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Learning styles and preferences for different types of courses and teaching of Croatian students of business

An important element of individuals’ learning process is his or her learning style (LS). The fact is that each of us has a different kind of intelligence, learns and prefers to be taught differently. An individual’s personality determines a preferred approach to perceiving, acquiring and processing new information. These approaches in the literature are called LSs. LSs affect the learning outcomes of students and influence their educational development as well as their academic achievements. The knowledge about students’ LS can help them to maximize their learning outcomes. The way students learn is important not just for them and their success in education but also for teachers and the faculty providing the education. The way tasks and instructional strategies are designed can facilitate and enhance students’ learning which in turn may result in the improvement of the quality of education overall. To achieve mutual effectiveness for students and teachers, it is necessary to gain deeper insights into students’ preferred LSs. This research aims at identifying the LS preferences of Croatian students of business as well as their preferences for different types of courses and teaching (CTPs). It examines the potential relationship between these two elements of learning process. To our knowledge, there has been no research that has investigated this connection. The literature has overlooked the topic of preferences for the teaching and courses types according to students LSs preferences. Linking these two variables and analyzing their compatibility is the first step in gathering information which can help to answer the frequently asked question: how to improve the quality of learning and teaching in higher education? In order to accomplish stated purpose of the research, two inventory instruments were used: the VARK instrument to examine LS preferences and the third part (Part C) of the ASSIST questionnaire to examine students’ CTPs. VARK is a questionnaire that provides users with their LS preferences based on their perceptual modality preferences which refer to the way they extract information from their environments through the senses. It has often been employed in previous research for assessing LSs of students of business. It is simple, quick and easy for students to understand and complete and it is regarded by relevant literature as a reliable and quality instrument. ASSIST has also been proven to be a valuable, valid and appropriate instrument for measuring students’ approaches to learning. The results of the survey are interesting and somewhat puzzling. They indicate the dominant LS preferences as well as dominant CTPs according to age, gender, year of study, and course of study. Some student percentages indicate that they can use more than one LS. The relationship between LS preferences and CTPs was not determined. Based on the overall findings, the research offers foundation for future research in this area. The implications of the findings are discussed in terms of learning and teaching.

learning style, teaching types, students, effective learning, effective teaching

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