Learning Styles and Academic Performance: Are Traditional Methods Effective?

Abstract

This study aimed at exploring the connection between the learning styles of students and their academic performance and also to determine whether the traditional form of teaching method is still effective in higher education. The quantitative research design was chosen, and the sample population comprised of 300 undergraduate students who were sampled by using a structured questionnaire, and 6 universities situated in Lahore were considered, three of which were public and three were private universities. It was a questionnaire designed in the VARK learning style framework and assessed the student preference of the visual, auditory, reading/writing and kinesthetic learning style, as well as their view of the traditional teaching approach based on lectures. The data were examined based on the descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, correlation analysis, and structural equation modeling (SEM). Achieving the results meant some learning styles which were most popular among the students were the kinesthetic and visual learning styles. The reliability test ensured the internal consistency of the scales of measurement. The findings of correlation revealed that there is a significant positive correlation between learning styles and academic performance, whereas traditional instructional strategies had moderate correlation with academic performance of students. Moreover, the structural equation modeling findings showed that the learning styles affected the academic performance more than the traditional teaching styles. The results indicate that despite traditional lecture-based teaching being practical in imparting theoretical knowledge, the combination of various and interactive instructional techniques could be effective in improving student interest and academic performance. The research points out the need to embrace flexible teaching methods to suit various learning styles in institutions of higher learning.