LEARNING STYLE PROFILES AND ACADEMIC IMPROVEMENT IN THE FIRST YEAR OF NURSING

Abstract

Objective: To identify nursing students' learning styles profiles and statistically relate them to their academic performance in two courses in the first year of Nursing. Method: Honey-Alonso Learning Styles Questionnaire (CHAEA) was applied. It was available to 193 students who responded it on an electronic spreadsheet and sent it via e-mail, according to established ethic rules. Comparative analyses, scores of learning styles and grades of evaluations of each course were carried out using the Infostat program. Two successive cohorts (2009-2010) were analysed. Results: Most of the students present 3 or more learning styles with moderate to higher than moderate scores, who showed test results with grades that were average or higher each year. Conclusion: It is suggested that in order to get better academic performance, teachers must know the students' learning styles and design pedagogical tools to promote the different learning styles so students can become aware of their own style.