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Learning styles and attitudes towards active learning of students at different levels in Ethiopia

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dc.contributor.advisor Schulze, Salome
dc.contributor.author Adamu Assefa Mihrka
dc.contributor.author Mihrka, Adamu Assefa
dc.date.accessioned 2015-02-13T12:17:52Z
dc.date.available 2015-02-13T12:17:52Z
dc.date.issued 2014-11
dc.identifier.citation Mihrka, Adamu Assefa (2014) Learning styles and attitudes towards active learning of students at different levels in Ethiopia, University of South Africa, Pretoria, <http://hdl.handle.net/10500/18240> en
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10500/18240
dc.description.abstract The government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia proclaimed a new curriculum for reconstructing the education system. The programme aimed at changing the predominantly-used teacher-centred instructional strategies to student-centred, active learning methods. This motivated the main research question of this study namely What are Ethiopian students’ learning styles and attitudes towards active learning approaches? The specific research questions that were investigated were: • What are the learning styles of students in Grade 10 public and private schools and at second year university level, and do these students prefer certain learning styles? • What are the attitudes of students at Grade 10 public and private schools, and at second year university level in respect of active learning approaches? • Do significant relationships exist between the students’ learning styles and their attitudes towards active learning as regards the four dimensions of the Index of Learning Styles (ILS), namely active-reflective, sensing-intuitive, visual-reflective and sequential-global? • Are there significant differences in the students’ learning styles and their attitudes towards active learning in respect of gender, different education levels and types of schools? In order to answer these questions, the study made use of an exploratory, descriptive design. By means of questionnaires data were collected from a purposefully and a conveniently selected sample of 920 students from Grade 10 government and private schools and second year university students in Hawassa, Ethiopia. The sample comprised of 506 males and 414 females, 400 students from Government schools and 249 from private schools, and 271 from the university. The data were analysed by means of descriptive statistics (means and correlations) and inferential statistics (analysis of variance). The results indicated that the majority of the students’ learning styles were balanced between the two dimensions of the ILS scales. As secondary preference, they tended towards moderate categories, and a small section of the students preferred the strong categories of the scales. Secondly, the study determined that the sampled students in general, demonstrated a positive attitude towards active learning. Thirdly, by means of the study a significant relationship was ascertained between the students’ attitudes towards active learning and the active-reflective dimension of the ILS. Fourthly, significant differences were indicated in the students’ learning styles and attitudes towards active learning in respect of their gender, their education level and the types of schools. en
dc.format.extent 1 online resource (xvi, 245 leaves) : color illustrations
dc.language.iso en en
dc.subject Learning styles en
dc.subject Attitudes en
dc.subject Active learning en
dc.subject Student-centred teaching en
dc.subject Constructivist learning theory en
dc.subject.ddc 371.30963
dc.subject.lcsh Active learning -- Ethiopia en
dc.subject.lcsh Study skills -- Ethiopia en
dc.subject.lcsh Learning strategies -- Ethiopia
dc.subject.lcsh High school students -- Ethiopia -- Attitudes en
dc.subject.lcsh College students -- Ethiopia -- Attitudes en
dc.title Learning styles and attitudes towards active learning of students at different levels in Ethiopia en
dc.type Thesis en
dc.description.department Psychology of Education en
dc.description.degree D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)


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