You are here

FAU Collections » FAU Research Repository » FAU Theses and Dissertations

Learning styles and student success in radiography education

Download pdf | Full Screen View

Date Issued:
2000
Summary:
Learning styles are unique to each student entering the learning environment, yet many educators assume that students will in fact learn from a single method of teaching. Dunn and Dunn (1999) define learning styles as "the way individuals begin to concentrate on, process and remember new and difficult information." Studies involving health science students have been conducted, yet few authors have addressed this issue in the radiography literature. In this study, the learning styles of radiography students were examined and compared to determine the differences between the incoming freshmen and the graduating sophomores. The Dunn, Dunn and Price Productivity Environmental Preference Survey (PEPS) was used to study 617 college students, the sample was 80% female with an average age of 28 years. Both freshmen and sophomore groups demonstrated preferences for structured learning activities with authority figures present. They prefer learning with peers in activities scheduled during morning and afternoon hours. These students want mobility in the learning environment and prefer intake of food or beverage while concentrating. Both groups have overall perceptual preferences for auditory learning, followed closely by tactile learning. Perceptual learning strengths for the combined group of radiography students proved to be quite different from the general population, 35% had a strong preference for auditory learning methods, 28% had a strong need for tactile learning methods, 8% were kinesthetic learners and 5% visual learners. The perceptual learning styles of the general population are 30% auditory, 40% visual, 15% tactile, and 15% kinesthetic (Dunn, 1999). It is these unique characteristics of the larger group that may be most useful to educators when considering learning style principles in the broadest sense. These findings also may account for some degree of attrition found in radiography programs, since it has been previously reported that tactile and kinesthetic learners are at the greatest risk for dropping out of formal education and 36% of radiography students fall into that high risk category. Slight differences between the student groups exist; however, learning style variables were not useful in predicting success in radiography education.
Title: Learning styles and student success in radiography education.
779 views
131 downloads
Name(s): Shaver, Vicki Ellen.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Kerensky, Vasil M., Thesis advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 2000
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 82 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: Learning styles are unique to each student entering the learning environment, yet many educators assume that students will in fact learn from a single method of teaching. Dunn and Dunn (1999) define learning styles as "the way individuals begin to concentrate on, process and remember new and difficult information." Studies involving health science students have been conducted, yet few authors have addressed this issue in the radiography literature. In this study, the learning styles of radiography students were examined and compared to determine the differences between the incoming freshmen and the graduating sophomores. The Dunn, Dunn and Price Productivity Environmental Preference Survey (PEPS) was used to study 617 college students, the sample was 80% female with an average age of 28 years. Both freshmen and sophomore groups demonstrated preferences for structured learning activities with authority figures present. They prefer learning with peers in activities scheduled during morning and afternoon hours. These students want mobility in the learning environment and prefer intake of food or beverage while concentrating. Both groups have overall perceptual preferences for auditory learning, followed closely by tactile learning. Perceptual learning strengths for the combined group of radiography students proved to be quite different from the general population, 35% had a strong preference for auditory learning methods, 28% had a strong need for tactile learning methods, 8% were kinesthetic learners and 5% visual learners. The perceptual learning styles of the general population are 30% auditory, 40% visual, 15% tactile, and 15% kinesthetic (Dunn, 1999). It is these unique characteristics of the larger group that may be most useful to educators when considering learning style principles in the broadest sense. These findings also may account for some degree of attrition found in radiography programs, since it has been previously reported that tactile and kinesthetic learners are at the greatest risk for dropping out of formal education and 36% of radiography students fall into that high risk category. Slight differences between the student groups exist; however, learning style variables were not useful in predicting success in radiography education.
Identifier: 9780599921566 (isbn), 12654 (digitool), FADT12654 (IID), fau:9536 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Thesis (Ed.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2000.
College of Education
Subject(s): Radiography--Study and teaching (Higher)
Learning strategies
Prediction of scholastic success
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12654
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.