The Preferred Public Health Medicine Learning Styles among Medical Students

Fairuz Fadzilah Rahim, Siti Fatimah Kader Maideen, Abdul Rashid, Surajudeen Abdulrahman

Abstract


Learning styles varies from one student to another, influenced by various factors. The study aims to determine the student’s preferred learning styles in the subject of Public Health Medicine and to provide input to the curriculum designers to reduce the mismatch between the learning styles and teaching methods in the subject. A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate medical students at RCSI & UCD Malaysia Campus (RUMC). A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-demographic factors and Index of Learning Styles (ILS) was used to measure the different learning styles preferred by students. Factors associated to the learning styles were examined by multinomial logistic regression. A total of 366 medicals students voluntarily participated in the study. The majority of them had a fairly well balanced learning style for active/reflective (59.56%), sensing/intuitive (53.28%), and sequential/global (65.03%) domains, but preferred more visual learning style (57.65%) as compared to verbal. Six factors were significantly associated with learning style preferences which include age, race, fathers’ occupation, mothers’ occupation, and pre-university education. Majority of the medical students were well balanced in three dimensions. Social status and educational background influenced the learning style preferences in Public Health Medicine course.

https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.18.6.8


Keywords


Teaching & learning, study skills, Public Health, medical students

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References


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