students (extraversion) • Balance learning environments to suit intuitive-random & concrete-sequential styles • Offer guidance to autonomy & lifelong learning (closure-oriented) • Allow socialisation in classroom (global)
Dominant learning style • Humanities & FL • Visual • Sciences, Medicine, Engineering, Economics & Computer Sciences • Intuitive-random • Education • Global
Teaching suggestions 2 • Present long texts carefully and gradually with Economics • Offer practice in listening tasks and group work & projects with Humanities and FL • Show Humanities how to enrich theory with examples • Expose Education to decision-making activities • General: improve listening comprehension skill
Thank you apsajoy@enl.auth.gr kantazoe@uom.gr