Learning style preferences of Australian health science students

Objectives: It has been identified that health science student groups may have distinctive learning needs. By university educators' and professional fieldwork supervisors' being aware of the unique learning style preferences of health science students, they have the capacity to adjust their teaching approaches to best fit with their students' learning preferences. The purpose of this study was to investigate the learning style preferences of a group of Australian health science students enrolled in 10 different disciplines. Methods: The Kolb Learning Style Inventory was distributed to 2,885 students enrolled in dietetics and nutrition, midwifery, nursing, occupational therapy, paramedics, pharmacy, physiotherapy, radiation therapy, radiography, and social work at one Australian university. A total of 752 useable survey forms were returned (response rate 26%). Results: The results indicated the converger learning style to be most frequently preferred by health science students and that the diverger and accommodator learning styles were the least preferred. Conclusion: It is recommended that educators take learning style preferences of health science students into consideration when planning, implementing, and evaluating teaching activities, such as including more problem-solving activities that fit within the converger learning style.