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Learning styles and academic performance in Greek dyslexic and non-dyslexic university students

29th ISPA Colloqium, 28/7/2007, Tampere, Finland . Dyslexia. A specific difficulty with aspects of literacy in an individual who is otherwise performing in an age-appropriate way (Miles, 1995)

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Learning styles and academic performance in Greek dyslexic and non-dyslexic university students

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    1. 29th ISPA Colloqium, 28/7/2007, Tampere, Finland Learning styles and academic performance in Greek dyslexic and non-dyslexic university students Zenakou, E., Kouvava, S., Antonopoulou, K. & Stampoltzis, A. Harokopio University & University of Athens, Greece

    2. 29th ISPA Colloqium, 28/7/2007, Tampere, Finland Dyslexia A specific difficulty with aspects of literacy in an individual who is otherwise performing in an age-appropriate way (Miles, 1995) Specific learning difficulties can be defined as organising or learning deficiencies which restrict the students competencies in information processing, in motor skills and memory, so causing limitations in some or all of the skills of reading, spelling, writing, numeracy and behaviour (Dyslexia Institute, 1989 cited in Pumfrey & Reason, 1991)

    3. 29th ISPA Colloqium, 28/7/2007, Tampere, Finland Learning styles The application of an individuals cognitive style (cognitive characteristics and way of processing information) to a learning situation (Riding & Rayner, 1998, Mortimore, 2003) The way in which human beings begin to concentrate on, absorb, process and retain new and difficult information (Dunn & Dunn, 1993) Cognitive, affective and physiological behaviours that serve as relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive, interact with and respond to the learning environment (Keefe, 1989)

    4. 29th ISPA Colloqium, 28/7/2007, Tampere, Finland Sensory modalities The VAK learning style uses the three main sensory receivers- Vision, Auditory, and Kinesthetic to determine the dominate learning style. Learners use all three to receive information. However, one or more of these receiving styles are normally dominant. This dominant style defines the best way for a person to learn new information by filtering what is to be learned. This style may not always be the same for some tasks. The learner may prefer one style of learning for one task, and a combination of others for another task (Bandler Grinder, 1970, Prashnig, 2000).

    5. 29th ISPA Colloqium, 28/7/2007, Tampere, Finland Visual learners Visual learners have two subchannels- linguistic and spatial. Visual linguistic people like to learn through written language, such as reading and writing tasks. They remember what has been written down, even if they do not read it more than once, like to write down directions and pay better attention to lectures if they watch them. Visual spatial learners usually have difficulty with written language and do better with charts, demonstrations, videos, and other visual materials. They easily visualize faces and places by using their imagination and seldom get lost in new surroundings (Bandler Grinder, 1970, Prashnig, 2000).

    6. 29th ISPA Colloqium, 28/7/2007, Tampere, Finland Auditory learners Auditory learners usually talk to themselves a lot. They also may move their lips and read out loud. They may have difficulty with reading and writing tasks and do better talking to a colleague or a tape recorder and hearing what was said. They need to verbalize the questions, and develop an internal dialogue (BandlerGrinder, 1970, Prashnig, 2000).

    7. 29th ISPA Colloqium, 28/7/2007, Tampere, Finland Kinesthetic learners Kinesthetic learners have two subchannels- kinesthetic (movement) and tactile (touch). They do best while touching and moving. They tend to lose concentration if there is little or no external stimulation or movement. When listening to lectures they may want to take notes. When reading, they like to scan the material first, and then focus on the details. They typically use color highlighters and take notes by drawing pictures, diagrams, or doodling (BandlerGrinder, 1970, Prashnig, 2000).

    8. 29th ISPA Colloqium, 28/7/2007, Tampere, Finland Learning styles and dyslexia The patterns of brain function in dyslexics differ from the majority of non-dyslexic students. Many dyslexics tend to adopt a more flexible visuo-spatial style (Galaburda, 1993, Frith, 1997) For the dyslexic students the verbal analytic way in which subjects are taught in further education is hard (Reid & Kirk, 2001, Singleton, 1999) Students with dyslexia can improve their performance and the way they feel about themselves if they are encouraged to use their preferred learning style (Exley, 2003)

    9. 29th ISPA Colloqium, 28/7/2007, Tampere, Finland Academic characteristics and dyslexia The most persistent difficulties that dyslexic students report include difficulties in writing assignments and taking written exams, spelling difficulties, note taking difficulties, numeracy problems, difficulty in daily organisation and underdeveloped study skills (Gilroy & Miles, 1996, Singleton, 1999, Reid & Kirk, 2001) The socio-emotional consequences of dyslexia including loss of confidence, feelings of self doubt and frustration, affect academic performance (Edwards, 1994)

    10. 29th ISPA Colloqium, 28/7/2007, Tampere, Finland Aims of the study The present study examines: The academic and educational characteristics of Greek dyslexic university students compared to non-dyslexic counterparts. Whether dyslexia is associated with a predominant learning style Whether theres a link between academic characteristics and learning styles in both groups. The present study provides data for Greek dyslexic university students.

    11. 29th ISPA Colloqium, 28/7/2007, Tampere, Finland Participants The sample consisted of 20 dyslexic students and 40 non-dyslexic students who were recruited from 12 Higher Education Institutions in Greece. They were matched for age, gender, social background and course of study. The dyslexic students had a formal diagnosis of dyslexia from a public psycho-educational centre and they were obtained a recent re-evaluation of their difficulties within the last three years.

    12. 29th ISPA Colloqium, 28/7/2007, Tampere, Finland Tests and materials The Academic and Professional Profile Questionnaire (Riddick, Farmer & Sterling, 1997) The Learning Preferences Test (Wingate, 2000)

    13. 29th ISPA Colloqium, 28/7/2007, Tampere, Finland Procedure This study was part of a larger study aiming to identify the population of dyslexic university students in Greece and assess different aspects of their personality and behaviour. All participants were seen individually on two different occasions.

    14. 29th ISPA Colloqium, 28/7/2007, Tampere, Finland Learning style-dominant sensory modality F (1, 48)=3,917 p<0.05

    15. 29th ISPA Colloqium, 28/7/2007, Tampere, Finland Academic performance at primary school F (1, 48)=62,694 p<0.000

    16. 29th ISPA Colloqium, 28/7/2007, Tampere, Finland Academic performance at secondary school F (1, 48)=30,051 p<0.000

    17. 29th ISPA Colloqium, 28/7/2007, Tampere, Finland Written work at primary school compared with their ability F (1, 48)=25,767 p<0.000

    18. 29th ISPA Colloqium, 28/7/2007, Tampere, Finland Written work at secondary school compared with their ability F (1, 48)=12,775 p<0.001

    19. 29th ISPA Colloqium, 28/7/2007, Tampere, Finland Level of anxiety compared with classmates (primary + secondary school) F (1, 48)=2,306 p<0.135 (non sign.)

    20. 29th ISPA Colloqium, 28/7/2007, Tampere, Finland Level of anxiety compared with peers (university) F (1, 48)=0,003 p<0.956 (non sign.)

    21. 29th ISPA Colloqium, 28/7/2007, Tampere, Finland Academic performance compared with their course peers at university F (1, 48)=1,158 p<0.287 (non sign.)

    22. 29th ISPA Colloqium, 28/7/2007, Tampere, Finland Written work at university compared with their true ability F (1, 48)=0,135 p<0.715 (non sign.)

    23. 29th ISPA Colloqium, 28/7/2007, Tampere, Finland Correlational analysis Dyslexics: written work at secondary school & kinesthetic learning style (r=-0.666, p<0.036)sign. Controls: written work at primary school & dominant learning style (r=0.391, p<0.013) sign.

    24. 29th ISPA Colloqium, 28/7/2007, Tampere, Finland Conclusions There appear to be a link between learning style and school performance. Dyslexic students tend to prefer a kinesthetic learning style. This style may hinder school performance which require mainly visual, auditory and verbal processing approaches. Non dyslexic students are likely to adopt a visual learning style which helps them to function effectively in a school environment that encourages visual and auditory learning. Dyslexic students tend to rate their academic achievement and written work at school as underestimating their overall ability. Their self-evaluations seem to be consistent with their actual difficulties at school. There is also an improvement in their self-evaluations at university level. University is a more generous place for the dyslexics compared with school. Dyslexic students report anxiety levels that are just above what is shown by non-dyslexics, but this result does not reach significance. Anxiety levels are not assessed by psychometric test in the present research.

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