psychology project

A PROJECT ON LEARNING STYLE

PREFERENCES AMONG 10TH GRADE STUDENTS

Ms. Sheetal. H. Nagda

Project submitted to the Dept. of Psychology for the partial fulfillment of IV semester BA

course in Psychology

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DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY

M.E.S DEGREE COLLEGE OF ARTS, COMMERCE AND SCIENCE

BANGALORE

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DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project 'Assessment of Learning Style Preferences Among 10th Standard Students' has been submitted by me, the investigator, to the Department of Psychology, M.E.S College of Arts, Commerce and Science, Bangalore University under the guidance of Mrs. Saba Jahan, Lecturer, Department of Psychology, M.E.S Degree College of Arts, Commerce and Science.

This project is being submitted for the partial fulfillment of the IV semester B.A. course in Psychology of Bangalore University. I further declare that this project has not been previously submitted for any degree/diploma to any university/college /institute.

Bangalore Ms. Sheetal. H. Nagda

February 2013

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CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project 'Assessment of Learning Style Preferences Among 10th Standard Students' submitted by candidate Sheetal. H. Nagda; bearing Register Number 11BGA41028, for the partial fulfillment of the IV semester BA course in Psychology from Bangalore University, is the product of bona fide work carried out by the candidate under my supervision in the Department of Psychology, M.E.S Degree College of Arts, Commerce and Science, Bangalore, affiliated to Bangalore University.

Marks awarded -

Bangalore Guide Head of Dept.

February 2013 Mrs. Saba Jahan Mrs. Aneetha Srikumar

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT

First and foremost I extend my gratitude to my project guide, Mrs. Saba Jahan for her continuous support, encouragement and valuable suggestions.

I also thank Prof. Geetha Srinivasan, Principal, M.E.S Degree College of Arts, Commerce and Science for being a constant source of inspiration.

I owe my gratitude to all the participants of my project without whom this project would never have been possible.

Lastly, I am grateful to the Mrs. Aneetha Srikumar, H.O.D of Psychology and the faculty of the Psychology department for giving me the enriching opportunity to work on this project.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page No.

1. Declaration 2

2. Certificate 3

3. Acknowledgment 4

4. Introduction 6

5. Methodology 8

6.Individual Data analysis 10

7.Group Data analysis 30

8. Summary 34

9. Appendix 35

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Introduction to Learning Style

Every individual has a different style of learning. Many people recognize that each person prefers different learning styles and techniques. Everyone has a mix of learning styles. Some people may find that they have a dominant style of learning with far less use of the other styles. Others may find that they use different styles in different circumstances. There is no right mix. Nor are your styles fixed. You can develop abilities in less dominant styles, as well as further develop styles that you already use well. Many times, learners feel that in spite of spending a lot of time learning some material, they are unable to learn and remember well. This could be because they are using a style that does not suit them. Instead, if they identify their preference and then use a suitable style of learning, they will be able to learn and remember better.

Neil Fleming, in 1987, conducted studies on this aspect of learning and theorized that there are four basic learning styles- Visual, Aural, Read/Write and Kinesthetic. These can be described as follows:

Visual (V): This preference includes using pictures, diagrams, graphs, flowcharts, arrows, circles, hierarchies. etc in order to learn.

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Aural (A): This preference includes information that is heard. Students with this preference will do well by listening to lectures, class discussions, discussions with teachers, talking with other students.

Read/write(R): This preference is for information displayed as words. Students with this preference will do well if they read textbooks, articles, practice writing answers, etc.

Kinesthetic(K): This preference refers to using models, making charts, practical experience, field trips etc.

Our educational system mainly caters to the needs of the students with a predominantly Read/Write learning preference style. Therefore, we attempted to investigate gender differences on the Read/Write learning preference style.

This test provides users with a profile of their learning preferences-about the ways that they want to take in and give out information.

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METHODOLOGY

Aim of the study

1) To assess the learning preferences of 10th standard students studying in state board schools using the Learning Styles Inventory by Dr. S.V. Surya Rekha.

2) To compare the gender differences in read/write learning preference style of the Learning Style Inventory.

Hypothesis

There is no difference between boys and girls on the Read/Write learning preference style.

Plan

The Learning Style Inventory is administered on 10th standard students and scored and the learning preferences of the subjects are identified. Gender difference in the read/write learning preference style is analyzed.

Sample characteristics

Sample size: 20 students (10 boys and 10 girls) of 10th standard studying in State Board schools

Area: State board schools in Bangalore city

Materials

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1) Learning Styles Inventory with 40 questions.

2) Scoring Key and norms

3) Writing materials.

Procedure

The subject is seated comfortably and given a copy of the Learning Styles Inventory .The instructions are given. After the subject completes the inventory the experimenter scores the responses and analyses the subject’s learning preference referring to the norms.

Instructions

“Given below are a number of statements about your preferences while learning. Read each statement and put a tick mark next to it if you agree with the statement. If you do not agree with the statement do not put any mark against it. This is not a timed test, but work as fast as you can."

Controls

1) Make sure the subject has understood the instructions,

2) Avoid giving additional contextual or situational information as this may bias the responses to the questionnaire.

3) The subject should be instructed to answer the questions for himself/herself and not for others.

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Analysis of results

Refer to the scoring key and identify the preferences of the subjects for each type of learning. For example if the subject has marked statement 1, it means that she has marked one preference for Visual learning style. Marking statement 10 means she has marked a preference for Aural and so on.

Find out the total statements preferred in each style separately .Now refer to the norms and see whether she has high, moderate or low preference for each of the styles.

Compute the mean for read/write learning preference for boys and girls and compare.

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INDIVIDUAL DISCUSSION

The aim of the study was to assess the learning style preferences of 10th standard students studying under the State Board syllabus. The Learning Styles Inventory by Dr. S.V. Surya Rekha was used for this purpose. It measures the Visual, Aural, Read/Write and Kinesthetic learning styles. Given below is the analysis of the learning preferences of twenty 10th standard students collected by the investigator, Sheetal

DATA 1

Table 1. Showing the number of preferences given by the subject under the four categories

NAME -N.K.K

NUMBER OF PREFERENCES

VISUAL AURAL READ/WRITE KINESTHETIC

SCORE 7 8 8 7

INTERPRETATION

MODERATEPREFERENCE

HIGH PREFERENCE

HIGH PREFERENCE

MODERATEPREFERENCE

The inventory was administered on subject N.K.K who is 15 years of age. Table 1 shows the number of preferences given by the subject under the 4 styles of learning.

The subject has obtained a score of 7 under the Visual category which can be interpreted as 'MODERATE PREFERENCE' and 8 under the Aural and Read/ Write category which can be interpreted as 'HIGH PREFERENCE’ and has scored 7 under the Kinesthetic categories , which can be interpreted as ‘MODERATE PREFERENCE’ .

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The subject has 'HIGH PREFERENCE' for the Aural and Read/ Write style of learning.

DATA 2

NAMEH.P.R

NUMBER OF PREFERENCESVISUAL AURAL READ/

WRITEKINESTHETIC

SCORE 6 5 4 4INTERPRETATION

MODERATE PREEFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

Table 2: Showing the number of preferences given by the subject under the four categories.

The inventory was administered on subject H.P.R who is 15 years of age. Table 2 shows the number of preferences given by the subject under the 4 styles of learning.

The subject obtained a score of 6 under the Visual category which can be interpreted as 'MODERATE PREFERENCE' and 5 under the Aural category which can be interpreted as 'MODERATE PREFERENCE'. He scored 4 under the Read/Write and Kinesthetic categories , both of which can be interpreted as 'MODERATE PREFERENCE'.

The subject has ‘MODERATE PREFERENCE' for the all the style of learning.

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DATA 3

Table 3: Showing the number of preferences given by the subject under the four categories

NAME -A.N


WRITEKINESTHETIC


MODERATEPREEFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

LOW PREFERENCE

MODERATEPREFERENCE

The inventory was administered on subject A.N who is 15 years of age. Table 3 shows the number of preferences given by the subject under the 4 styles of learning.

The subject obtained a score of 7 under the Visual and Aural category both of which can be interpreted as 'MODERATE’ PREFERENCE', and has scored 3 under Read/Write categorie which can be interpreted as 'LOW PREFERENCE' and a score of 5 under the Kinesthetic category which can be interpreted as 'MODERATE PREFERENCE'.

Therefore, the subject has 'LOW PREFERENCE' for the Read/ Write learning style.

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DATA 4


NAME-P.K.R


WRITEKINESTHETIC


HIGH PREEFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

LOWPREFERENCE

MODERATEPREFERENCE

The inventory was administered on subject P.K.R who is 15 years of age. Table 4 shows the number of preferences given by the subject under the 4 styles of learning.

The subject scored 8 under the Visual category and this is interpreted as 'HIGH PREFERENCE'. He scored 4 under the Aural category and this is interpreted as ‘MODERATE PREFERENCE’, and 3 under the Read/Write category and this is interpreted as ‘LOW PREFERENCE’ and 6 under the Kinesthetic category and this is interpreted as ‘MODERATE PREFERENCE’ .

The subject has ‘LOW PREFERENCE’ for Read/ Write Category, and ‘HIGH PREFERENCE’ for Visual category.

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DATA 5


NAMEB.R.T


WRITEKINESTHETIC


HIGH PREEFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

LOWPREFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

The inventory was administered on subject B.R.T who is 15 years of age. Table 5 shows the number of preferences given by the subject under the 4 styles of learning.

The subject received a score of 10 under the Visual category which is interpreted as 'HIGH PREFERENCE'. He received a score of 7 and 4 under the Aural and Kinesthetic categories respectively, both of which are interpreted as 'MODERATE PREFERENCE'. Under the Read/Write category, he received a score of 3 which is interpreted as 'LOW PREFERENCE'.

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The subject, therefore, has a 'HIGH PREFERENCE' for the Visual learning style.

DATA 6


NAMEN.A


WRITEKINESTHETIC


HIGH PREEFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

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The inventory was administered on subject N.A who is 15 years of age. Table 6 shows the number of preferences given by the subject under the 4 styles of learning.

Under the Visual category, the subject obtained a score of 9 which can be interpreted as 'HIGH PREFERENCE' whereas under the Aural, Read/Write and Kinesthetic categories, he has obtained scores of 6 ,5 and 6 respectively, all of which can be interpreted as 'MODERATE PREFERENCE'.

Therefore the subject has 'HIGH PREFERENCE' for the Visual learning style.

DATA 7


NAMEH.J


WRITEKINESTHETIC


MODERATEPREEFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

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The inventory was administered on subject H.J who is 15 years of age. Table 7 shows the number of preferences given by the subject under the 4 styles of learning.

The subject scored 6, 7, 7 and 6 respectively under the categories of Visual, Aural, Read/Write and Kinesthetic, all of which are interpreted as 'MODERATE PREFERENCE'.

We can conclude that the subject has 'MODERATE PREFERENCE' for all 4 style of learning, namely, Visual, Aural, Read/Write and Kinesthetic.

DATA 8


NAMEP.K.N


WRITEKINESTHETIC


ModeratePREEFERENC

MODERATE PREFERENC

LOW PREFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

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E E

The inventory was administered on subject P.K.N who is 15 years of age. Table 8 shows the number of preferences given by the subject under the 4 styles of learning.

The subject received a score of 7 under the Visual and Aural categories and this can be interpreted as 'MODERATE PREFERENCE'. He received a score of 3 under the Read/Write category which can be interpreted as 'LOW PREFERENCE' and a score of 5 under the Kinesthetic category which can be interpreted as 'MODERATE PREFERENCE'.

The subject has 'MODERATE PREFERENCE' for the Visual, Aural and Kinesthetic learning styles.

DATA 9


NAMEP.K.G

NUMBER OF PREFERENCESVISUAL AURAL READ/ KINESTHETI

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WRITE CSCORE 7 9 9 7INTERPRETATION


HIGH PREFERENCE

HIGH PREFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

The inventory was administered on subject B.J.G who is 15 years of age. Table 9 shows the number of preferences given by the subject under the 4 styles of learning.

The subject's score under the Visual category is 7 which is interpreted as 'MODERATE PREFERENCE'. His score under the Aural and Read/Write categories is 9 which is interpreted as ' HIGH PREFERENCE'. His score under the Kinesthetic category is 7, which is interpreted as 'MODERATE PREFERENCE'.

In conclusion, the subject has 'HIGH PREFERENCE' for the Aural and Read/Write learning styles.

DATA 10


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NAMEP.B


WRITEKINESTHETIC


HIGH PREEFERENCE

HIGH PREFERENCE

HIGHPREFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

The inventory was administered on subject C.S.S who is 14 years of age. Table 10 shows the number of preferences given by the subject under the 4 styles of learning.

The subject's score of 8 under the Visual category can be interpreted as 'HIGH PREFERENCE' and his score is 9 under the Aural and Read/Write category both of which can be interpreted as 'HIGH PREFERENCE'. He has scored 7 under Kinesthetic category which is interpreted as 'MODERATE PREFERENCE'.

Therefore, the subject has 'HIGH PREFERENCE' for the Visual, Aural and Read/Write learning style.

DATA 11


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NAMED.M


WRITEKINESTHETIC


LOW PREEFERENCE

HIGH PREFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

The inventory was administered on subject D.M who is 15 years of age. Table 11 shows the number of preferences given by the subject under the 4 styles of learning.

The subject has obtained a score of 7 under the Visual category which can be interpreted as "MODERATE PREFERENCE" and 8 under the Aural category which can be interpreted as "HIGH PREFERENCE". She has obtained scores of 7 and 5 under the Read/Write and Kinesthetic categories respectively, both of which can be interpreted as "MODERATE PREFERENCE".

The subject has "HIGH PREFERENCE" for the Aural style of learning.

DATA 12

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NAMEA.V


WRITEKINESTHETIC


HIGHPREEFERENCE

HIGH PREFERENCE

MODERATEPREFERENCE

MODERAEPREFERENCE

The inventory was administered on subject A.V who is 15 years of age. Table 12 shows the number of preferences given by the subject under the 4 styles of learning.

The subject received a score of 8 under the Visual and aural categories both of which can be interpreted as "HIGH PREFERENCE". She received a score of 4 and 5 under the categories of Read/Write and Kinesthetic respectively and this is interpreted as "MODERATE PREFERENCE"

We can conclude that the subject has "HIGH PREFERENCE" for the Visual and Aural and styles of learning.

DATA 13

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NAMES.S


WRITEKINESTHETIC



LOW PREFERENCE

HIGH PREFERENCE

LOWPREFERENCE

The inventory was administered on subject S.S who is 15 years of age. Table 13 shows the number of preferences given by the subject under the 4 styles of learning.

The subject's score of 4 under the Visual category can be interpreted as "MODERATE PREFERENCE" whereas her score of 2 under the Aural category can be interpreted as "LOW PREFERENCE". She has scored 8 under the Read/Write category can be interpreted as "HIGH PREFERENCE" and has scored 1 under the Kinesthetic category and can be interpreted as "LOW PREFERENCE".

Therefore, the subject has "HIGH PREFERENCE" for the Read/Write learning style.

DATA 14

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NAMEM.M


WRITEKINESTHETIC



MODERATE PREFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

The inventory was administered on subject M.M who is 15 years of age. Table 14 shows the number of preferences given by the subject under the 4 styles of learning.

Under the Visual, Aural, Read/Write and Kinesthetic categories, the subject received scores of 4, 6, 6 and 4 respectively, all of which are interpreted as "MODERATE PREFERENCE".

The subject, hence, has "MODERATE PREFERENCE" for all 4 styles of learning, namely, Visual, Aural, Read/Write and Kinesthetic.

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DATA 15


NAMEP.D.R


WRITEKINESTHETIC



MODERATE PREFERENCE

LOW PREFERENCE

LOWPREFERENCE

The inventory was administered on subject P.D.R who is 15 years of age. Table 15 shows the number of preferences given by the subject under the 4 styles of learning.

The subject's score of 4 and 6 under the Visual and Aural categories respectively is interpreted as "MODERATE PREFERENCE" whereas her score of 3 under both, the Read/Write and Kinesthetic categories is interpreted as "LOW PREFERENCE".

In conclusion, the subject has "LOW PREFERENCE" for the Read/Write and Kinesthetic styles of learning.

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DATA 16


NAMEN.P


WRITEKINESTHETIC


HIGHPREEFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

MODERATEPREFERENCE

MODERATEPREFERENCE

The inventory was administered on subject N.P who is 15 years of age. Table 16 shows the number of preferences given by the subject under the 4 styles of learning.

The subject scored 9 under the Visual category which is interpreted as "HIGH PREFERENCE", 7, 7, and 5 under the Aural, Read/Write and Kinesthetic categories respectively which is interpreted as "MODERATE PREFERENCE".

The subject therefore has "HIGH PREFERENCE" for the Visual style of learning.

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DATA 17


NAMER.V


WRITEKINESTHETIC



MODERATE PREFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

The inventory was administered on subject R.V who is 15 years of age. Table 17 shows the number of preferences given by the subject under the 4 styles of learning.

The subject obtained a score of 5 under the Visual as well Aural categories which can be interpreted as "MODERATE PREFERENCE". She obtained a score of 6 and 7 under the Read/Write and Kinesthetic categories respectively which can be interpreted as "MODERATE PREFERENCE".

We can conclude that the subject has "MODERATE PREFERENCE" for all 4 styles of learning which are the Visual, Aural, Read/Write and Kinesthetic styles.

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DATA 18


NAMEG.V.S


WRITEKINESTHETIC



MODERATE PREFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

The inventory was administered on subject G.V.S who is 15 years of age. Table 18 shows the number of preferences given by the subject under the 4 styles of learning.

The subject scored 6, 5, 6 and 5 under the Visual, Aural, Read/Write and Kinesthetic categories respectively; all of which can be interpreted as "MODERATE PREFERENCE".

Hence we can conclude that the subject has "MODERATE PREFERENCE" for all 4 styles of learning, i.e. Visual, Aural, Read/Write and Kinesthetic.

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DATA 19


NAMEM.G


WRITEKINESTHETIC



MODERATE PREFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

The inventory was administered on subject M.G who is 15 years of age. Table 19 shows the number of preferences given by the subject under the 4 styles of learning.

The subject obtained scores of 4, 6,5 and 5 under the Visual, Aural, Read/Write and Kinesthetic categories respectively all of which can be interpreted as "MODERATE PREFERENCE".

Therefore, the subject has "MODERATE PREFERENCE" for all the styles of learning- Visual, Aural, Read/Write and Kinesthetic.

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DATA 20


NAMEN.N


WRITEKINESTHETIC


HIGH PREEFERENCE

MODERATE PREFERENCE

LOW PREFERENCE

MODERATEPREFERENCE

The inventory was administered on subject N.N who is 15 years of age. Table 20 shows the number of preferences given by the subject under the 4 styles of learning.

The subject has scored 8 under Visual category and is interpreted as ‘HIGH PREFERENCE’ and 4 under Aural category and is interpreted as ‘MODERATE PREFERENCE’ and 3 under Read/Write category and is interpreted as ‘LOW PREFERENCE’. Her score of 7 under the Kinesthetic category is interpreted as ‘MODERATE PREFERENCE’.

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We can conclude that the subject has ‘HIGH PREFERENCE’ for Visual style ans has ‘LOW PREFERENCE’ for Read/Write style.

GROUP DISCUSSION

This study investigated the Learning Style Preferences of a sample of students studying in the 10th standard under the State Board syllabus.

Since our educational system mainly caters to the needs of students with a predominant Read/Write learning preference style, an attempt was made to investigate gender differences on this learning style. It was hypothesized that there is no gender difference between boys and girls on the Read/Write learning preference style.

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Group Table 1: Showing the scores obtained by the boys under the Read/Write category

No. NAME Read/Write Score

Interpretation

1 N.K.K 8 High Preference

2 H.P.R 4 Moderate Preference

3 A.N 3 Low Preference

4 P.K.R 3 Low Preference

5 B.R.T 3 Low Preference

6 N.A 5 Moderate Preference

7 H.J 7 Moderate Preference

8 P.K.N 3 Low Preference

9 P.K.G 9 High Preference

10 P.B 9 High Preference

TOTAL 54 MODERATE PREFERENCE

MEAN 5.4 MODERATE PREFERENCE

Group Table 1 displays the scores obtained by boys under the Read/Write Learning Preference Style. We can observe that the total Read/Write learning preference score is 61 which leads to a mean score of 6.1. This score is interpreted as "MODERATE PREFERENCE".

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Group Table 2: Showing the scores obtained by the girls under the Read/Write category

No. Name Read/Write Score

Interpretation

1. D.M 7 Moderate Preference

2. A.V 4 Moderate Preference

3. S.S 8 High Preference

4. M.M 6 Moderate Preference

5. P.D.R 3 Low Preference

6. N.P 7 Moderate Preference

7. R.V 6 Moderate Preference

8. G.V.S 6 Moderate Preference

9. M.G 5 Moderate Preference

10. N.N 7 Low Preference

TOTAL 59 MODERATE PREFERENCE

MEAN 5.9 MODERATE PREFERENCE

Group Table 2 displays the scores obtained by the girls under the Read/Write learning style. We can observe from the table that the total Read/Write learning preference score is 67 while the mean score is 6.7. This is interpreted as "MODERATE PREFERENCE".

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Group Table 3: Showing the mean scores obtained by boys and girls on the Read/Write learning preference style

SAMPLE MEAN SCORE INTERPRETATIONBOYS 5.4 MODERATE

PREFERENCEGIRLS 5.9 MODERATE

PREFERENCE

Group Table 3 shows that the mean score obtained by the boys under the Read/Write learning preference style is 5.4 whereas for the girls it is 5.9. We see that the girls have obtained a higher mean score when compared to the boys; this indicates that in this sample the girls have a higher preference for this learning style in comparison with the boys. This suggests that girls prefer information displayed in the form of words. They benefit from reading textbooks, articles and writing answers.

CONCLUSION

In this sample, the girls acquired a higher mean score under the Read/Write Learning Preference Style. We therefore reject the hypothesis which states that, "There is no difference between boys and girls on the read/write preference style."

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SUMMARY

The Learning Styles Inventory is a test which provides users with a profile of their learning preferences- about the ways that they want to take in and give out information.

The aim of the study was to assess the learning preferences of 10th standard students studying in state board schools using the Learning Styles Inventory devised by Dr. S.V. Surya Rekha and to compare the gender differences in the Read/Write learning preference style.

The sample comprised of twenty 10th standard students aged between 14-16 years . The Learning Style Inventory by Dr. S.V. Surya Rekha was administered and the obtained data was subjected to statistical analysis following which, the results were discussed.

It was found that there was a difference between the scores of the boys and girls. In this sample, the girls preferred the Read/Write learning style more than the boys.

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APPENDIX

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psychology project

Documents

learning preferences

different style of learning

learning style inventory

dominant style of learning

suitable style of learning

aspect of learning

different learning styles

learning styles inventory