The Condition of Learning styles, Student Engagement and its Relationship with Academic Progress in Birjand University of Medical Sciences

Abstract Introduction and Purpose: Students’ academic progress in the universities of medical sciences and its related factors is one of the priorities of researches in education. Learning styles and students engagement are the influential factors of this variable. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the condition of learning styles and student engagement and its relationship with academic progress. Method: This is a descriptive and analytical study. Based on Cochran’s sample size formula, the study population included 292 students of the university that were selected via stratified random sampling method. The Student Engagement in Schools Questionnaire (SESQ) by Fredricks et al. (2004) and The Grasha-Riechmann Student Learning Styles Scale (GRSLSS) (Grasha, 1996) were used to gather the data. SPSS 18 was used to analyze the data; moreover, independent t-test and Spearman’s multiple regression analyzed at a significant level (0.05). Findings: 186 students out of 292 were female and 106963.7%) of them were male (36.3%). The findings indicated that the students preferred the following learning styles: avoiding, competitive, participatory, independent, cooperation and dependent styles, respectively. Furthermore, there is a significant relationship (p<0.05) between learning styles and student engagement with academic achievement. Conclusion: In accordance with the findings of the study, it is suggested that the students become aware of the different learning styles so that they can find their own appropriate learning style. Furthermore, it is recommended that teachers pay attention to learning styles and the enhancement of students’ engagement while teaching.   

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Key words: learning styles , students engagement , academic progress