Age and Gender as Determinants of Learning Style among Medical Students

Background: An awareness of learning styles may help teachers modify their teaching methods to improve the educational outcomes of their students.
Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the learning styles of medical students during their basic science training at Mashhad University Medical School (MUMS).
Methods: The VARK (Visual, aural, read/write and kinesthetic learning styles) questionnaire was used to gather information on learning styles in 245 medical students during their basic science training at MUMS in 2014. The questionnaire was previously assessed for its validity and reliability. Data were analyzed using SPSS software.
Results: Overall, 245 students (115 male/130 female) with a mean age of 22.172±.27 years completed the questionnaire. Of these students 91.84% preferred a single- modal learning style and 8.16% of students preferred a multi-modal learning style. Of the students with a preference for a single modal learning style, 20% (45 students) had a preference for visual, and 53.33% (100 students) for auditory learning styles respectively; 22.22% (50 students) of students were categorized as single read-write and 4.44% (10 students) were classified as having a kinesthetic learning style preference respectively. Among the multi-modal group, 25% (5 students) of students preferred a bimodal and 75% (15 students) preferred a quad-modal learning style. There was a significant association between learning styles with age and gender (P<0.05), but there was no significant association between the preferred learning styles with marital status or place of residence (P>0.05).
Conclusions: The key finding of our study was that learning style is age and gender dependent. Different teaching methods may be appropriate for men and women.