Learning styles and some predictors of physics achievement among college physics students

Abraham M. Heriales

Abstract/Summary

This study aimed to determine a specific learning style that is best suited to studying physics courses. It also wanted to identify which are the best predictors of physics achievement among college students. It involved the development and validation of physics self-efficacy and physics proactive coping instruments to determine physics self-efficacy and physics proactive coping among 126 college students. These were used together with Kolbs learning style inventory to determine the learning styles of the respondents. Descriptive statistics and stepwise multiple regression analysis were used to analyze the data. The results showed that the learning styles of the college students barely influenced the physics achievement of the respondents. Also, all of the identified predictors were found to influence physics achievement among the students of the Colleges of Engineering and Education (group A), and all of the identified predictors except score in the English placement test were found to influence physics achievement among the students of the Colleges of Science, Veterinary Medicine, Basic Medicine, and Agriculture (group B). The result of the stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that among the identified predictors, physics self-efficacy and physics proactive coping were the best predictors of physics achievement. Moreover, two prediction equations of physics achievement among college students were obtained.