Research article summary (published 29 Nov 2007):

Does gender influence learning style preferences of first-year medical students?

Full Abstract

Students have specific learning style preferences, and these preferences may be different between male and female students. Understanding a student's learning style preference is an important consideration when designing classroom instruction. Therefore, we administered the visual, auditory, reading/writing, kinesthetic (VARK) learning preferences questionnaire to our first-year medical students; 38.8% (97 of 250 students) of the students returned the completed questionnaire. Both male (56.1%) and female (56.7%) students preferred multiple modes of information presentation, and the numbers and types of modality combinations were not significantly different between genders. Although not significantly different, the female student population tended to be more diverse than the male population, encompassing a broader range of sensory modality combinations within their preference profiles. Instructors need to be cognizant of these differences and broaden their range of presentation styles accordingly.

Author information

Author/s: Slater, Jill A (JA); Lujan, Heidi L (HL); DiCarlo, Stephen E (SE);

Affiliation: Department of Physiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan 48201, USA.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article

Journal: Advances in physiology education (Adv Physiol Educ), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Dec; vol 31 (issue 4) : pp 336-42

Dates: Created 2007/12/06; Completed 2007/12/20;

PMID: 18057406, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Education, Medical, Undergraduate Female Humans Learning Male Models, Educational

Program Evaluation Questionnaires Research Design Sex Factors Students, Medical Teaching - methods

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