ERIC Number: EJ1065300
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007-Mar
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1450-104X
EISSN: N/A
Learning Styles and High School Students' Chemistry Achievement
Uzuntiryaki, Esen
Science Education International, v18 n1 p25-37 Mar 2007
The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of students' learning styles on their chemistry achievement, and whether matching between teaching and learning styles also affects students' chemistry achievement. Two hundred and sixty-five tenth-grade students enrolled in a chemistry course and seven chemistry teachers participated in the study. Grasha-Riechmann Student Learning Style Scale was used to determine students' learning styles. This scale consists of four clusters obtained from six learning styles as dependent/avoidant/participant/competitive; participant/dependent/collaborative; collaborative/participant/independent and independent/collaborative/participant learning styles. In order to assess teachers' learning styles, Teaching Styles Inventory was used. This inventory has four clusters obtained from five teaching styles. The first cluster consists of expert/formal authority; second cluster includes personal model/expert/formal authority; third one contains facilitator/personal model/expert, and the fourth cluster consists of delegator/facilitator/expert teaching styles. Results showed that there was a statistically significant difference among students with different learning styles with respect to chemistry achievement. Students in facilitator/personal model/expert teaching style and delegator/facilitator/expert teaching style had better understanding of chemistry concepts, but there was no statistically significant effect of matching between students' learning styles and teachers' teaching styles on students' chemistry achievement.
Descriptors: Cognitive Style, Science Achievement, Teaching Styles, Chemistry, Correlation, High School Students, Measures (Individuals), Statistical Analysis, Science Instruction, Secondary School Students
International Council of Associations for Science Education. Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Education, Buca, Izmir 35150, Turkey. Tel: +90-532-4267927; Fax: +90-232-4204895; Web site: http://icaseonline.net
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A