Describing learning styles and associated demographic characteristics among university students: Implications for instructional provision in a higher education context

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe students’ learning styles and identify associated demographic characteristics to imply appropriate instructional provisions in a higher education setting. We employed a cross-sectional descriptive survey design. Four universities—Arbaminch, Dilla, Wachamo, and Jinka—were selected from Southern Ethiopia. Three hundred seventeen participants were chosen at random. A learning style (ILS) scale was employed. The finding shows that active, sensing, visual, and sequential learning styles are the major learning styles among students. As in bivariate and multivariate analysis, age was positively associated with reflective, intuitive, verbal, and global learning styles. However, students’ sex, stream, and university were not significantly associated with their learning styles. Generally, looking into the way the learners prefer to learn, and adjusting the instructional provision to fit into their preference is vital. Periodic modification of the instructional provision is also essential as students learning styles change with their age or seniority. Finally, including more demographic and psychosocial variables to examine students’ association with their learning styles is suggested for future research.