Learning Styles in University Students: Types of Strategies, Materials, Supports, Evaluation and Performance. Case Study

Abstract

The aim of this study is to identify different learning styles in university students in the frame of university teaching carried out through innovative proposals for work and research projects, with inverted classroom dynamics (active and cooperative) and adopting a formative assessment that focuses on both the process and the students’ outcomes. This proposal is complemented by the objective of determining the influence of different learning styles on the preference for the type of performance in university teaching. A hypothetico-deductive methodological design for exploratory and correlational purposes was followed. The sample consisted of total of 640 participants in university degree courses. The data were gathered using a questionnaire that grouped 46 items into five double-response dimensions, determined by the preference or position held by the students regarding the learning strategies, methods and techniques applied; material or resources used to carry out the teaching, as well as the integration of information and communication technologies (ICT); type of supports that were received in the process; instruments to carry out the assessment; and lastly, individual or team academic performance. The outcomes show an x-ray of four models according to the student's learning styles: individual, cooperative, dependent and autonomous. These are identified with four clusters in the sample of students selected for the study, which are associated with practical, conventional, critical and efficient student models. The conclusions explain that there are no pure models, as there are nuances that connect them in real classroom practice, but the level of student preference helps to measure the impact and confirms the improvement in teaching through university work projects.