Assessment of Preferred Learning Styles of Undergraduate Kinesiology Students

Background/Purpose: Teaching students who have related areas of interest and overlapping coursework could suggest similar learning patterns or styles. However, past research has indicated that people have different and preferred ways of learning and understanding new information. Mixed results have also been shown when attempting to align specific learning styles with academic achievement.  The purpose of this research was to determine if there was a correlation among the preferred learning styles, overall GPA and academic major in undergraduate students enrolled in five separate professional programs at a university in the Mid-South. 

Method: Participants consisted of 231 undergraduate students enrolled in the following academic majors; Athletic Training, Exercise Science, Health Promotion, Physical Education, and Sport Management. Each participant was asked to complete a consent for participation letter, demographic data sheet, and the Computerized Assessment Program – Styles of Learning (CAPSOL©) Form B. 

Analysis/Results: Pearson r was calculated to assess the correlation between preferred learning styles and overall GPA. The results indicated a significant positive correlation between the GPA and the following preferred learning styles; Individual (r = .170, n = 207, p =.014), and Sequential (r = .208, n = 207,p =.003). No significant correlation was found between preferred learning styles and academic major (r = .017, n = 231, p = .797).  

Conclusions: It appears that students enrolled in the five programs assessed share a connection between overall GPA and the Individual and Sequential learning styles. The statistically significant finding between the overall GPA and learning styles demonstrates a Cohen’s effect size value d = .43, which suggests a small practical significance between the academic achievement and the Individual and Sequential learning styles in the participants.