A Study of Learning Styles and Hemispheric Dominance in University Students with the intention of Using the Findings in Instructional Planning

Subject Areas : Education

مرضیه Amini ^{1 *} , احمد Alipor ² , بهمن Zand ³ , عیسی Ebrahimzadeh ⁴ , مهران Farajelahi ⁵

1 - عضو هیئت علمی دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی، واحد مرودشت، مرودشت، ایران
2 - - استاد دانشگاه پیام نور
3 - - دانشیار دانشگاه پیام نور
4 - - دانشیار دانشگاه پیام نور
5 - استادیار دانشگاه پیام نور

Received: 2015-12-20 Accepted : 2015-12-20 Published : 2012-09-22

Keywords: Hemispheric Dominance, Learning Style, Information Processing, Convergent Style, Divergent Style,

Abstract :

The main goal of the present research was to investigate factors related to learning success of medical and engineering students. In this regard, two factors, i.e. learning styles and hemispheric dominance of male and female students in these two majors were studied. The study had a comparative nature; for that reason, one hundred and seventy eight medical and engineering students of Shiraz University and Shiraz School of Medical Sciences studying in the first semester of 1388-1389 were compared with each other regarding their learning styles and hemispheric dominances. In this study, cluster sampling was employed to select the participants; then, the selected students completed two standard questionnaires, that is, Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory (1985a) and Silber’s Hemispheric Dominance questionnaire. Statistical analyses (descriptive statistics, t-test, and chi-square) were performed using SPSS software (17th version). Findings of the current study indicate that medical and engineering students are different from each other regarding their methods in perceiving and processing information. With regard to findings of learning styles, it was revealed that medical students mostly used divergent learning style while engineering students were more inclined to employ convergent learning style. Moreover, male and female students were compared regarding their learning styles. This indicated that females utilized concrete experimentation more than males. As regards brain hemispheric dominance, it was observed that most students in the two majors employed both hemispheres of their brains in perceiving and processing information. Besides, the results depicted an association among students’ learning style, hemispheric dominance, gender, and field of study  

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