The learning styles of optometry students at the University of the Free State

[摘要] English: In the research project reported here, a study was conducted with a view to providingdirection to educators in the Department of Optometry at the University of the FreeState (UFS), in order for them to create a learning environment that would motivatestudents to achieve excellence in the competencies and knowledge required to qualifyas competent Optometrists. This study was initiated in response to the identification ofa gap in the knowledge regarding the way undergraduate Optometry students at theUFS in 2014 perceived and processed knowledge, known as their learning styles.Higher education in South Africa faces many challenges. The improvement of graduateproduction for economic, social, and cultural development highlights the need torevitalise the current educational strategies to minimise the wastage of talent and toprevent the failure of academic careers. According to both scholarly and popularliterature, the use of learning styles as an educational strategy will become moreimportant as it is seen as one of the success factors in higher education, contributingto the effectiveness of learning.The aim of the study was to describe the learning styles of Optometry students at theUFS with a view to creating a better understanding of how students acquire learningand to enhance the learning environment accordingly. This was attained by the meansof the following objectives, namely obtaining data to create a deeper understanding ofthe significance of learning styles in the curriculum framework of higher educationinstitutions and identifying and describing the learning styles of the Optometrystudents at the UFS according to Kolb's Learning Style Inventory (LSI).In the study use was made of a quantitative design. Data were gathered by means ofa questionnaire survey (Kolb's LSI) among the registered undergraduate Optometrystudents at the UFS in 2014. From the findings of the questionnaire survey, the conclusion was drawn that theundergraduate Optometry students of 2014 employed the four learning stylesaccording to the following order of priority: (i) Converger; (ii) Assimilator; (iii)Accommodator; and (iv) Diverger. The findings also indicated that neither of thevariables of age, gender, academic year, or ethnicity had any effect on the students'preference of learning style.These findings, as well as the data collected from the literature survey, wereincorporated in the formulation of recommendations for the enhancement of the fourcomponents of Kolb's learning cycle, as indicated in the aim of the study. Attentionwas given to the enhancement of the learning environment most suitable for the twomost preferred learning styles. Depending on the learning outcomes and based on theknowledge of the preferred learning styles, the lecturer may choose to match ormismatch the learning styles of the students to the teaching method, or to apply amulti-style teaching approach.With the learning styles of the undergraduate students identified, the Department ofOptometry, through implementation of the recommendations, may create an optimalteaching and learning environment that will accommodate the diversity of thisgeneration of undergraduate students in terms of different learning styles.

[发布机构] University of the Free State