Learning preferences among freshmen and sophomore students of General Nursing and Midwifery and Baccalaureate nursing programmes

Dr.Shyamala D.Manivannan

Volume : V, Issue : X, October - 2016

Learning preferences among freshmen and sophomore students of General Nursing and Midwifery and Baccalaureate nursing programmes

Dr. Shyamala D. Manivannan

Abstract :

Background: Each individual student learns in different ways to attain their desired objectives of the course. Freshmen and sophomores of nursing college and school determine the fame and destiny of the institution and students. An assessment on these students would help us know their learning styles to get ready with well–designed teaching strategies. Aim: This study aimed to assess the learning preferences of freshmen and sophomores of General Nursing and Midwifery and baccalaureate nursing programme and identify the differences in learning preferences in selected nursing college and school at Chennai. Methods: A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted using VARK questionnaire by enrolling a total 140 students from nursing school and college. Permission obtained for using VARK questionnaire and study was conducted with prior permission and informed consent from the study participants. Results: Overall, 20(14.28%) nursing participants have preferred single mode of learning; eight GNM and 12 BSc participants were �unimodal� who had the preference to auditory learning. The rest 120(85.72%) preferred learning through multimode. GNM students preferred kinesthetic mode as their first choice of learning mode comp� to BSc participants who opted aural mode. This difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). In general sophomores preferred multiple modes than freshmen nursing participants. Conclusion: Most preferred learning style of GNM nursing participants was kinesthetic in comparison to aural learning preferred by BSc nursing participants. As the levels increase students opt for multiple learning modes more frequently.