Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory 4.0 and its association with traditional and problem based learning teaching methodologies in medical students

Objectives: To assess learning styles and the association of various teaching methodologies of medical students.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out amongst 523 medical students of Baqai Medical College, Baqai Medical University, Karachi, from July 2019 to October 2019. All students from first to final year, who attended the undergraduate MBBS program were included. The study instrument was a questionnaire containing students’ demographic details, David Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory 4.0 and traditional and PBL teaching methodologies were asked. The association of various learning styles and preferred teaching methodologies with year of study was also assessed by using Pearson’s chi-square test.

Results: Out of 523 students, 518 returned the completed questionnaire. A majority of the students had either imagining or experiencing learning style. No change in learning style was observed between years of study. A significant association between the teaching methodologies and year of study was found in the imagining (p=0.033) and experiencing (p=0.044) learning style groups.

Conclusion: Students from different years of study at medical school did not have significantly different learning styles though the student’s preferences to teaching methodologies seem to change over time in the respective learning style groups. Longitudinal studies are necessary to identify the factors influencing such change and explore the association between learning styles over time on teaching methodologies in medical education.