Relationship between learning styles and academic performance in university students of UNAN-Managua, Nicaragua

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between students’ learning styles and their academic performance. It was a quantitative research at a descriptive and correlational level. The CHAEA Questionnaire elaborated by Alonso et al. (2002) was administered to a sample of 131 students of Physics, Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Physics-Mathematics of the Knowledge Area of Education, Arts and Humanities of the UNAN - Managua. The results show that the predominant learning styles with high preference are theoretical, reflective and pragmatic. The active style in all the careers occupied the last position with low preference. Regarding academic performance, it was found that students whose learning style is Theoretical, Pragmatic and Active obtained the highest. Females stood out for using the Theoretical and Pragmatic style, and males the Reflective and Pragmatic style, both with high preference. The nonparametric ANOVA and Spearman’s correlation showed that there is no relationship between learning style and performance in Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Physics-Mathematics. On the other hand, the nonparametric ANOVA did show a difference between learning style and the performance obtained by the Physics students. It is concluded that for the sample studied the learning style was not a determining factor in achieving good academic performance, but it provides valuable information to understand that students in their academic work have characteristics of more than one learning style in their learning process.