A Comparative Study to Assess the Learning Styles and Approaches among Male and Female Students of Selected Colleges in Mangalore

Background: One of the most important characteristic of human being is their capacity to learn. Each one adopts a different style and approach in their learning. Gender differences also play an important role in the way people think and approaches learning.

Objectives: To determine learning styles among male and female students of selected colleges. To determine the learning approaches among male and female students of selected colleges. To compare learning styles and approaches between male and female students of selected colleges. To find the association between learning styles of male and female students and selected demographic variables. To find the association between learning approaches of male and female students and selected demographic variables.

Methodology: A Descriptive Research Design with comparative approach was used in the study.Sample consisted of 200 students (above the age of 18,) pursuing BSc Nursing and BPT in selected colleges at Mangalore of which 100 are males and 100 females. Multi Stage Dis-Proportionate Stratified Random Sampling Technique was used to collect the sample. The data collection tools were Demographic Proforma, Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students, and The Kolb Learning Style Inventory Version 3.1 (KLSI 3.1). The data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Results: Majority of the sample (both male and female) were above the age group "21 and above", were Christians and were interested in studies. More number of males used Divergent style (57%) as their learning Style and Deep approach (45%) as their learning approach where as in females, Divergent learning style (56%) and Strategic approach (50%). A significant difference was found in the learning approach (p=0.037%) of male and female students and significant association between learning approaches with Age (p=0.012) and Level of Interest (p=0.045) of male students was also found.

Conclusion: The result revealed that, there is a significant difference between the learning approach of male and female students.