Relationship between Learning Styles and Academic Performance of Management Undergraduates in University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Learning styles are defined as personal ways to process information, feelings, and behaviors in learning situations. Since this explanation on learning styles depends on the idea that no two people would learn the same way, individual differences are vital related to the way a learner can learn. As there are different ways a student can learn, there is the understanding that every student learns differently using different learning styles in different occasions. However, the literature has identified that there is one learning style which is predominantly adopted by a learner. As such, the objectives of this study are, 1) to identify the predominant learning style among the majority of management undergraduates in University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, and 2) to explore the relationship between learning styles and academic performance of management undergraduates in University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. The research was mainly guided by the Kolb’s Experiential Leaning theory and the Honey and Mumford’s Learning Styles Theory, and the VARK Model by Fleming. This is a quantitative study based on primary data collected using an online questionnaire. The population of the study was all management undergraduates in University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. In this cross-sectional survey, data were collected to identify the learning style using the VARK Model, whereas academic performance of students was measured using the Grade Point Average (GPA). Primary data collected were analyzed using SPSS software 26.0. Upon completing the data screening and preliminary analyses, descriptive statistics were calculated. Data were analyzed using the Chi-Square test. Through the findings obtained, it was depicted that the predominant learning style of each individual student had no significant association with their academic performance. A large sample is recommended for further research.