01518606

Component

Students learn in different ways and a mismatch between students learning preferences and the teaching style of the instructor could lead to poor performances in the classroom. Among the learning preferences, two have been commonly identified for describing how students gather and process information during the learning process: the Experiential Learning Theory (ELT), usually referred as Kolb’s theory, and the Visual-Auditory-Kinesthetic (VAK) framework. A study at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez collected information from students registered in two courses related to Transportation Engineering. In addition, student behavior and performance data at one of the courses considered the study was analyzed in order to identify if learning preferences have an influence on these two variables. The results of the study indicated that Kinesthetic students tend to have lower attendance records when compared to Visual and Auditory students. A significant relationship between learning styles and students grades was not found. The only variable that was found to be significant on students’ grades was score of homework assignments.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ABG20 Transportation Education and Training. Alternate title: Composition of Learning Styles and Their Influence on Students in Transportation Engineering Courses.

01503729

14-3990

English

12p

2014

Transportation Research Board 93rd Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; References; Tables

College students; Education and training methods; Learning; Performance measurement; Transportation engineering

University of Puerto Rico

Education and Training; Transportation (General); I10: Economics and Administration

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2014 Paper #14-3990

PRP, TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 27 2014 3:23PM