Relationship between Learning Style and Academic Performance of Senior Secondary School Students in Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area, Enugu State

Abstract

The study determined the relationship between learning style and academic performance of secondary school students in Igbo-Etiti local government area. Descriptive survey research design was used. The study population was 2,905 senior secondary class two students in Igbo-Etiti LGA. Sample size of 229 respondents was selected using simple random sampling technique. Barsch’s learning style inventory was adapted and used as instrument for data collection. Findings showed that more than half of the respondents were aged above 15years (57.20%), 57.2% were females while (42.8%) of them were males. Data shows that up to 75.1% of the respondents prefer kinesthetic learning style, (12.7%) prefer auditory learning style while (12.2%) prefer visual learning style. For English language, (50.7%) of the respondents had high performance, 29.30% had very high performance and 20.10% had average performance. For mathematics, 56.30% of the students had high performance, 11.40% had very high performance, 30.60% had average performance and 1.70% had poor performance. At p>0.05 level of significance, no significant relationship existed between the learning style preferences of the respondents and their performance in English language and Mathematics. Based on findings, it was recommended that students should be made aware of their learning style preferences so they can better understand themselves. The teachers should also tailor their instruction to fit the learning styles of students, that is, the teacher should make use of instructional materials that will appeal to different senses.