Kolb’s learning styles of optometry students at the University of the Free State, South Africa

African Vision and Eye Health

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Kolb’s learning styles of optometry students at the University of the Free State, South Africa
 
Creator Kempen, Elzana Kruger, Sonet B.
 
Subject Optometry learning styles; educational method; optometry education; Kolb's Learning Style Inventory
Description Background: The use of learning styles to guide an educational method is becoming increasingly important, with it contributing to the effectiveness of a learning environment. This study addresses the concept of learning styles with reference to students of the Department of Optometry at the University of the Free State, South Africa – a topic that previously has not received much attention.Aim: The aim of this study was to identify the learning styles of optometry students as described by Kolb. Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory (LSI) was completed by the undergraduate students of the Optometry Department, in order to create a better understanding of how students perceive and process learning and to enhance the learning environment accordingly.Setting: This study was conducted in the Optometry Department at the University of the Free State.Methods: Undergraduate optometry students (N = 106) who were registered for the 2014 academic year and agreed to participate in the study completed Kolb’s LSI to determine their learning styles. Descriptive statistics for categorical data and medians and percentiles for numerical data were calculated.Results: A response rate of 94.6% was achieved, with female students representing the majority (72.6%). The converger learning style was identified as the most preferred learning style among most students, followed by the assimilator, accommodator and diverger learning styles.Conclusion: Knowledge of Kolb’s learning styles created a better understanding of how students learn, which will benefit the facilitator as well as the students. It is recommended that to enhance the learning environment, curriculum delivery and education methods, the learning styles of students should be kept in mind.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor none
Date 2019-01-09
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Quantitative research; Descriptive study
Format text/html application/epub+zip application/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/aveh.v78i1.454
 
Source African Vision and Eye Health; Vol 78, No 1 (2019); 9 pages 2410-1516 2413-3183
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://avehjournal.org/index.php/aveh/article/view/454/935 https://avehjournal.org/index.php/aveh/article/view/454/934 https://avehjournal.org/index.php/aveh/article/view/454/937 https://avehjournal.org/index.php/aveh/article/view/454/933
 
Coverage Free State 2013 - 2015 Median age 20; Male and Female; Optometry students
Rights Copyright (c) 2019 Elzana Kempen; Sonet B. Kruger https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
ADVERTISEMENT