LEARNING STYLES, STUDY HABITS AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF NURSING STUDENTS

Abstract

College education is the gateway to getting a professional career and to enter the world of work with better pay and more chances of promotion. Fitting education to the learning styles and study habits of nursing students would rebound to their becoming master students and ultimately improved performance. Hence, the study look into the academic performance, learning styles and study habits of the first, and second and third year nursing students of Cebu Normal University during the school year 2001-2002 and to know whether relationship existed among the variables. The locale of the study was College of Nursing of Cebu Normal University in Cebu City, Philippines. The subjects of the study were 58 first year, 66 second year and 35 third year nursing students for a total of 159. The time frame was one school year, 2001-2002. The study utilized the descriptive survey method of research utilizing the inventory and documentary records as the main instrument in gathering the needed data. Documentary records particularly the grade sheets submitted by the teachers in the college of nursing were used to evaluate the academic performance of the students. Two types of inventories were used. They were the Learning Style Inventory developed by David Kolb and the Study Habit Inventory developed by Peter Edwards. The above inventories were administered to the first, second and third year nursing students during their free periods after permit was secured from the Dean of the College of Nursing. A hundred per cent retrieval was attained.